MEMBERS of the NUJ had their first organised presence at the Tolpuddle Festival for many years as the South West England branch of the union encouraged the region’s journalists to attend.
The SWE branch staffed a stall in the festival’s Martyrs Tent on the Saturday of the weekend festival, which was well attended by journalists and other festival-goers alike.
Branch chair Paul Breeden also took part in two discussions, one on the future of the cultural sector, and the other on the plight of journalists in Gaza.
SWE member and Somerset rep Kate Pearce, who took on most of the burden of staffing the stall, said: “Our branch is trying to be more visible in the South West, and our stall was an experiment. I think it was successful: we spoke to lots of people about our union and about the News Recovery Plan. All unions (and their branches) need to try new ideas, so we grow our movement both in numbers and in the strength of our solidarity. Hopefully, we will be back again next year.”
The Tolpuddle Festival is one of the biggest events in the trade union calendar and commemorates the six agricultural labourers from the Dorset village who united to oppose a wage cut but were convicted for their union membership and were transported to Australia. Public outrage eventually saw their convictions quashed, and the right to organise in trade unions began to be seen as an essential part of democracy.
Kate Pearce is distantly related to one of the Martyrs’ families, the Loveless family, and marched with other descendants of the families at a ceremony on the Sunday.
Several other members of the SWE branch and other branches, also attended the event – many of course were at work, covering the festival professionally.
Paul Breeden said: “We were really encouraged by the positive response of people at the festival to the messages we were giving out about the NUJ. This was an experiment for the SWE branch, but it’s one I think we should repeat.”
Paul told the gathering on the cultural sector that AI was a major threat as well as an opportunity for journalists, and the new government would need to legislate to protect the media industry. He said that over 20 years the tech giants have almost ruined the business model for newsgatherers, and he outlined how the NUJ’s relaunched News Recovery Plan calls for a six per cent windfall levy on big tech to revive the news sector.
In the discussion on Gaza, members of the audience were visibly shocked when they heard of the extreme trials faced by journalists in Gaza, more than one in 10 of whom have been killed, most of whom have lost their homes, and many of whom believe they are being targeted by Israeli forces.
Paul read out a message from Nasser Abu Baker the president of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, who said: “Journalists in Palestine have suffered almost more than it is possible for me to describe. They have been sustained by solidarity from journalists in the UK, and the NUJ in particular. The bond between our unions is something that we treasure.”
