I'm a loyal member of the National Union of Journalists.
The union helped me out with legal advice after I was injured in Iraq and I was very grateful.
But now I'm seriously considering canceling my subscription.
One of the main reasons is a groveling apology to MP Gregory Campbell in the union magazine, the Journalist -- which has itself long been an embarrassment to our profession.
The union which is supposed to represent journalists in the UK has paid substantial damages and legal costs -- funded out of our subscriptions -- because it totally failed to follow the most basic principles of media law.
Do I really want to be a member of an organisation which can't even follow the rules taught to trainee hacks on day one?
Can you give me a good reason why I shouldn't leave?
The union helped me out with legal advice after I was injured in Iraq and I was very grateful.
But now I'm seriously considering canceling my subscription.
One of the main reasons is a groveling apology to MP Gregory Campbell in the union magazine, the Journalist -- which has itself long been an embarrassment to our profession.
The union which is supposed to represent journalists in the UK has paid substantial damages and legal costs -- funded out of our subscriptions -- because it totally failed to follow the most basic principles of media law.
Do I really want to be a member of an organisation which can't even follow the rules taught to trainee hacks on day one?
Can you give me a good reason why I shouldn't leave?
posted by Stuart at 11:35
2 Comments:
Unions are a double-edged sword. Certainly they can be useful with giving out help and advice, but they can also become too full of their own sense of importance. I was a member of Unison until their campaigning for better pay for University staff ended up in strike action, a move which was designed to hurt the very people we were trying to help - our students. It all smacked too much of hypocrisy to me, so I cancelled my membership.
If you feel that your union isn't carrying itself in a manner befitting it, then you should feel free to leave them, even if they've been of use to you before. You paid your subs and they helped you out, which is good, but that shouldn't mean you should feel obliged to maintain membership.
Besides, you could save up the subs money and buy Hughes Junior that Scalextric set that you know deep down inside is a perfectly normal present for a newborn!
I enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing.
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