October 11, 2017
In order to empower journalists in their struggle for better working conditions and draw attention to their volatile position on the labour market that have an adverse impact on the very freedom of media and expression, the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation launched the project “U pravu si! Guide through Journalists’ Labour and Trade Union Rights”.
The main output of the project is an electronic guide, which will provide journalists and other media professionals with relevant information on their labour rights and opportunities for trade union organizing, as well as possibilities for their protection, in a simple and communicative manner.
The publication is a part of a wider “U pravu si!” initiative that was launched in 2001 with an objective to inform Serbian citizens on their rights and obligations in the legal order of the Republic of Serbia.
At the same time, the portals Cenzolovka.rs and Masina.rs will publish analytical articles on the position of journalists in labour relations, issues of trade union organizing and other forms of protection of jounalists’ labour rights, especially in local media.
According to the project, journalists and other media professionals face precarious labour, while research shows that most journalists in Serbia are worried about job security. “Journalists are mainly pressed by legal insecurity, volatility of working hours, insecurity of working conditions, low wages… Many journalists, particularly the youngest, work with no contracts, typically hired temporarily for a few months… Freelance journalists are in the worst position, as they do not enjoy even minimal protection under the Labour Law,” project document states, adding that most journalists are not organised in trade unions.
Such a situation in labour relations “directly affects overall freedom of the media and freedom of expression”, thus the project’s overall objective is to help reduce managerial and editorial pressures on journalists and other media professionals that largely “stem from unfavourable working conditions and insecure income”.
The project will be implemented from 1 October 2017 to 31 March next year.
This project is funded by the European Union through the small grants programme “Protecting Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in the Western Balkans” implemented by the Croatian Journalists’ Association as part of the regional project Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety, carried out through partnership of six regional journalists’ associations – Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS), Association of BH Journalists (BHJ), Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) and the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM).
