An unclear future for journalists’ organisations

However, a majority of journalists’ organisations are still unclear about their precise intentions for the future of telework / home office. Only 20% of them plan to work actively on the issue and for 60% of them, the question is still open.

Unions from Austria, Cyprus, Kosovo and Macedonia have the intention to deal more with telework and homeoffice in the future. The Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (SMCG) reported that they were “trying to start negotiations on branch collective agreement in order to incorporate these norms in the media legislation and media scene”. In the case of Hungary, the Union of Journalists reported that “there is no such willingness from the employers’ side” to open negotiations on that topic.

Four unions/associations (Belgium, Denmark, Malta and The Netherlands) declared that they do not have the intention to lobby for a right to work from home, however this might be for different reasons: in the case of Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands, existing general regulations about telework may be considered already sufficient to cover the basic labour rights of journalists who wish to work from home, either on a permanent or on a temporary basis.

Good practice: Template agreements on telework in France

The French trade union CGT produced a template agreement[1] on teleworking including the main aspects to negotiate, such as working time, remuneration, equipment, health & safety and right to disconnect. It also produced a series of webinars dedicated to negotiating telework agreements[2].

[1] https://ugictcgt.fr/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2020/11/2020-23-03-PROJET-ACCORD-TYPE-TELETRAVAIL-3.docx [2] https://ugictcgt.fr/tuto-video-teletravail/