News

Taking the resolution “Organise, Organise, Organise” of the UNI-MEI World General Assembly last year as its basis of discussion, the UNI-MEI World Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, 4-5 November, took a close look at recent and future organising projects being carried out by the sector.



Among the projects looked at in some detail were film workers’ organising in Central Europe, broadcasting campaigns in the southern cone of South America (led by SATAID of Argentina), film and theatre technicians in South Africa and Brazil (sponsored by TEME of Finland), and a number of activities in the Asia/Pacific region. Among the latter new initiatives for working with broadcasting workers are planned for the immediate future in Malaysia, Indonesia and Mongolia. Again in the Americas, activities are coming up in the Caribbean and Colombia for broadcasting and the FEDALA (directors, writers) and film technicians’ efforts are on-going.



Other major activities coming up include an important two-year heath and safety campaign among Indian film workers.



Two Asian participants took part in the meeting for the first time: Raman Kumar of the Indian Film Directors’ Association and Mitsuru Katsui of Nipporo (Japanese public broadcasting). Kumar reported on the some gains made by the recent film workers’ “non-cooperation action” (strike) in Mumbai and Katsui spoke on the challenges to public broadcasting in Japan. He emphasized particularly the threat posed by the telecoms sector, which is only interested in profits from distribution, not content, to PBS.



Walter Palmer, one of the main founders of SPIN, the German basketball players’ association (which in mid-November was admitted to UNI-MEI), and of UBEW, the European basketball players’ association, as well as EU Athletes, a new group working closely with EURO-MEI in the European sports social dialogue run-up, spoke on successes in organising professional sports people.



Another major topic of discussion was the intensifying attacks on public broadcasting, especially in Europe. Gerry Morrissey of BECTU (UK) reported on efforts to undermine BBC but noted that the most immediate problem in PBS in Europe is in France, where EURO-MEI is helping to organise the trade union response. Next February EURO-MEI is calling a European Day of Action in defence of public broadcasting.



The executive passed a resolution support the effort of committee member Patricio Flores, president of SITATYR in Mexico, who is also member of the Mexican Congress, to increase protections for sub-contracted workers.



A communication from the South African broadcasting union MWASA was received proposing that the next UNI-MEI WEC be held in Cape Town. Noting that three members of the WEC (Egypt and Nigeria, in addition to South Africa) had been unable to come to Europe for the Berlin meeting, mainly due to more difficult visa restrictions, the WEC decided to give effect to MWASA’s proposal and its next meeting in Cape Town, probably about September 2009.