I am journalist. Online journalist. Mediengruppe Online and trade union. Cooperative survey 2008/2009.
Dec 18, 2015
I am journalist. Online journalist.
Mediengruppe Online and trade union. Cooperative survey 2008/2009.
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 2
Online-Survey 2008
132 participants65 employed61 Freelancer80 % of the Employees with collective
agreementBut only 13,5 % as Journalists64 % IT- or PR-Collective agreement11 % of the employees contracts relate to the
austrian journalistlaw (eg. more holidays after ten years)
(December 2008 – Februar 2009)
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 3
System of collective bargaining in Austria
• Approx over 600 collective agreements
• 160 negotiated from GPA-djp (union for private salaried employed people and print workers)
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 4
Who negotiate?
• Obligatory employer association (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich)
• Volontary employer associations
WKO
Newspaper associatiationPrivat radio association
Print magazine association
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 5
A short time shift - 1999 1/4
• GPA and DJP 2 unions
• -> GPA private salaried employedwhich was used to negotiate collective agreements with the obligatory employers association
• -> djp print workers and journalists (print, public and private broadcasting, freelancers, photographers)
which was used to negotiate collective agreements with voluntary empolyers associations
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 6
A short time shift - 1999 2/4
• (Print-)Journalists had an update of their collective agreement integration online journalists and freelancers
• As soon as the agreement was signed, employers started to outsource their online departments 0r create separate online departments
• Leading to other working and wage conditions negotiated from different social partnersThe obligatory employers association and the Trade Union for private salaried employed
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 7
A short time shift - 1999 3/4
• In concrete (print-)online journalists found themselves
• represented from non-journalistic social partners
• in two different sectors: IT and PR• two different collective agreements:
IT and PR, which none was constructed for journalists
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 8
A short time shift - 1999 4/4
• Journalists Union and Union for private salaried employed people found themselves in a strange situation either
• Are these people journalists or not? Is it PR or IT?
• Austria has a law which defines journalists, listing print and traditional electronic media, missing the word online
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 10
Other Results of the Survey• Low Selfesteem („I‘m an Editor, Online-Editor“)• 80 % write own Storys, 60 % conduct Interviews, 30
% visit Pressconferences on a regular basis – so they do work as journalists
• About 50 Percent of the employees earn between 1.500 and 2.500 Euro (3/4 work fulltime)Freelancers earn between 1.000 and 2.000 Euro (not all work fulltime), 11 to 12 Euros per hourPercentage women men equal
• 62 % of Employees an 54 % of Freelancers have a university degree
• Freelancers are younger than employees, all together more than 50 percent are between 20 and 30 years
• Awareness of being in the wrong collective contract
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 11
Ten years after – 2009 1/2
• One Union GPA-djp -> Within the union‘s logic the oursourced online-departments are now all part of the journalists union part
• (Print-)Publishers tried to outsource their journalists the same way they did 10 years before with onine – which the union in most cases successfully stoped
• (Print-)Journalists and publishers are updating their collective agreement. Aiming to reintegrate online journalists (same wage or not? Different working conditions regarding working time regulations or not?)
Igler, Reitstätter 12/09 12
Ten years after – 2009 2/2
• Online-journalistic working councils are discussing their matters at the PR-collective agreements negotiations, leading to negotiations how to get them out of the obligatory employers association.
• Journalists print and online build the negotiation team of the print-collective agreement.
• Online-Journalists becoming part of trade union board.