Swedish journalists have won a national minimum wage which is the equivalent of £21,377 a year after negotiations organised by the Swedish Journalists’ Federation.
The minimum rate, which is far higher than typical minimumsn UK regional titles, has averted what the International Federation of Journalists said could have been “a major confrontation between more than 5,000 newspaper journalists and the country’s press employers.”
Minimum rates on UK regional newspapers tylically range from £13,000 to £15,000.
According to the IFJ: “The new deal contains a number of significant advances: IIt ends shocking levels of low pay among provincial newspaper journalists and has met a union objective of a new minimum rate of 25,000 SEK (2,625 Euro a month) for experienced senior journalists;
“It gives an increase averaging ten per cent on newspaper pay scales across the board; iIt maintains author’s rights protection for all journalists working in media houses; and it establishes, for the first time, recognition of press, online and broadcast journalists working for media houses in the collective agreement. Hitherto only press journalists were covered.
IFJ general secretary Aidan White said the agreement – coming as it does after a court decision in Denmark last week that secured recognition for freelance journalists in collective bargaining – would be an inspiration to other unions across Europe to press the case for decent work and pay in newspapers where many employers have been imposing stringent cuts in recent years.
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