Journalists on strike on 18 February
CORFU. From 5 a.m. on Tuesday 18 February until 5 a.m. on Wednesday 19 February.
(POESY) The Board of Directors of the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists’ Unions (POESY) and the Boards of Directors of its member Journalist Unions have decided to declare a 24-hour strike for all journalists in all media, both in the private and public sectors, from 5:00 AM on Tuesday, February 18, to 5:00 AM on Wednesday, February 19.
All journalists in the country are dynamically demanding the signing of Collective Labour Agreements across all media sectors (TV channels, newspapers, magazines, online platforms, radio) and are calling for:
- Employers to engage in negotiations to end the entrapment of individual contracts.
- A minimum starting salary of €1,250 across all media outlets.
- A 10% salary increase based on the latest labour contracts.
- Guaranteed pay for weekend work (+25% plus compensatory time off for Saturday, +100% for Sunday). Increased compensation for assignments outside the workplace.
- A daily allowance of €350 for assignments in war zones and €250 for areas affected by natural disasters.
- Incorporation of Ethical Principles into contracts, agreements on anti-SLAPP regulations, and binding rules on Artificial Intelligence in journalism.
- Fair compensation for journalists' intellectual property rights in print, online, and broadcast media.
- Emergency financial assistance to address the rising cost of living, proportionate to public media support.
- Lifting austerity-era restrictions on public media labour agreements to allow for unified contracts with institutional and financial provisions.
- Measures to combat speculative price hikes in food, energy, and rent, as well as support for print media to protect jobs.
- The removal of restrictions on unilateral recourse to arbitration.
The Collective Labour Agreement for journalists working in public media and the Joint Ministerial Decision on their salaries provided some support during the crisis. It is now imperative to increase wages, setting the introductory salary for the first two years at €1,250, which should positively impact existing pay scales.
We call on all colleagues to participate en masse in the 24-hour strike and to hold assemblies everywhere so that workers can collectively decide on the next steps for the movement.
