Enimerosi taking part in journalists΄ strike

The Boards of Directors of the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists' Unions (POESY) and its member journalist unions (ESIEA, ESIEMTH, ESHEPIN, ESHETHSTE, and ESPIT), taking into account the strong message from the sector reflected in the massive participation in recent strike mobilisations for the signing of Collective Labour Agreements and decent wages, have jointly decided to carry out two consecutive 24-hour strikes: the first on Thursday, June 5, and the second on Thursday, June 12, 2025.

The strike actions cover all journalists, in all media outlets of the country, as follows: from 5 a.m. on Thursday, June 5 until 5 a.m. on Friday, June 6, and from 5 a.m. on Thursday, June 12 until 5 a.m. on Friday, June 13.

Employer associations, in an unprecedented show of intransigence, without even invoking financial hardship, are indifferent to the rising cost of living that daily erodes the real value of nominal wages. They reject collective bargaining, insist on the 17-year freeze on Collective Labour Agreements, and continue the hostage situation of individual employment contracts that perpetuate massive wage inequalities.

The Union of Private Nationwide Television Channels (EITISEE), the Union of Online Publishers (ENED), and the Union of Private Radio Station Owners of Attica (EIIRA), in all meetings with ESIEA, continue to reject the self-evident demand for signing Collective Labour Agreements. Meetings with the Union of Regional TV Stations have also proven fruitless, while no progress has been made with the employer group of regional daily newspapers. Notably, the Union of Athens Daily Newspaper Owners (EIHEA) has not responded at all to ESIEA’s request to enter collective bargaining talks.

The indifference of the employers—many of whom are among the country’s most financially robust actors—is deafening. Even more so as they point to the timeline before the implementation of the “roadmap” to cover 80% of the country’s workforce.

We demand:

1. Meaningful and productive collective negotiations to end the stranglehold of individual employment contracts

2. A starting salary of €1,250 across all media outlets

3. A 10% wage increase based on the most recent Collective Labour Agreements

4. Protection of compensation for weekend work (+25% plus a day off for Saturday work and +100% for Sunday work), and increased allowances for field assignments

5. A daily allowance of €350 for assignments in war zones and €250 for areas affected by natural disasters

6. Incorporation of institutional demands into Collective Labour Agreements – including ethical journalism principles, anti-SLAPP regulations, and binding rules on the use of Artificial Intelligence in news production

7. Fair compensation for journalists' intellectual property rights across print, broadcast, and digital media

8. Emergency financial aid to counteract the cost-of-living crisis, similar to measures for public media employees

9. Implementation of measures to combat profiteering in food, energy, and housing

10. Lifting restrictions on unilateral recourse to arbitration

11. Support measures for the print press to save jobs – curb media concentration and ensure transparency in media ownership

We also demand lifting restrictions on the signing of a unified Collective Labour Agreement for public media, with both institutional and financial provisions.

The Collective Labor Agreement and the Joint Ministerial Decision on journalist salaries in public media provided some support during the crisis. Now, an increase is imperative: a two-year entry salary of €1,250 to raise existing salary levels, restoration of the 13th and 14th salaries for public media staff, and the 13th and 14th pensions, as well as immediate payment of retroactive benefits to retirees. An end must also be put to the exploitative use of project-based contracts in the public sector.

We call on employer associations to abandon their extreme intransigence and on the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to take initiatives so that free collective bargaining can flourish in the journalism sector through the signing of Collective Labour Agreements that cover the entire sector.

We invite all our colleagues in Athens to participate en masse in the 24-hour strike actions and to be present at the central strike rally on Thursday, 5/6, at 11:00 a.m. in front of ESIEA, 20 Akadimias Street, Athens.

The Boards of Directors of the Federation and Journalist Unions:

• Panhellenic Federation of Journalists' Unions (POESY)

• Union of Journalists of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA)

• Union of Journalists of Macedonia-Thrace Daily Newspapers (ESIEMTH)

• Union of Journalists of Peloponnese – Epirus – Islands Daily Newspapers (ESHEPIN)

• Union of Journalists of Thessaly – Central Greece – Euboea Daily Newspapers (ESHETHSTE)

• Union of Periodical and Online Press Journalists (ESPIT)