Trade union and journalists’ organizations from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia on the new management and representatives of the owners of Adria News Network (ANN) media outlets (N1 Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Sarajevo, TV Nova S, the Nova news portal and newspaper, Danas, Radar and Forbes) to enter into urgent dialogue with employees and their trade unions.
Trade union and journalists’ organizations representing employees of ANN-owned media outlets strongly protest the employer’s treatment of employees and its continued disregard for the trade unions, which have approached the company on several occasions out of concern for the future of the media outlets in which their members work.
Despite repeated attempts by trade unions and employee representatives to establish communication with management, they have received only rare and cursory responses. Employees have thus been placed in a situation in which they do not even know who their immediate superiors are, while information about changes in management and ownership structures has to be obtained through company registers and other publicly available sources.
Three weeks have passed since the changes in management structures and Pedro Vargas Santos David assumed a leading management role in most of these companies, yet employees, through their trade unions, have not received any official notification. In some media outlets, there is even uncertainty as to who should be listed in the masthead, who is authorized to sign orders and who is responsible for particular decisions.
Amid the changes in management structures, letters from the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists have gone unanswered; the newly established N1 Slovenia Trade Union is likewise attempting to establish institutional dialogue with the employer and the new management, while trade unions in Serbia have been trying unsuccessfully since April to arrange a direct meeting with management. The fact that formal steps have been taken in certain procedures cannot substitute for the need for genuine, direct and continuous social dialogue.
Employee and trade union representatives have repeatedly requested dialogue, timely information and direct communication with those responsible. These requests have either received no response or have not received responses that would enable employees to understand changes directly affecting their jobs, employment status, management structure and the future of the media outlets in which they work.
We consider such treatment unacceptable. Employees who produce content every day, build the credibility of these media outlets and create their professional and market value have a legitimate right to dialogue and to answers to questions that directly concern their professional and economic future.
Information and consultation are not matters of management goodwill or the business culture of an individual manager. The European legal framework on informing and consulting employees is based on the obligation of employers and employee representatives to work in a spirit of cooperation and with due regard for their reciprocal rights and obligations.
Likewise, the European framework governing transnational undertakings, including the rules on European Works Councils where the conditions for their application are met, is based on employees’ right to information and consultation on matters of a transnational nature. Information must be provided in such a manner and at such a time as to enable employee representatives to assess the possible impact of decisions, while consultation entails genuine dialogue and an exchange of views with management.
Employees in your media outlets are unionized. Their legitimate and legally recognized representatives have the right to represent their professional, economic and social interests; to request information on matters affecting their employment status; to demand dialogue with the employer and management; and, in accordance with national legislation, to engage in collective bargaining and use legally permitted forms of trade union action. Employees have a right to know what is happening. Given the lack of transparency and the disregard shown toward their representatives, they are understandably concerned about their future.
We therefore publicly call on Pedro Vargas Santos David, the new management and representatives of the owners to establish institutional dialogue with employee and trade union representatives without further delay.
We request that an in-person meeting be organized with representatives of the new management and the owners, at which employee representatives from media outlets in different countries can directly ask questions and receive answers regarding changes in management and ownership structures, plans for the future of the companies and newsrooms, the position of employees, and all matters that may affect their employment and professional rights.
If, for organizational reasons, an in-person meeting cannot be held within a reasonable period, we request that a joint online meeting with trade union and employee representatives from the countries in which these media outlets operate be organized without delay.
We are asking for the kind of dialogue that is standard in well-regulated European labour relations, as well as for accountability toward employees and the public. It is not only the employees of your media outlets who are confused. A large audience is confused as well—an audience that, thanks to the outstanding professional work of the employees, has been provided with a level of quality of which any responsible media owner should be proud. This gives you an additional responsibility to be open and transparent toward employees, their legitimate representatives and the public. The work of employees, their professional integrity and the trust of the audience represent the greatest part of the value of the media outlets you now manage.
We therefore call on the new management and representatives of the owners to hold an urgent meeting with trade union representatives on all outstanding issues, including the future of the companies and newsrooms, management changes, the protection of employees’ labour and professional rights, and the opening of collective bargaining on employment-related matters. Dialogue is our first choice, but the absence of dialogue does not mean that trade unions will abandon their efforts to protect employees.
If management and representatives of the owners continue to ignore the legitimate representatives of employees, the trade unions will use all legally permitted forms of trade union action available to them, including, wherever the necessary conditions are met, legal and institutional mechanisms for the protection of trade union rights, collective bargaining and the right of employees to information and consultation.
We therefore call on Pedro Vargas Santos David, the new management and representatives of the owners to stop ignoring employees and their trade unions and to open a dialogue.
Signatories:
Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (SNH)
GS KUM Nezavisnost, Serbia
N1 Slovenia Trade Union
Slovenian Journalists’ Association (DNS)
Trade Union of Media of Montenegro
