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11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

Journalists protest against ‘poverty wages’

4 November 2007 - The Holland Times, a paper distributed among the expat community, pays its freelance journalists 10 eurocents per word. Tomorrow morning, the Netherlands branch of the British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will be staging a protest at Argopress, also the publisher of Amsterdams Stadsblad.

The action, which has the support of the Dutch journalists’ union NVJ, is part of the European ‘Stand Up For Journalism’ day of action to fight for improved pay and defend quality in the media.

According to the NUJ, the Holland Times pays its contract staff wages on or just above the minimum wage, while paying freelance journalists 10 cents per word. “Freelancers on a rate of 10 eurocents a word cannot possibly turn out enough work to match even this minimum level, particularly when you remember that they have to cover their own overheads, insurance etc”.

“Moreover, there have been frequent complaints by freelance journalists about long delays in payment of even these small amounts, requiring them to actively chase money that is owed to them”, an NUJ press release states.

Besides the Holland Times, Argopress also publishes a number of free newspapers in Dutch, including Amsterdams Stadsblad. “The Netherlands branch of the NUJ understands that the situation is no better at the Dutch free papers that Argopress produces”.

The Holland Times targets expats, diplomats, business travellers and tourists. The paper is distributed by upmarket hotels, airlines, and multinationals including Shell, Canon, Cisco Systems, New Horizons, KPMG and ABN-AMRO.

The NUJ says that the media are controlled by a small group of wealthy corporations that increase profits by cutting journalists’ wages and by replacing contract staff with freelancers. This erodes independent quality journalism, the union warns.

Protest: 5 November 2007, 08:30 am, Delflandlaan 4, near Lelylaan Station. Stand Up For Journalism, NVJ (in Dutch)

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