Most Media Groups Fail New CCT

Cofina, which owns CM And CMTVbesides Record, Sábado, Jornal de Negócios, TV Guia and Flash, is the only company that implements the new Collective Labor Agreement (CCT), signed on August 26, eight years after the start of negotiations between journalists and Portuguese media companies.

Group CM applies CCT to all journalists, regardless of whether they are unionized or not, and regardless of the platform on which they choose to work. “We know that Cofina and some regional media outlets are already informing workers about the changes that CCT entails and are implementing them now,” says CM Luis Simões, President of SJ. “Many others have not yet applied and are waiting for the extension order,” he adds.

The agreement concluded between the Union of Journalists (SJ) and the Portuguese Press Association (API) should soon extend to all professionals – provided that they work in one way or another in the written field, that is, in newspapers and magazines or on the Internet – and applicable to all companies in this sector through the publication of an extension order by the government.

ABOUT CM surveyed major media groups to understand where they were in adopting the new CCT. Impresa, owner of SIC and Expresso, chose not to comment on the situation. Media Capital (TVI/CNN) and Global Media (JN, DN and TSF) said they are not bound by the agreement because they do not currently integrate the API. The newspaper Público also does not use the new CCP.

ABOUT CM He also received information from several industry sources who, although positive points were mentioned (see opposite column), particularly regarding improved working conditions, expressed concerns about the impact the document would have on some media reporting as it ” will increase costs,” and, especially in the case of small groups, “there may not be enough financial capacity to apply the tables and hire new specialists, especially if they already have experience.” However, Luis Simões guarantees that it is no longer possible to go back: “The negotiations took 8 years, we do not want the CCT not to be implemented.”

NEW CCT
BASIC MEASURES

SALARY
Finish withthree salary tables – A, B and C – which according to The Union of Journalists “allowed journalists with the same duties and ethical obligations to do equal work, but in practice receive very different salaries.” Thus, depending on length of service, different salary levels are created (new table consists of 14 levels of remuneration) and has as its principle the acceleration of wage growth due to professional merit (according to the employee’s assessments).

THE BASIS
The minimum salary for a journalist (worth up to four years of career) will be 903 euros. The cost of the table reaches 2051 euros (from 40 to 42 years).

VACATION
Annual leave has a minimum duration of 25 working days and a maximum of 28 (to 25 one day is added for every ten full years of service with the employer, but not more than three days), and for the purposes of payment of the relevant leave will only be taken into account for 22 days.

DISTANT WORK
Labor regulation On distance.

FREELANCE
Protocol concerning the provision of services in self-employment mode.

PATERNITY
Conditions for journalists with parental responsibilities have been improved.

POOR QUALITY
Limiting situations non-standard work.