TUC Congress 2026 backs BBC workers
Unions expressed overwhelming support for government intervention to protect public service broadcasting on the third day of TUC Congress 2026.
The NUJ has been busy at this year's Congress, held in Brighton from 13-16 September. On the opening days of conference, the union's delegates won support for a tech tax, amplified calls for stronger freelance rights, and highlighted the work of journalists in countering misinformation and far right narratives.
Protecting public service broadcasting
On the third day of Congress, Fran McNulty, NUJ joint president, moved a motion expressing support for workers at the BBC and other public service broadcasters.
McNulty, who works for Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ, underlined the pressures facing members in the broadcasting sector due to constant cuts. The BBC recently announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs; STV has cut newsrooms and local programming; Comcast's takeover of ITV has raised concerns over media concentration and funding for local news; and last week Channel 4 announced plans to cut almost a quarter of its staff.
"Each cut to public service media is a cut to our democracy, and this impacts us all," said McNulty. "Every cut reduces the ability of actors to enchant, musicians to entertain, journalists to expose, camera operators to capture, painters to paint, carpenters to build sets. Writers to broaden our minds. The electricians, the cleaners, the cooks and dozens of other trades that keep public service broadcasting on the air."
McNulty noted that the world would be "much darker" without the BBC. Social media companies operate in "a wild west with little regulation" and "zero editorial scrutiny", serving shareholders, not the people. This means that a tech billionaire can buy a platform like Twitter and turn it into "a cesspit of hate, racism, abuse and misinformation."
© Natasha Hirst
Calling for solidarity with BBC staff and freelances, McNulty said.
"The NUJ, as part of its ‘Back The BBC’ campaign, is joining sister unions in calling for the resources and reforms the BBC needs to provide a quality public service that serves communities all over the UK. This includes addressing those institutional issues: ending political appointments on the BBC board, introducing worker representation, and providing proper, universal funding.
"Yet, in the dying days of the current Charter, the knives are out. A new leadership team is dissecting services, cutting spending and jobs.
"These very decisions must not be allowed to dictate what comes next. In the coming months the government is due to publish its white paper on the future of the BBC, setting out its policies and its direction.
"We need urgent intervention now, to stop the damage to our public service broadcaster; the forthcoming budget is an opportunity to send a practical signal backing workers at the BBC.
"It is an opportunity to redress the swingeing funding deficit created by successive freezing of the licence fee; created by requiring the BBC rather than government to fund free licences for over 75 years olds; created by cuts to BBC World Service funding.
"Workers at the BBC need to know their commitment to serving the public is valued; that means real, meaningful and urgent intervention.
"Congress sends this clear message to the government. Stop. Stop the cuts. Invest to inform, invest to entertain, and invest to protect our valuable democracy."
The NUJ's motion, which was composited with a similar motion from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), instructed the TUC to press the government for urgent intervention to stop cuts to public service broadcasters and mobilise public support for BBC workers. This includes supporting demands by the Broadcasting, Entertainment & Arts Unions (BEAU) - which includes the NUJ and WGGB - as part of BBC Charter Renewal. In July, BEAU and Unite launched a public petition calling on the Director-General and Prime Minister to back the BBC and its workers.
Bolstering workers' rights in the age of AI
The NUJ also supported WGGB and Equity's motion calling for new rights to address AI-generated digital replicas.
Natasha Hirst, NUJ Photographers' Council chair, noted that "there are too many gaps in legislation which fail to address the challenges that impact our livelihoods and our safety at work." Hirst said that Equity's campaign for personality rights to give performers the ability to agree or object to the licensing of AI-generated digital replicas would benefit NUJ members, including news presenters who can be "at risk of deepfakes and harmful disinformation generated using their likeness," which damage public trust in journalism.
Hirst thanked Equity for supporting the NUJ's amendment to the motion to prevent unintended consequences arising from new legislation. Photographers and videographers already report obstruction and threats while carrying out their work due to misunderstandings over privacy, copyright and ownership laws. "It's important to be clear that personality or likeness rights have a very specific purpose and definition. ‘Digital replicas’ does not refer to the publication of legitimately gathered photographs or video," she said.
The amended motion states that any new rights must support newsgatherers' ability to do their jobs. In addition, the motion calls for urgent regulation to enforce and strengthen copyright legislation, protection of workers' jobs amid the rapid deployment of AI, compensation for the theft of creatives' labour, and an opt-in system to permit the use of future work for AI training - all key calls in the NUJ's News Recovery Plan.
Hirst said:
"As you’ve heard throughout this year’s Congress, workers and freelances in the creative sectors are frequently let down by gaps in legislation and regulations, with fewer rights and too few routes to securing justice or compensation when we experience harm.
"The NUJ is proud to stand in solidarity with the other creative unions to fight the rise of AI-generated disinformation and protect safety and livelihoods."
The motion carried.
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