IFJ President Jim Boumelha
IFJ President Jim Boumelha
Please let me convey the warmest greetings to the delegates at your 2015 assembly on behalf of the IFJ Executive Committee and our unions of journalists worldwide. We wish all of you a strong and fruitful conference.
We are all very proud of the efforts made by the NWU to advance the professional and social rights of your members, and their fight on behalf of American writers and journalists. In these difficult years everywhere, IFJ unions are always heartened to see one of their sister unions fighting the continuous onslaught from profit-‐hungry businesses slashing budgets, gutting newsrooms and creating precarious conditions everywhere for journalists.
As campaigning unions, we have no alternative but to sharpen our campaigns and extend our resistance. We are very proud to have the NWU as part of this global fight for decent work and quality journalism, and our unions are so much stronger whenever we join forces in genuine international solidarity action in defence of workers’ rights.
On a personal level, I would like to thank you for the enormous effort you have given on many occasions at the United Nations in helping the IFJ intervene effectively, in particular on safety of journalists. This is an area we will continue to consolidate and the contribution by the NWU would be crucial.
I also appreciate your own contribution to agreeing to be with us at some of the most dangerous missions such as in Karachi, which was of paramount importance for our Pakistani colleagues.
You can count on journalists from all the over the world to stand up with you on every occasion.
In solidarity
Jim Boumelha President
International Federation of Journalists
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.