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Jeg deler her en udmelding fra Madbudenes Organisation. Det er dem der fagligt organiserer madbude i københavn. Jeg har ingen relation til Madbudenes Organisation. Jeg synes bare det er en vigtig kamp de kæmper.
English version can be found in the comments.
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Vi undlader at medvirke i Fagbladet 3F, før de begynder at stoppe med at skrive om migrantarbejdere på en skadelige måde.
Det har vi vedtaget som aktuel udtalelse på vores seneste generalforsamling. 1/10
We refrain from participating in Fagbladet 3F until they stop writing about migrant workers in a harmful way. This is what we have adopted as our current statement at our last general assembly.
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Labour market journalism in Denmark sheds light on unfair conditions — and we are proud of that. Workers in hospitals have been given a voice, able to speak out about poor wages and working conditions. In construction, labour market journalism has exposed wage dumping and union-busting.
2/10
As union representatives, we can use this agitationally in our workplaces. We can share victories, report on industry conditions. Our workplace unions make use of it. And it is also recognized professionally. The journalists who focus on our everyday lives win awards for quality and standards that we in Denmark should be proud of.
Our own publication, Fagbladet 3F, is one of the most read union magazines,
3/10
ensuring that the workers’ cause remains constantly on the minds of the Danish public. But the press is also in crisis. We know that intense competition is putting quality at risk — and this includes our own union magazine. Unfortunately, we see this tendency in Fagbladet 3F. Where the need to compete on agenda-setting leads to compromises. And punching down sells well. In recent coverage of recruitment trends in our sectors,
4/10
expressions have been used suggesting that certain nationalities are “flooding into” particular industries. The interest and framing of such stories place some of our colleagues in a suspicious light, casting doubt on their true motives for being here.
People who are here legally, pay taxes — and many of whom are not even eligible for social benefits.
During this series of articles, we were contacted as sources, as newspapers often do,
5/10
but we requested a clear agreement on the framing. We wanted the reality being described to focus on interest in working conditions in these environments — and also on the efforts being made within these communities to highlight the unfair conditions some are subjected to.
The final product, however, ended up being background interviews — followed by quotes from spokespersons such as Peter Skaarup of the Denmark Democrats,
6/10
whose political interests align with a broader narrative: one that casts suspicion on the true intentions of migrants, suggesting that they’re here to take jobs from “Danes.
Seeing such quotes printed in a union magazine that we fund with our membership fees does a great disservice to the environments we organize and interact with every day. One cannot represent an organization like 3F — attempting to organize colleagues in these very communities — while at the same time
7/10
giving column space to discourses and narratives that are already widely spread by news outlets that are unsympathetic to our cause. It’s become tiresome, and we find ourselves today at a point where we must admit: we approach collaboration with our union magazine more cautiously. We’re aware of the objections this may provoke: “If we don’t dare face industry challenges, shouldn’t journalists be allowed to write what they want?”
Yes, they should. And they can.
8/10
That’s why we have a diverse media landscape. But when Fagbladet 3F covers the labour market in a way you’d expect from BT, it doesn’t promote the kind of discussions that are vital for our members to have space for. This requires self-reflection before we can safely collaborate with our union magazine again — if they wish to write about our communities. Because we hesitate when we aren’t sure of the intentions behind the interest.
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That should be made clear to us, so we can be honest with our colleagues about what is being written.
We therefore choose, effective immediately, not to participate in interviews until we have seen a reckoning with the way they write about us.
10/10