NUJ to propose tech tax at TUC

LONDON FREELANCE Branch chair Pennie Quinton will be a member of the National Union of Journalists delegation to Trades Union Congress from 13 to 16 September 2026 in Brighton. The delegation will be led by NUJ General Secretary Laura Davison; it also includes Steve Bird from the Financial Times; freelance photographer Natasha Hirst; and Fran McNulty from RTE in Dublin.

Image © TUC

The NUJ is proposing two motions to Congress. One, headlined “Taxing the tech giants“, calls for the UK trade union movement to support “the NUJ’s call for a six per cent windfall tax to be invested in the sector to protect jobs, improve conditions, and increase access to quality news. The NUJ has also called for an ongoing digital tax to sustain future funding.” The story of the other is in the headline: “Protecting public service broadcasting”.

The NUJ is permitted under Congress rules to propose amendments to two other motions. The concerns that these deal with will be familiar to Freelance readers.

One amendment proposes that a motion from Artists' Union England on “artificial Intelligence” should additionally call for compensation for past abuse of our work and for any future use to be only on the basis of prior consent (“opt-in”).

The other proposes that a motion from actors' union Equity that calls for a “right of personality” explicitly include safeguards against such a right being abused to suppress ethical journalism.

TUC Women’s Conference is permitted to propose just one policy to Congress each year, and this year's motion calls for action against misogyny and racism, noting that “NUJ members have reported a stark rise in aggression and hostility, with Black and Asian journalists especially affected. The rise in verbal, physical and online abuse has led to doxxing and safety fears for women journalists and their families, also impacting on children.”

© Mike Holderness

TUC Congress 2026 tuc.org.uk