It is part of a nationwide protest against terrible pay in the media, which appears to have rattled bosses. In July, management at El País agreed to a progressive 8 per cent raise until 2025, with a staggered increase according to the different categories of journalists, after a 12-year wage freeze.
A few days later, journalists at El Mundo struck a deal that included a weekly teleworking day and the commitment that all staff will receive up to €1,000 more per year in two extra payments until 2025.
“For the first time, more than a hundred work councils, union representatives and union branches have joined forces to fight for two shared demands: decent wages and better working conditions,” says Ana Martinez, an official at the Spanish union Federation of Citizens Services of Workers Councils.
She also underlines the insecurity of the profession in Spain. “Not all journalists are TV stars. Spanish journalists are still on very precarious salaries. It would be unacceptable in any other profession made up of university graduates.”
Inspiration for the protests came from colleagues working in Spanish television. A few years ago, some wore black on Fridays to protest against the manipulation of information and censorship.
Although the mourning outfits were more striking on screen, “black Wednesdays” have proven to be successful for press workers at the national level.
In a few months, significant victories have been achieved in nationwide newspapers. However, the fight still goes on in local newsrooms.
“Everything started with the inaction of the Association of News Media to sit down and negotiate the state agreement for daily press workers early this year,” remembers Martinez.
“Unless they have negotiated specific clauses with their employers, local publications are subject to this minimum terms agreement. The management proposes a ridiculous and offensive 1 per cent wage increase without retroactive effect, when the loss of purchasing power of workers in the media sector is around 35 per cent.”
Negotiations between unions and bosses resume in September. From north to south, black will tinge local newsrooms after the summer break.
Journalists at El Periodico de Catalunya are fighting to guarantee a decent future for the Catalan online edition of the newspaper and against the lack of resources and staff.
“You cannot do good journalism without resources,” says Jose Carlos Sorribes, a member of the newspaper’s work council.
At Diario Sur, journalists wear their black outfits in the middle of the week, despite the scorching Malaga sun. With their salaries frozen for the last 12 years, pay rises and better working conditions are imperative.
“Few journalists in Spain indulge in standing up for colleagues working in local publications,” Martinez says regretfully.
Solidarity has never been much evidence before among the Spanish journalistic community — many reporters still perceive themselves as somehow distinct from workers.
However, skyrocketing inflation has been a turning point. Journalists are fed up with miserable salaries and precarious working conditions.
“If progress has been made at the national level, the state agreement involving local journalists must also improve. But solidarity is key,” says Martinez.
The fight to protect local journalism rages across Europe, and Spain is not an exception. The “black Wednesdays” protests in local newsrooms are about more than improving precarious working conditions but defending local news. It is the quality of local information and the right to inform the public that are at stake.
Spain’s journalists have a busy autumn in prospect. The country’s acting Prime Minister, socialist Pedro Sanchez is battling to keep his coalition together and deny power to a government that could include the far-right Vox party. If neither left nor right can form a stable government, then there could be a fresh election as early as December.
However the tumult resolves itself, journalists have their black outfits ready. Negotiations between unions and employers about the state agreement for daily press workers resume in September and the “black Wednesdays” protests will intensify. Unions do not rule out upcoming walkouts and strikes after the summer break.
If you walk past the offices of a newspaper on a Wednesday this September, whether in Barcelona, Malaga or Burgos, journalists may appear funereal, but they will be dressed to defend their rights and pay. Shows of solidarity and support are always welcome.
In the final analysis, the fight to protect local journalism is the fight to defend democracy — surely a cause that speaks to us all.
Natàlia Queralt Piñas is a Communications and Campaigns Officer at the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). This article was published in The Morning Star on August 23, 2023.