You won't have to face management on your own, even if your boss does not recognise unions. New legal rights are on the way From 4 September all workers have the right to be accompanied to disciplinary or grievance hearings by a fellow worker or a trade union representative, even if the company does not recognise a union.

The law says that a union representative must either be "a full time official or a lay representative who has been certified by their union as having experience of, or having received training in, acting as a worker's companion at disciplinary or grievance hearings".

Although the chosen companion has no statutory right to address the hearing or answer qustions on the worker's behalf, they can still ask for a recess or "ask questions and, with the agreement of the employer, should be allowed to participate as fully as possible in the hearing".

This statutory right applies to any meeting that might result in disciplinary action being taken. If, at an informal or investigatory interview, a manager says that disciplinary action may be needed, the meeting should be immediately terminated and a formal disciplinary hearing arranged. Disciplinary action covers everything from a formal warning about conduct or capability that will be placed in the worker's record to actions such as suspension without pay or demotion.

However, the right of accompaniment to grievances only applies to those that concern "a duty by an employer in relation to a worker". In practice this means the issue must concern some element of your contract or be covered by statute law (such as equal pay, discrimination or safety at work).

For instance, "a grievance arising out of day-to-day friction between fellow workers may not involve the breach of a legal duty unless the friction develops into incidents of bullying or harassment which would be included as they arise out of the employer's duty of care."

A lay trade union representative is allowed reasonable paid time off to prepare if they work for the same company - even if the union is not recognised. If an employer fails to allow a worker to be accompanied, by insisting on an inconvenient day, for example, an industrial tribunal can fine the company up to two weeks' pay.

Racism and reporting

The campaign to counter the racist scepgoating of refugees in the media has outgrown our most optimistic expectations since it was launched by members of the branch in April. The open letter circulated at the NUJ's conference in early April was originally to be sent to the Guardian and the Irish Times. Nearly every delegate and official signed it, from the general secretary on down.

Since then, the letter has been sent into the wider union movement, with the aim of raising cash to place it, along with its signatories, as advertisements in both the national and local press. A quarter-page ad appeared in the Guardian on 20 June and donations are still piling up to buy space in the Daily Mirror.

Union branches have raised funds in towns and cities across Britain to place the statement in regional papers with lists of local signatories.

A Camapign to Defend Asylum Seekers was formally set at a 1,000-strong public meeting in Camden Town Hall on 22 May.

Magazine Branch members took the branch banner on the national demonstration in London in defence of refugees on 24 June. NUJ president Dave Toomer addressed the 4,000-strong rally, as did Guardian writer Gary Younge and branch chair Alan Gibson. Dozens of trade union branches brought their banners, including the NUJ, BECTU, GPMU, UNISON, FBU, NATFE, UCATT, NUT, MSF and NUS.

Dave Toomer said: "The NUJ is proud of its involvement in this campaign. Unions can and must combat the racist scapegoating by media bosses. We need to build a stronger union to prevent racist lies appearing in the press.

" If economic migrants are a problem, why do we hear no mention of rich economic migrants like Rupert Murdoch. There are no borders for him or his companies. He has no difficulty entering any country or changing his nationality."

Gary Younge said: "The problem is not the 'Snakeheads' smugglers, it is the racists - they are the real criminals, racists who accuse refugees of being 'bogus', when what is really bogus is the 'humanitarian solution' being imposed by the British government through the barrel of a gun in places like Kosova and Sierra leone - and contributing to refugees fleeing to the UK. Hague and Straw are the problem.

"This demonisation of asylum seekers was started by Labour in 1997. Asylum seekers are welcome here, racist bigots aren't."

Suresh Grover, chair of the National Civil Rights Movement said there had been 23,000 racist assaults in the past year and 25 murders since 1991. According to Scotland Yard, race-hate crimes are running at an average of 63 a day in London - double the rate of a year ago.

Alan Gibson said: "The media's portrayal of asylum seekers is an outrage, and has led directly to an increase in racist attacks like that in Cardiff in which Santokh Singh Fandhu was murdered.

Building the union is about preventing racist, bullying editors from forcing journalists to process such copy. We need to make the NUJ's Code of Conduct stick. Union-busting bosses don't just want the freedom to pay us low wages, they want the freedom to lie - even when it kills people."

London Magazine Branch

You're not alone

Racism and reporting