Unions play a crucial, and in some ways unusual, role at the Guardian and Observer. That’s especially true of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which represents around 95% of the journalists. Here, Seumas Milne, chair of the Guardian and Observer NUJ chapel, looks at how the relationship with GNM management has fared over the last 12 months

The NUJ “chapel”, or workplace branch, at Guardian News & Media (GNM) not only negotiates the pay, terms and conditions of all those working on the editorial floors. It is also the collective democratic voice of the journalists on everything from threats to media freedom to how the company is run.

In an organization without shareholders, the journalists and wider workforce are – along with our readers – its most important stakeholders. As their representative, the chapel seeks to hold the company’s management to account, along with the trust that owns the Guardian and Observer. We have also tried to democratise these structures and make them more transparent. That’s still definitely work in progress.