Journalists and other media practitioners are generally underpaid. The pay is much lower in the private sector. In the worst cases, some private media houses do not pay their journalists, who are forced to live on hand-outs and favours from event organisers. In 2009, journalists and their employers signed a collective bargain agreement, setting up a minimum salary of CFAF 90,000 (137 Euro). Few media houses have upheld the terms of the collective agreement. About a dozen media associations operate in Congo including a trade union of media workers that defend interests of journalists and their members. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 2013 71