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Weekly faces 14-day stoppage over pay

Journalists at the Rotherham Advertiser are preparing to strike in a 14-day protest over pay.

National Union of Journalists members at the paper returned to work following a six-day protest over pay last week but are due to walk out again tomorrow (Wednesday).

If a deal isn’t reached members plan to stay away until Tuesday, September 17.

Members have turned down the company’s offer of a 2.3 per cent pay offer and are instead claiming ten per cent.

But editor Doug Melloy said that the offer of a 2.3 per cent rise was final and that the paper would continue be published as normal.

The union says there have been no further discussions with the company, but that ACAS approached both sides to try and organise talks.

NUJ regional organiser Miles Barter said: “The company said that that they would only talk if the members called off the strike action, which the members didn’t want to do.

“They felt that the company didn’t take them seriously and that they thought the strike was just a token gesture. But this is a serious attempt to prove they are unhappy with the levels of pay.”

In an earlier statement, editor Doug said that journalists at the Rotherham Advertiser were among the best paid weekly journalists in the country, adding: “If the NUJ has an argument about low pay they should not be seeking to harm companies like ours where both seniors and trainees are paid well above the average.”

There are 15 journalists at the paper, of whom 13 are NUJ members.

The Advertiser is run by Garnett-Dickinson, which also owns a contract print works.

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