Union members have this morning handed a petition to the chief executive of Johnston Press in protest at 18 job cuts at South Yorkshire Newspapers.
Axed South Yorkshire Times editor Jim Oldfield also attended the petition handover and confronted chief executive of Johnston Press John Fry outside the company’s headquarters in London as bosses were set to hold a financial results review.
Thousands of readers signed the petition in support of journalists who are entering their seventh week of indefinite strike action.
Union members from the South Yorkshire Times, Selby Times, Epworth Bells, and Doncaster Free Press have been on indefinite strike action since 15 July over job cuts, office closures, increased workloads and a lack of faith in management.
Jim Oldfield, left, confronts JP boss John Fry
Three editorial posts have been lost at the South Yorkshire Times and the remaining reporters will now be based in Doncaster with the paper coming under the editorship of Doncaster Free Press chief Graeme Huston.
Jim Oldfield was made redundant during the continuing official indefinite strike but is in the process of appealing his redundancy.
Speaking to HTFP, he said: “I finally got face-to-face with Mr Fry. I told him that JP had a policy of sacking people who were effective. I was a success at my job so they sacked me. I told him I will see him before a select committee.”
Five union members from SYN joined union officials in London to hand over the petition, which was signed by more than 3,000 people.
NUJ organiser Chris Morley said: “It’s wonderful that so many people have chosen to back our members’ campaign against what is effectively the death of their newspaper. It was brilliant to see how much support we have had from readers – at times people were literally queuing up to sign the petition.”
Johnston Press did not wish to comment.
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“Johnston Press did not wish to comment.” – say’s it all really.
I bet Fry and his cronies didn’t expect much of a fight from Oldfield. Boy, are they in for a shock, as this fight rumbles on, gathering momentum!
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I’m losing the will to live.
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They are fighting for newspapers which have been a part of the communities for as long as anyone can remember and more, all JP want to do is cut costs, but at what price. We want to keep our newspapers and they want to keep their jobs, sack them and the newspapers will disappear. Or is that the agenda ?
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3000 people… that’s not even 1% of the population of Doncaster, Selby and Goole… well done!
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Jim Oldfield got it bang on with the quotes: I told him that JP had a policy of sacking people who were effective. I was a success at my job so they sacked me.
Remember Harry Blackwood at the Hartlepool Mail? Effective, a success … and sacked.
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So surprised that Chris Morely did’nt get the JP CEO Job, seeing as he knows it all.
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3000 people, and they were so desperate for people to sign it they even got the local drunks to sign, like they even have a clue what they were signing for. Well done on your 3000 signatures, did the strikers all take one home and get friends and family to sign it for them too???
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It is sad that yet more editorial staff are going to lose thier jobs, but so are plenty of other staff in other disciplines and other businesses. Just get on with your lives and channel your energy into something more worthwhile ….i.e getting a new career! Many of us have had to do it, so stop whinging and move on.
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JP will eventually contract sufficiently to implode and become invisible.
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‘Fed up of this now’, – if you’ve nothing meaningful to contribute, don’t bother. Clearly the fact that 3,000 is not 1% of Doncaster, Selby or Goole is utterly irrelevant, as the paper in question does not cover Doncaster, Selby or Goole. It covers an area sandwiched in between Doncaster and Barnsley, and 3,000 is actually a pretty decent effort. The fact that reporters are now based in Doncaster is the point, it’s not and never has been a Doncaster paper, it’s a Dearne Valley paper. It’s like having a paper covering Watford and having all the reporting staff based in London. Nonsense. Well done to everyone at the SYT who’s backing this ludicrous decision
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Annoyed… The petition was for everywhere , DFP, Goole, Selby Epworth. and the SYT and not solely the SYT… Get your facts right. the 1% figure is based on the census figures for people in 2001 living in Doncaster, Selby, and Goole. Hang on whilst I recalculate to add Epworth and Mexborough…
Ok so I have added the people in Mexborough, Epworth and Wath-Upon-Dearne and that still doesn’t give you 1%
That is what you call a fact…
The DFP Editor getting rid of Peter Catt… that is not a fact… in fact it’s not even true…
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I see Johnston Press have finally decided to comment…via the comments at the end of this story.
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Comical Ali…….the spokesman for Gaddafi……the management lackey who signs himself “Fed up”
Tar and brush come to mind.
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see what happens when you put up the true facts… people side step them with daft comments… no lackey here and certainly no JP comment either… just an opinion which anyone is entitled to do on here. Just pointing out that annoyed is wrong and when I do i’m now comical ali… (who incidentally was Saddam’s spokesperson)…
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Listen ‘Voice of Reason’ (I’ll refrain from naming and shaming you, though we know who you are, and that most of the derogatory comments on here are made by yourself under various names).
We understand that you are disgruntled with the strike, we know exactly why that is, and the various sour grapes involved. However, I would have still expected a little more courtesy from a supposed newspaper professional. Clearly that’s too much to ask for isn’t it?
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Fed up of this now – OK John, now you’re cover’s blown maybe you’ll get back to work and leave the comments section alone. Good luck with selling ads, though, when supporters boycotting titles have hit circulation, and readers are complaining about lack of content. Journalists are your colleagues, if you could but see it, not your enemies.
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Look fellow journos, it didn’t take more than two months when our weeklies were bought by Johnston Press to figure that their “newsroom of the future” involved fewer people doing much, much more work. The Atex system put paid to editing the product properly, editors were given at least two newspapers to produce, and the mantra from the top ordered all stories must fit in boxes perfectly, even before the news had been gathered. If the Atex square peg doesn’t fit into the traditional round hole, just bash it in with a hammer.
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JP may have many faults but I don’t think ‘sacking people who are effective’ is one of them.
What a ridiculous comment. As if the company is looking around offices going, ‘Hang on, we need to cut costs and produce papers with less staff. Lets get rid of the best people – that will work best’.
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I find your irrepresible faith in the good-and-just nature of Johnston Press both refreshing and charming Sussex Journalist.
Sadly, those of us doomed to work for this particular organisation have quickly discovered that all such fantasy scenarios are swiftly dashed in the light of cold, hard facts.
In other words, yes they frequently do exactly as you described. How I wish it were not so.
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