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Tindle in redundancy threat to striking journalists

Tindle Newspapers is upping the stakes in a dispute with a group of weekly journalists who are beginning a strike today – by threatening redundancies at the centre.

Nine members of the National Union of Journalists working for Tindle Newspaper’s North London and Herts Newspapers in Enfield walk out from 8.30am today in the first of two three-day strikes over their company’s refusal to employ more staff.

They say the low numbers of journalists at the nine titles has left them resorting to ‘churnalism’ but the company says the high losses in Enfield could result in the group’s first redundancies since the recession.

A statement from the company said it was proud the whole group had come through three years of recession without making a single journalist redundant and believed it was the only newspaper publisher with that record.

It added: “Regretfully, we may no longer be able to uphold that resolution, in the face of the newspapers’ losses at Enfield.

“The rest of the group is currently supporting Enfield, but it is not possible for the group to continue to support the current level of loss.

“It follows that unless we are able to increase our profitability dramatically over the coming weeks, we will need to take action to make the papers profitable.

“We may do this by re-structuring the newspapers, which could potentially result in redundancies.”

The striking journalists say they voted to go on strike after nearly a year of negotiations with management had not seen an agreement reached with the company on its policy of not automatically replacing those who leave

Father of chapel Jonathan Lovett said the strike was a last resort because of concerns about the quality of the titles due to low staffing numbers and he hoped it would result in further talks with management.

He said: “Hopefully management will be around the table. We haven’t received anything from management in nearly 12 months of negotiations.

“We have been down the ACAS route and thought we had a deal. We thought they were going to provide us with a reporter on a fixed term contract for a year but they withdrew it.

“We feel we have no option but to go on strike. It is always a last option but there’s no guarantee that if any of the reporters leave, they would be replaced.

“It is not about pay. It is about the quality of the papers and about our readers. We are grossly short-changing them. There’s no room for quality – it is all about quantity.”

Jonathan added the chapel had not ruled out further strikes in future at the papers which includes the Enfield Advertiser, Enfield Gazette, the Winchmore Hill Advertiser & Herald and the Haringey Advertiser.

The strikes take place from Tuesday to Thursday this week and next week but because of the Bank Holiday weekends, journalists will be away from work for two weeks until 3 May.

11 comments

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  • April 19, 2011 at 9:49 am
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    If you go on strike you’ll be made redundant? Touch of the megalomaniac about that isn’t there? Oh, and the small matter of employment law. Still, let’s not worry about that, eh?

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  • April 19, 2011 at 9:49 am
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    What a joke. Family company? I don’t think so.

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  • April 19, 2011 at 9:50 am
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    The Tindle group seems to have many smaller, very parochial titles which would likely have disappeared long ago if they had fallen into the hands of bigger groups such as Newsquest/Northcliffe/Trinity Mirror – or at the very least be produced from even larger centralised operations with even fewer staff. Perhaps harsh reality is finally catching up with Tindle. That would be a very great shame indeed because so far Sir Ray’s personal views on what makes local newspapers local have been a welcome antidote to the couldn’t-care-less attitude of the bigger conglomerates.

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  • April 19, 2011 at 9:51 am
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    The Tindle group seems to have many smaller, very parochial titles which would likely have disappeared long ago if they had fallen into the hands of bigger groups such as Newsquest/Northcliffe/Trinity Mirror – or at the very least be produced from even larger centralised operations with even fewer staff. Perhaps harsh reality is finally catching up with Tindle. That would be a very great shame indeed because so far Sir Ray’s personal views on what makes local newspapers local have been a welcome antidote to the couldn’t-care-less attitude of the bigger conglomerates.

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  • April 19, 2011 at 10:50 am
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    Quite right ‘All subbed out’, this is such a disappointment to hear. Ray T’s views have been shone like a beacon through this whole recessionary mess … so far. If the quotes are accurate, how can grown adults/responsible executives not find a way to resolve these issues in nearly a year? Time to bang a few heads together Ray, surely?

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  • April 19, 2011 at 10:50 am
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    Come on Tindle journos. Join the real world. Up here in the north the industry has been decimated by redundos. Sounds like you have a decent employer. Talk it through or face the dole or start ‘freelancing’ with hundreds of other work-starved hacks struggling to make a living.

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  • April 19, 2011 at 5:20 pm
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    In response to northernhack’s comments, what sort of pathetic attitude is that?
    Are you saying that it’s difficult everywhere so there’s no point in anyone even attempting to stand up for quality journalism? Should we all just lay back and accept being treated like soulless robots just because the industry is struggling?
    From what they’ve been saying, Tindle is not a “decent employer” but making redundancies through the back door – arguably a more insidious and cynical way to do run down a group of newspapers.
    I applaud these nine for having the guts to stand up and campaign for quality rather than pay. You have my full support comrades.

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  • April 19, 2011 at 8:12 pm
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    Ray Tindle has many merits as a publisher, one of them being his refusal to allow his ultra-local papers to ape the nationals, a disastrous strategy for so many solid regional titles over the years.
    However, Sir Ray has never had much time for journalists, saying more than once that papers can actually exist without them, and that journalists generally write for other journalists, not the readership.
    If he makes all his editorial people redundant, he will presumably have the opportunity to put his theory to the test. EMAP tried it 50 years ago, lying that circulation actually went up while journalists were on strike at the Evening Telegraph at Kettering. Odd, then, that they should have invested all those millions in journalists over the last half century.
    Now, Ray, is the time to put your theories to the test. I am already anticipating the impact on your business when all the papers are filled with illiterately compiled press releases and fuzzy photographs.

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  • April 19, 2011 at 9:37 pm
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    Always embarrassing to see peers swallow the Ray TIndle “godfather of local journalism” line, which gets regurgitated by some dewy-eyed feature writer every now and then. The man makes a profit out of local papers. This is achieved by keeping staffing costs to a minimum. He is a businessman, not a journalist and certainly not some benevolent throwback from the supposed golden age of journalism I am sick to death of hearing about. Ask any one of the people working for a Tindle title. Or easier still, just look at one of the products. Not great.

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  • April 20, 2011 at 1:41 pm
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    Decent employer??!! As a Tindle journo now facing a third year without a (below inflation) pay rise, working on equipment that would not even be worth £5 on eBay and in offices that would be condemned if environmental health was ever allowed to set foot across the threshold – good for Enfield. Tindle does not invest despite his millions and it IS all about quantity over quality. I have worked for several major newspaper groups over the years and the lack of investment within Tindle is staggering even by local newspaper standards. We are already pared to the bone and editorial remains the poor man of the newspaper world – no company cars, no bonuses, zilch. We would be paid more working on a supermarket checkout, NUJ rates (and experience) count for nothing. Tindle doesn’t even recognise unions, anyway. Seriously considering a career change as fed up being taken for a ride. And I wasn’t joking about the size of the pay packet, either. All the major supermarkets pay more.

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  • April 20, 2011 at 3:19 pm
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    Acting as a priest for the event, FOC Jonathan Lovett conducted theatrical funeral rites for the titles involved at the entrance to the shopping centre in Church Street, Enfield at 12:30 (20th April) after a short funeral procession from the Tindle Offices The journalists were supported by those on whose behalf the journalists from titles had campaigned in the past, such as Save Chase Farm Hospital (SCF) and Union of College Union (UCU) at Conel. Supporting Speakers included local Labour Councillors, Ivy Beard (SCF) and Jenny Sutton (UCU Branch Secretary, Conel)

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