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Journalists prepared to strike over pay freeze says union

The majority of National Union of Journalists members employed by regional newspaper publisher Newsquest say they would be prepared to strike over pay.

In an indicative ballot held over the past month, more than eight out of ten union members working for the US-owned company indicated that they are prepared to take strike action if they are not given a pay rise this year.

The company does not have an official group-wide pay freeze but no chapel has reported being made a pay offer, with most being told the situation will be reviewed at the end of March.

When asked, ‘Would you support your chapel taking strike action in a dispute with management over a refusal by them to make a pay offer for 2012?’  82pc said yes and 18pc said no. There was also a vote of no confidence in Gannett, the group’s US parent company.

Bob Smith, father of the Newsquest Group Chapel, said: “This overwhelming vote of no confidence in Gannett’s ownership of our local newspapers and websites demonstrates the despair of our members who are trying to maintain a decent level of journalism in the face of relentless cuts.

“The resounding majority prepared to strike to defend wages shows the determination not to let Newsquest bosses excuse themselves from paying a rise for the third time in four years.

“Newsquest managers need to realise the strength of feeling of journalists as we near the date they set to review their decision to freeze pay. Our members are sick of hearing hollow promises and excuses from a company that is, let’s not forget, still very profitable.”

The union claims that journalists in Cheshire and Merseyside can earn as little as £14,500 and staff throughout the group are being asked to take unpaid leave referred to as “furloughs”.

Newsquest has not given its staff a pay rise in three out of the past four past years, yet the profits for its US owners, Gannett, have risen by 15pc to £82.5m, says the union.

Newsquest chief executive Paul Davidson had not responded to a request for a comment at the time of publication.

 

5 comments

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  • March 22, 2012 at 11:59 am
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    At least you’ve still got jobs. Many of us from other groups haven’t. Don’t fall into the trap.

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  • March 22, 2012 at 5:02 pm
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    As we all know from the constant stream of press releases that pour into our inboxes, what people say in surveys often has little connection to what they will do when push comes to shove. And where would these hacks picket? If they’ve still got an office with a High Street presence they’ll be among the minority, and picketing an anonymous trading estate block, or your own home, doesn’t make much sense

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  • March 22, 2012 at 5:23 pm
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    ”Newsquest chief executive Paul Davidson had not responded to a request for a comment at the time of publication”

    HTFP chaps – do you have a special short cut key to type this each time?

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  • March 23, 2012 at 9:58 am
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    ‘Take five days furlough or don’t get your 2% rise’ was the theme of last year’s motivational speech at our NQ paper.

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