A regional daily’s sub-editors are set to be moved to a new production hub 17 miles away.
The Romanes Media Group is planning to move four production journalists from the Greenock Telegraph to a subbing unit in Clydebank, where a number of the group’s weekly titles are based.
The National Union of Journalists has claimed that affected journalists were initially only given three working days’ notice of moving to the subbing hub, arguing that their contracts required a month’s notice about such a change.
Scottish organiser Paul Holleran said the company had told him there would not be any job losses as a result of the plans.
Said Paul: “They have given us assurances on pay. I am looking for further assurances. I have asked them what the workload is going to be.
“Part of my negotiations will be that I want more money for the members because there’s extra travelling involved. I am trying to get the best possible deal for the members.”
Weekly titles based at the publisher’s offices in Clydebank include the Clydebank Post, Helensburgh Advertiser and Dumbarton Reporter and sub-editors at the new hub are set to work on these as as well as the Greenock Telegraph.
NUJ Scotland tweeted last week: “Greenock Telegraph chapel call in officials as Romanes Group announce plans for subbing hub in Clydebank. Jobs, pay and conditions at risk.”
In a statement, managing editor Tom McConigley said: “The company is continuing to consult affected staff regarding their proposed transfer from our Greenock to Clydebank office to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.
“Whilst affected staff will continue to service the Greenock Telegraph, the move provides additional flexibility and will benefit our Clyde Weekly portfolio.”
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Will any publisher ever put their loyal and hard-pressed staff uppermost in their strategy when setting up one of these hubs? They now seem so ever-present, you’d imagine they’d all start bumping into one another.
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When will they learn that producion hubs just don’t work? How many times in the past did blinkered management bring in centralised subbing – as it was known then – only to ditch it some time down the line?
So why go back to this fractured policy? Because now all pretence of delivering a good service to newspaper readers has been overtaken by the need to cut, cut, cut it means fewer people can do more work for less money. That’s all that seems to matter these days.
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“Part of my negotiations will be that I want more money for the members because there’s extra travelling involved. I am trying to get the best possible deal for the members.”
Presumably he will happy to cut the pay of anyone who now has less travelling ?
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Hmmm,, wonder if it will last longer than the infamous hub of sh**e, which was lead by the indomitable Ricky Gervais lookalike?
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