Industrial relations at Newsquest in Glasgow appear to be worsening, as the National Union of Journalists plans a further two days of strike action in an ongoing dispute over proposed compulsory redundancies at the company.

The union says staff at the Evening Times will walk out again on Friday and staff at the Sunday Herald will strike on Friday and Saturday in addition to a continuous work to rule at the papers and sister title The Herald.

It also says a union official, Evening Times reporter Gordon Thomson, was suspended after being called into Evening Times editor Donald Martin’s office.

It is understood he walked out of the meeting with the editor and another senior staff member after his request to be accompanied was refused, after which he was told he would be suspended. The suspension has now been lifted.

In a statement, Donald Martin said he had chosen not to treat an unauthorised absence on Friday as a disciplinary matter in an effort to maintain working relationships at a difficult time for staff.

He said: “It has been made clear to the individual and the NUJ that we expect and require a protocol to be followed in seeking permission to deal with union matters.

“On this pragmatic basis we will impose no further sanctions in relation to this matter.”

In a further dispute between the two sides, the NUJ is calling on members to e-mail MP John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to urge him to reopen the investigation into the takeover of the Herald newspaper titles by Newsquest in 2003.

Earlier this month the Competition Commission rejected a bid to get the purchase of the group from SMG re-examined, saying that because it was a case under the old Fair Trading Act there is no provision allowing it to re-open the inquiry.

It also said Newsquest had not given any formal assurances or pledges of the type that are sometimes required to let a merger/acquisition go through, and even if it could be proved that the inquiry in 2003 was deliberately misled, no action could be taken more than three years after the inquiry.

However the union says MP John Hutton has the authority to reopen the investigation and has asked members to write to him to pile on the pressure.

Last Wednesday staff at The Herald in Glasgow held a 24-hour strike. Union members from all three titles also walked out on July 20, with Sunday Herald staff also striking the following day to try to disrupt key production times.

The dispute now centres around one compulsory redundancy.