National Union of Journalists members at Newsquest York are balloting members over industrial action.

Members at The Press, County Press and Gazette and Herald titles will hold two simultaneous ballots with the results announced on 5 January.

The union claims that management has also refused to rule out further job cuts while Newsquest appears to have issued a company-wide pay freeze.

Last month NUJ members at Newsquest North East, publisher of The Northern Echo and sister weeklies, voted in favour of balloting for industrial action.

NUJ northern organiser Chris Morley said: “The union members at York want to have clear mandates to take action over pay or job cuts.

“In view of what is happening elsewhere in Newsquest they want to put a marker down that they will not stand back and allow anyone to be shown the door against their will.”

Two weeks ago it emerged that Newsquest York MD Steve Hughes, Press editor Kevin Booth and Gazette and Herald editor Chris Buxton were given notice of redundancy and invited to apply for a new ‘managing editor’ role.

In May, the York NUJ chapel held five continuous days of strike action in a protest over what it called “Dickensian working conditions”.

Management at Newsquest York had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.