Journalists at Newsquest titles in Hampshire have voted to take strike action over the company’s continuing pay freeze.
Around 45 National Union of Journalists’ members took part in the ballot which resulted in 78pc support for strike action and 95pc support for action short of a strike.
Titles potentially affected by the action include the Southern Daily Echo, Hampshire Chronicle and Romsey Advertiser.
The vote follows recent publication of the company’s accounts showing that one director received a 21.5pc pay rise last year.
NUJ deputy general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “Newsquest’s continuing attacks on its own journalists combined with greed in the boardroom has been truly exposed. The business remains profitable but consistently fails to fairly reward staff.
“It is not acceptable for the company to continue attacking pay and conditions and treat the workforce with such contempt. Our members have simply had enough and this has been shown in the ballot result.”
As well as the pay freeze, Newsquest is proposing to close its final salary pension scheme which may lock salary levels for pensionable pay at rates set in 2007.
The company has yet to respond to requests for a comment.
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There is no reason why Newsquest should not be paying its weekly and monthly seniors a minimum of £22K a year and its daily seniors a minimum of £27K a year. Long-serving seniors ought to be earning £30K-plus a year.
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What do they earn, Chris?
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NUJ – hold a national ballot and I’ll happily vote for strike action. It’s about time the workforce took a stand.
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21 per cent sounds crazy. People everywhere are beginning to feel the “them and us” divide is getting too big. Seems to be trend across the nation, not just on papers. We are not quite “all in it together” Mr Cameron. Some are more in it than others. As the posh BBC reporters like to say to impress “It was ever thus”.
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Is this the same Newsquest (ie Gannett the greedy bird) that is stripping staff from the once superb Argus at Brighton? I see where the pay rise comes from now!
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I feel for the employees of Newsquest Hampshire, pay freezes are hard to take. The company I work for, a well known independent, family owned in the Midlands, where some staff have not had a pay rise for up to 5 years. We are constantly told things are still tight which is fair enough but how do they expect us to survive as the cost of living rises. Get a new job, you may be saying. Well the bosses also know that is unlikely to happen too, so they’ve got us over a barrel. The younger people who work here can’t afford to move out of home and the older ones have responsibilities ie children, mortgages etc. As a private company we don’t get the luxury of finding out if our bosses have awarded themselves pay rises while offering excuse after excuse to not give us one. But then again i suppose ignorance is bliss!
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I thought the NUJ and many of its members lost the balls to strike 10 years so fair play to Hants. I voted for it back then when it would have made a differnce. A bit late now I think…unless this support of strike action spreads
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’10 years ago’ – sorry
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From the once superb Argus at Brighton? Once superb is right. It was a long time ago before Newsquest’s high-flyers had a plan to turn it into the paper of the future (no stories from council estates, no hard news, just bumph for home alone yummy mummies). Instead they turned it into the paper no-one reads. Good work high-flyers.
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I agree with Anon – hold a national ballot on strike action and I’ll be the first to sign up. It’s not just Newsquest Hampshire that is feeling the pinch.
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