Journalists at a regional daily could vote go on strike after five redundancies were announced.
Members of the National Union of Journalists at the Southern Daily Echo are being balloted for industrial action over the subbing redundancies and their ongoing pay dispute with management.
It was announced last month that four positions in Newsquest’s newly-formed subbing hub, which is based at the Southampton centre, were at risk, along with a management role on the Daily Echo’s sports desk.
A spokesperson for the NUJ chapel said that this week the company announced the journalists who will be made redundant under the move, one of which is voluntary but the rest compulsory.
Those losing their jobs include Simon Straker, the paper’s deputy sports editor, although some of those affected are understood to be appealing against their redundancies.
The ballot for action closes on Monday and a chapel meeting is due to be held later next week to discuss the results of it.
Newsquest announced plans to set up the subbing hub at the Daily Echo last October, resulting in five job losses at Brighton-based sister title The Argus whose production operation was switched to the new unit.
When the latest job losses were announced, editor-in-chief Ian Murray said the redundancies were being proposed due to ‘the need to seek greater efficiencies’ because of continued trading conditions.
He has now confirmed that four redundancies have been made from the subbing unit and one from the sports management team.
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Southampton sounds a terrible place to work.
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Newsquest journalists in Darlington and York, who are also being balloted for strike action over yet more redundancies, have been told by management – in writing – that it’s Newsquest policy not to axe sports desk jobs. Sports subs who left the NUJ before January’s industrial action and worked through the strike would do well to read this article carefully. I think the term is “own goal”.
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Lister, I’m not sure if you’re referring to sports subs at the Southern Daily Echo or your own paper. If it’s the former, it’s worth pointing out that Simon was the joint FoC during the industrial action and at the forefront of the strike action.
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Oscar. Thanks for clarifying that point. I was referring to Darlington. Newsquest is illustrating, one again, that it cannot be trusted one single inch. What is company policy one day is turned around 180 degrees the next. Sports subs are safe in Darlington today, but tomorrow they’ll be kicked in the guts like the rest of us.
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