Journalists on Newsquest titles in the North of England are to hold a 24-hour strike next Tuesday over plans to move subbing roles to South Wales.
National Union of Journalists members at Bradford, York and Darlington voted to take industrial action in protest at the proposal to transfer production to the company’s subbing hub at Newport with the potential loss of 25 jobs.
Now a one-day strike has been called for Tuesday 18 February with the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, Northern Echo and The Press in York among titles set to be affected.
The NUJ says 10 jobs are at risk in Bradford, five in York and 10 in Darlington, although not all of these are full-time subbing roles.
Strike ballots held in recent weeks saw union members in Bradford voting by 80pc for strike action, by 83pc in York and by 75pc in Darlington.
The union has also called for talks with management at the conciliation service ACAS and is challenging Henry Faure Walker, who takes up the post of chief executive of Newsquest on 1 April, to introduce a moratorium on the plans.
Northern and Midlands organiser Chris Morley said: “By now I suspect Newsquest realises the level of hostility and ill-feeling its reckless plans to export local journalism production to another country is generating.
“The management has a very limited window to avoid a hugely damaging united action by our three affected chapels on the same day. We have suggested a meeting with ACAS to open a dialogue and find a sensible solution. So far, we have not had a reply.
“I am now making a public appeal to Henry Faure Walker, the incoming chief executive, to show his staff he has a grip on reality and a willingness to think positively.
“I call on him to issue an immediate and complete moratorium to further work transferring from the regions to the Gwent subbing hub. The NUJ remains ready and willing to sit down with Mr Walker to thrash out a settlement that retains the maximum number of jobs where they should be – in the local centres.”
General secretary Michelle Stanistreet added: “These are very strong votes for action and the management must take note. Newsquest, an American-owned company, clearly has no loyalty to its readers or staff.
“Local papers should be produced in the heart of the communities they serve, not more than 200 miles away in another country.”
No one from Newsquest has so far responded to requests for a comment.
It is understood that management at the centres are seeking to voluntary redundancies in a bid to minimise the overall number of job losses.
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This could be the NUJ’s last big stand. If the papers continue to come out, and readers don’t notice the difference, won’t that just make management more confident? The NUJ is potentially taking staff from a weak position to an even weaker one. I hope I’m wrong but my experience of the NUJ gives me little confidence that anyone at Newsquest is listening – public appeals like this prove that.
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The papers will still come out and the readers will be none the wiser. The NUJ is about as useful as that ashtray on jimmy savile’s motorbike.
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All three chapels are rock solid on the need to protect not only jobs but the reputation of their titles. The NUJ already has clear examples that where the new superhub has been used, quality suffers. Allowed to continue in this way, these titles are on the fast-track to oblivion. Journalists are taking a stand to save Newsquest from itself. It’s not too late for sense to prevail.
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Playing into Newsquests hands……..
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Why is the union like an oil tanker, taking an age to turn? It’s already too late, Newsquest are more than halfway through one-to-one consultations with affected staff, any strike action is just adding to an already difficult situation and can only loosen the NUJ’s already fragile grip in newspaper offices. For the record, only 60 per cent of staff in Bradford whose jobs are under threat are in the union. And that’s without the affected six planners, rarely mentioned on HTFP, who are not in a union.
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Hi Joe Gillis, do you know how the planners have been affected would be interesting to know when it moves on to the next part of the country as were in the dark as usual
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Hi An Interested Party, Around,
Speak to your line manager or HR – I believe it is a phased process subject to the IT working.
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Why oh why is the NUJ not learning from past mistakes.
One day strikes do NOTHING!
Any paper can get an issue out when it is missing a chunk of staff for one day. I was part of a one day strike once and the paper barely noticed that no-one was in. Plenty of non-union and freelance happily filled the void with the rest just copy/pasted press releases and pic spreads.
Has to be a minimum of two consecutive days. If i was one of the union members I would go into work in order not to lose the pay. One day strike is like taking away a smokers lighter but leaving him with some matches.
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Desker, three sister chapels are walking out simultaneously. That is an important development. The object here – assuming the company won’t open realistic talks before action takes place – is to demonstrate that effective action can be undertaken by staff thoroughly determined to get a viable solution. Other options always remain available.
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This move should be fought as strongly as possible. When I worked for Johnston Press and subbing was shifted to a ‘hub’, we started seeing basic errors which wouldn’t have happened with local knowledge, eg place names misspelled. Things like that hugely undermine readers’ confidence in their local paper and had them turning away in droves.
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I see the “roll over and die” merchants are at it again.
Don’t fight, they say. Don’t resist. Just let the bosses have their way because there’s nothing you can do.
Well sod that. As far as I’m concerned journalists have to fight back against the destruction of our regional newspaper industry by the employers – because that’s what’s happening.
I’d rather go down fighting than cravenly tug my forelock saying “yes boss, no boss, three bags full boss” which is what the naysayers propose. Good luck to the three chapels, and congratulations for taking a stand. Peter Lazenby.
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I’m with the strikers on this one. Too much weak-willed pussyfooting in the past has given management carte blanche to walk all over them time and time again.
Memo to the roll over and die brigade. The softly, softly approach DOES NOT WORK.
The strikers may well be damned if they take this action, they will be damned if they don’t but at least show some fighting spirit and camaraderie.
Good luck to all involved in fighting these scandalous, derisory plans.
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Is that Peter Lazenby, chairman of the Leeds branch of the NUJ?
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