Media Unions

National Union of Journalists (NUJ), print unions, broadcast unions

Sunderland College strike ballot; Greenwich libraries strike; new NUJ chapel in Wapping

Workers at Sunderland College will be balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay. According to the University and College Union, “The college intends to cut the salaries of more than 150 lecturers by £10,000 and downgrade 70% of its teaching workforce to inferior pay grades.” The ballot closes on Friday 18 May. Nearly 100 workers employed across 13 libraries in Greenwich have launched a series of strikes to prevent the privatisation of their workplaces. Workers struck on 27, 28 and 30 April and are due to strike again on 1 and 11 May. The local council wants to outsource the running of...

BBC strike could hit Jubilee coverage

Trade unions organising at the BBC have announced they will ballot members for strike action to win a pay increase in line with inflation. A joint statement from the National Union of Journalists, Unite and the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) on Thursday 19 April described BBC bosses’ current pay offer — a 1% increase — as “derisory”. Unions also criticised the BBC management decision to write to workers individually announcing an intention to introduce the pay rise two months earlier than first planned. Unions believe this is a deliberate ploy to bribe...

Strikes off in Newsquest fight

Journalists at newspapers in Essex have called off strike action after giving management one last chance over pay. National Union of Journalist (NUJ) chapels in Basildon and Colchester called off a three-day and one-day strike respectively after members decided to give Newsquest management until June to come up with a pay offer. The company had pushed back a January pay review date until June, saying they could not give a pay rise until the first quarter trading performance was known. However no rise is guaranteed in June, and for members in the north Essex chapel with pay reviews currently...

Journalists set for strike action

National Union of Journalists members at Thompson Reuters will strike for two days from Monday 9 February after they voted by 83% for action in a dispute over pay. Bosses have offered a below-inflation increase of 1.75%. NUJ deputy general secretary Barry Fitzpatrick said: “The management is proposing a below-inflation pay deal, while holding back money for a merit scheme. This is just not on.” Thompson Reuters, whose headquarters are in Canary Wharf in London, has also come under scrutiny for its relationship with cleaning contractor Lancaster, which has been accused of intimidating and hyper...

Newsquest national pay battle moves closer

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) chapels in the Newsquest group of papers met for a national “group chapel” on Saturday 21 January to discuss a campaign against the profitable company's attempt to impose a pay freeze. The journalists are trying to get hold of Newsquest trading figures for their respective areas. Chapels could launch industrial action ballots around 24 February, when the TUC is organising a “Work your hours” day. The group chapel was very supportive of Newsquest North and South Essex chapels. They have already launched an industrial dispute against a pay freeze and local...

Essex NUJ strike

National Union of Journalists members working for newspapers owned by the Newsquest company have voted to strike in a dispute over pay. Workers face a pay freeze, meaning that if no pay awards are made in 2012 it will be the third year out of the last four of standstill for Newsquest journalists. Management also want to impose a single pay “anniversary” (the point in the year at which pay is renegotiated) for all editorial staff, meaning some workers would not even be considered for a wage increase until June 2013. Will Lodge, Father of the Newsquest North Essex chapel, said: “After two years...

Strikes before Xmas at BBC

The BBC plans to cut 2,000 posts and make significant changes to workers’ terms and conditions as part of its “Delivering Quality First” review. The plan, which was announced on 6 October, is the latest in a long line of attacks from BBC bosses. According to the National Union of Journalists, 7,000 jobs have already been axed at the BBC since 2004. The latest round of cuts involves a 20% cut over five years, with between 700-800 of the jobs on the chopping block coming from BBC News. NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet commented: “This is a watershed moment in the BBC’s history — the...

Support the Johnston Press strikers!

The media industry’s first all-out strike in decades has seen journalists working for Johnston Press titles in South Yorkshire, including Doncaster Free Press and the Selby Times, take over a month’s worth of action. National Union of Journalists (NUJ) activists have accused the company of failing to act “humanely” towards its employees; it has so far refused to negotiate on any of the workers’ grievances and is pushing ahead with its plans to make across-the-board job cuts, including the merging of three titles into one under a single editor. Richard Parker, NUJ members at the Selby Times...

BBC strike

BBC workers took a second day of strike action on Monday 1 August in a battle over job cuts. National Union of Journalists General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “The NUJ is proud that our members everywhere in the BBC have recognised this threat to their colleagues [...] The latest ludicrous management ploy is to claim that the strike today isn’t having any effect. Clearly BBC management doesn’t watch the corporation’s output very much.” The BBC’s radio and television stations were forced to run repeats of old programmes and, in some places, senior managers were forced to fill in and...

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