Tindle Newspapers journalists are back at work after six days’ successful strike. They hope the unity and determination they showed will force their employer to concede an additional member of staff.
The workforce has halved in the past few years, and the reporters, subs and photographers are struggling to keep up with their workload.
The nine members of the Herts and North London NUJ chapel decided to strike after a year of negotiation had produced no shift by their boss. Ray Tindle owns more than 220 titles and his company made £3 million profit last year.
The North London and Herts titles are currently making a loss, but the journalists argue that Tindle should stick by them until the economy picks up.
The journalists have made many suggestions for increasing revenue. Writing on the strike blog, Father of the Chapel Jonathan Lovett said: “if we still can’t make management see sense, then we have every right to strike again… because what we are doing is not just for ourselves but for every journalist in every newspaper group which places quantity before quality, churnalism over journalism.”
On the eve of the strike Tindle wrote to the journalists with a thinly veiled threat to make them redundant if the strike went ahead; this only strengthened their resolve. The journalists were docked bank holiday pay as well as strike day pay, so they have lost 10 days’ pay instead of six.
To donate to the strike fund, send cheques payable to “North London & Herts NUJ Funds” to North London & Herts NUJ, 1st Floor, 43 Park Road, London N8 8TE.
