Strikes at Johnston Press Irish titles called off

Strikes planned by NUJ chapels in Johnston Press owned titles in Ireland have been averted, the union says.

Ballots in favour of industrial action were passed in eight JP titles -- The Limerick Leader, The Leinster Leader, The Clonmel Nationalist, The Tipperary Star, The Leitrim Observer, The Leinster Express, The Offaly Express and The Kilkenny People.

But the NUJ says that negotiations "took on a new vigour" following the ballot and jobs under threat were saved. In other cases redundancy was accepted after packages were improved. Vacancies were created after the company accepted volunteers for redundancy who had previously been rejected.

The NUJ also claims management gave assurances that issues that arose concerning the introduction of the new ATEX editorial management system would be dealt with constructively with the chapels.

The Limerick Leader NUJ members deferred their strike action on the morning that it was due to take place on Tuesday.