NUJ members at Newsquest's The Argus, Brighton, are planning to start the New Year by going on strike for a third time this Thursday and Friday (January 6 and 7), according to the Brighton and Hove News website.
The Argus journalists have been protesting about six news sub-editors being made redundant, after production work was switched to Newsquest’s Southampton offices, as well as a company-wide pay freeze.
One NUJ member told the Brighton and Hove News: “There are rumours going round that a pay rise of 2 per cent is in the offing. It’s not quite the 20 per cent that Paul Davidson [Newsquest chief executive]got.
“And it won’t bring back the six subs or Paul Holden, the Worthing reporter, who went a few months ago in this latest round of redundancies. What’s astonishing is that a local newspaper company doesn’t seem to realise how damaging it is to keep shifting jobs out of the local area.
“There will be advertisers and readers who must wonder why they should support their local newspaper when it doesn’t support them. It’s getting rid of local jobs and increasingly buying its supplies from outside the area that we’re supposed to serve. It’s crazy.
“We won’t be able to save those jobs now by going on strike but hopefully we will secure a pay rise after three years of suffering a real-terms pay cut.”
Pic: Argus NUJ chapel
- NUJ members at Newsquest's Herald & Times Group in Glasgow - publishers of The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times - have voted for industrial action in protest at compulsory redundancies.
- The NUJ dubbed Newsquest 'Scroogequest' in an Xmas newsletter to members.
- Brighton Argus NUJ strike blog
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