The NUJ has condemned the threat of compulsory job cuts at England's largest circulation regional newspaper, the Express & Star, Wolverhampton.
In April, the company warned it wanted to cut 10 per cent of staff, a total of 95 jobs. Volunteers have come forward but 54 jobs across all departments are still threatened with forced redundancy.
Chris Morley, NUJ Northern & Midlands organiser, said: "This is a very anxious time for our members who have been faced with the spectre of forced job losses for some time.
"It is still unclear where management are aiming their axe but getting rid of hard working dedicated staff will damage the overall quality of the journalism. These newspapers have high circulation mainly on the back of much original journalism that is rooted in the community. Reducing the numbers of journalists will surely weaken this.
"It has been an obvious trend in recent years that those newspapers that have cut deepest have paid for it in faster declining circulations. The situation is too serious for newspapers to risk this if they want a long-term future.
"The NUJ will be doing all that it can to shield its members from the cuts and limit the damage."
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