South Yorkshire journalists call off strike action

NUJ members at the Johnston press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers, who have been on strike action for two months over job cuts, are to return to work tomorrow.

The NUJ said today that the striking journalists had voted to return to work and allow negotiations with the Johnston Press to start.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “I am delighted that common sense has prevailed at South Yorkshire Newspapers and meaningful negotiations will start with the chapel. We have wanted talks all along and we hope they will be positive and constructive.”

Journalists involved in the strike work at the Doncaster Free Press, Epworth Bells, Selby Times and South Yorkshire Times.

Jim Oldfield, the outspoken editor of the South Yorkshire Times who insisted in covering the jobs' dispute in his paper, was made redundant during the dispute along with Peter Catt, the sports editor of the Doncaster Free Press.

The NUJ says further industrial action has not been ruled out if no agreement is reached with Johnston Press.

NUJ urges Johnston Press to open talks on strike

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet has called on Johnston Press to open talks with journalists at South Yorkshire Newspapers who are on indefinite strike now that more than 3,000 readers have signed a petition backing their action and opposing cuts planned by the group.

The petition was close to breaking the 3,000-reader barrier when it was presented by striking journalists to outgoing Johnston Press chief executive John Fry at a financial meeting in the City of London last Thursday.

The NUJ claims the journalists have won massive support from local communities since their action began on July 15 at the South Yorkshire Times, Doncaster Free Press, Selby Times and Epworth Bells over job cuts, office closures, increased workloads and a lack of faith in management.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet (top) said: “Now is the time for John Fry to show some leadership. He claimed not to understand why journalists in South Yorkshire are out on strike, so what better reason to sit down and discuss the major issues at hand.

"Thousands of readers in South Yorkshire are appalled at what’s happened to their local papers under his watch. If quality journalism is as important to him as he said to us outside the Johnston financial meeting, John Fry needs to get his journalists back in work and doing what they do best, serving their communities. That can’t happen until common sense prevails and a commitment to meaningful talks is made.”

Pic: Jon Slattery

Readers support South Yorks strikers' petition

Striking journalists at the South Yorkshire Times are being supported by thousands of readers who have signed a petition protesting at job cuts and management changes at the paper, the NUJ claimed today.

Three editorial posts have been lost at the SYT and the remaining reporters will now be based in Doncaster with the paper coming under the editorship of Doncaster Free Press chief Graeme Huston.

South Yorkshire Times editor Jim Oldfield was made redundant during the journalists' continuing official indefinite strike.

NUJ organiser Chris Morley said: "It's wonderful that so many people have chosen to back our members’ campaign against what is effectively the death of their newspaper. It was brilliant to see how much support we have had from readers - at times people were literally queuing up to sign the petition.

"Under Jim Oldfield's editorship the SYT became one of the most vital, courageous and popular local weeklies in the country - it is heartbreaking to see such an inspiring era threatened in this way."

Journalists at the Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Times ,Doncaster Free Press, Selby Times and Epworth Bells have been on indefinite strike since July 15 over job cuts, office closures, increased workloads and a lack of faith in management.

Pic: Jim Oldfield (Jon Slattery)

Do you speak management? It's all Bills to me

NUJ strikers at South Yorkshire Newspapers have thrown out a challenge after having tracked down the company's new managing director John Bills' Linkedin page and been totally baffled by his entry.

It states: "A Senior Executive with wide business management experience gained in national blue-chip multi-site organizations, commercially focused with strategic insight. A demonstrable record of successfully implementing business transformation, building multi-media businesses, change management, process improvement and cost reduction. An innovative charismatic leader and communicator who thrives on the challenges of change and who is adept at building and motivating high performance teams, delivering strong operational performance in highly competitive fast moving environments.

Specialties:

"Implementing business transformation, building multi-media businesses, change management, process improvement and cost reduction."

The strikers say: "Frankly we don't know what it means. But we're pretty sure 'process improvement and cost reduction' means sacking journalists.

"When he says he is is 'adept at building and motivating high performance teams', he's certainly motivated NUJ members to strike!"

The NUJ strikers add:"There's a prize for the best translation of Mr Bills' management into English, so let's see you hacks get cracking! First prize is a copy of this week's strike-breaker produced Doncaster Free Press. Second prize is, of course, two copies!"

Jim Oldfield on his redundancy and campaign for a Parly inquiry into regional press ownership

Jim Oldfield is not going quitely after being made redundant as editor of the South Yorkshire Times by Johnston Press while joining the strike by NUJ members against job cuts ( see post below).

As well as fighting his case against JP he is urging all regional journalists to back his campaign for Parliament to investigate the domination of the regional press by a few large publishers.

Oldfield on his redundancy: "I have now been made redundant by JP (subject to appeal), in a brown paper envelope couriered to my home on Monday evening after close of play and shoved through my letterbox - a fine thank-you from a company for whom I worked for seven-plus years, for a maximum salary of £25,000 and from whom I claimed but a handful of expenses in those seven years.

"From 2004-8, I built the inaugural Community Newsletters series for South Yorkshire Newspapers - taking the series to the finals of the Paul Foot awards in London in 2008; the only non-"Fleet Street" outfit in the finals.

"From 2009-last Monday I edited the paid-for South Yorkshire Times. I inherited it after the editor of the Doncaster Free Press edited the title from Doncaster for three years, during which time its circulation fell from 6,500 to around (and under) 4,000.

I inherited it when it was making year on year losses in the region of 30pc in Jan 2009. Its ABC for 2010 was -3.3pc... the best paid-for performance in South Yorkshire. We were O2 Weekly Newspaper of the Year (Yorks and Humberside) runner-up in 2010. Under the redundancy plan drawn up by the editor of the Doncaster Free Press, I have now gone and he will resume editing the paper from Doncaster.

On his campaign: "I have launched a campaign, on the back of the Select Committee inquiry into Murdoch media practices, to get that committee to look into the abominable oligopoly in the regional Press, in which five proprietors own some 2/3 of all the UK's local papers.

"It is arguable that the local Press is the real cornerstone of free speech in this country, especially given the nationals' known political bias and in the case of the tabloids, concentration on "celeb" news.

"However, I have witnessed at Johnston Press and at least one other of these companies, a monolithic attitude of 'might is right' in their cavalier dealings with a free Press and indeed their own staff, which marks them out to be every bit as ruthless and poisonous as some of the worst aspects of News International.

"For this reason I am now calling for every regional journalist and activist to target their local MP over the Parliamentary recess, to press for the fullest regional/local Press inquiry - either to run alongside the Murdoch investigation, or separately.

"This probe should look at the way the big companies have used relaxed competition laws to buy up hundreds of titles and ruthlessly asset-strip their staffs (and thus our profession) with nothing more than profit in mind.

"They did this long before the country went bust - now their asset-stripping, in the face of reduced profits after the bubble burst, is truly horrific."

• Pic: Demo in Doncaster on Saturday on behalf of striking journalists at South Yorkshire Newspapers, publisher of the South Yorkshire Times (NUJ).
  

'I'm strike breaking': Read all about it on facebook

If you are going to be strike breaking perhaps it would be wise not to post about it on facebook where the strikers can read your thoughts.

NUJ organiser Lawrence Shaw has jumped at the chance to repost on his Collective Invective blog some of the facebook comments of two students who the union claim are crossing the picket lines at Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers, where journalists are on an indefinite strike over job cuts and office closures, to help out the editorial department.

Grist to the mill is the fact that one of the students is said to be Tom Bills, son of the SYN md John Bills.

Among Tom Bills' comments, according to Shaw, are:“workin in a newsroom in doncaster, av been for a couple of weeks! Its reaaaaalllly goood! ;) x” and “sooooo bored at work I've actually started look at the clock more than my computer screen!”.

Shaw says on his blog: "I have often wondered what goes through the mind of people who willingly and openly cross trade union picket lines to replace striking staff. Now, thanks to the miracle of social media and a lax attitude to privacy settings, the 24 NUJ members about to enter their fourth week of indefinite strike action against South Yorkshire Newspapers group now know what the scabs are thinking and saying."

He adds: "There’s more on there if you're quick. If the boys eventually clock on to this and change their privacy settings so the entire world can’t see their facebook status updates, then contact us for the multitudinous screengrabs we have saved for posterity."

South Yorks strikers meet Johnston chief Fry

Striking journalists from the Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers today spoke directly to JP chief executive John Fry outside the offices of the Sheffield Star.

Fry came out to talk to the journalists who are on indefinite strike and had a 25 minute informal discussion with them.

According to the NUJ, the strikers were able to express their concerns about job cuts, office closures, excessive workloads and the declining standards of the newspapers.

When asked directly if South Yorkshire Newspapers would consider discussions through ACAS, an offer made by strikers last week, Fry reportedly said "no" and added: "We prefer to talk directly with our colleagues."

Chris Morley, the NUJ's northern and midlands organiser said: "While it is good that our striking members were able to put the issues directly to the chief executive, we should be having proper discussions with reps without the threat of our members losing their jobs. We believe a solution can be found but there must be a clear realisation that the company understands the problems. At the moment the company seems to be in denial about that."

Pic: NUJ

Donny rally for striking South Yorks journalists

A rally is to be held in Doncaster on Saturday in support of striking journalists at South Yorkshire Newspapers who have started the 13th day of their indefinite action against job cuts and office closures planned by Johnston Press.

A march will start at Frenchgate, Doncaster at noon on Saturday before proceeding through Doncaster town centre before speeches in Doncaster market place near the offices of the Doncaster Free Press.

The NUJ wants Johnston Press group to use conciliation service ACAS to resolve the dispute. Journalists at the Doncaster Free Press, South Yorkshire Times, Selby Times and Epworth Bells.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: "Johnston Press owes it to the newspapers' readers and the local communities to enter into meaningful negotiations to resolve the dispute.

“We want to make sure local news reflects the communities it serves and this battle is about quality and resources. The impact of the cuts is a stark threat not simply to our members’ livelihoods but to local news and the future of the industry.”

NUJ calls for ACAS role over South Yorks strike

The NUJ is calling for Johnston Press to go to arbitration service ACAS in a bid to end the indefinite strike called by union members at its South Yorkshire Newspapers division over job cuts.

The cuts have been proposed at the South Yorkshire Times, Doncaster Free Press, Epworth Bells, Selby Times and Goole Courier.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary said: "We are calling on Johnston Press to enter into meaningful negotiations to resolve the dispute. We want to make sure local news reflects the communities it serves and this battle is about quality and resources. The impact of the cuts is a stark threat not simply to our members’ livelihoods but to local news and the future of the industry.”

The NUJ chapel has agreed a motion stating: “The senior management of South Yorkshire Newspapers (SYN) and indeed Johnston Press (JP) has shown that it is absolutely incapable of producing or expediting any kind of fair or lawful consultation on a redundancy plan which we believe will fatally damage its titles, our jobs and futures, and which will harm a free Press in this country.

"Instead the company has relied on a combination of bullying, harassment and bunker mentality to deliver a no-consultation approach in unlawfully pushing through these proposals. For this reason, the SYN chapel now calls on the auspices of the Government in the form of ACAS to intervene in this dispute.

"If the company yet again fails to engage, this demonstrates the complete moral, managerial and strategic redundancy of SYN and JP itself. The SYN NUJ chapel re-iterates its willingness to meaningfully negotiate a settlement of this dispute which does not harm our titles, our members or the future of the Press.”

South Yorks NUJ strikers launch 'bootleg' papers

Striking NUJ journalists at the Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers are producing 'bootleg versions' of the Doncaster Free Press, South Yorkshire Times and Selby Times for readers as part of their industrial action against management decisions to cut jobs and close offices.

News of the Dearne appeared in Mexborough today with the strapline: "Hacking off Johnston Press since 20o11" and a feature on the issues behind the strike.

The union says the journalists have made the move to publish their own papers because they do not want their readers and communities to miss out on the real news while their indefinite strike continues.

One of the NUJ members said: "We are determined to win our strike, but we feel a real responsibility to our readers and are determined to give them the best service they can get.

"We also want to show management that we are willing and more than able to produce quality journalism under the most difficult of circumstances.We just wish our bosses would give us the opportunity to do that while we were at work."

The first issues of all three newspapers focus on the strike but next week's newspapers plan to carry news from all three towns.

One of the strikers' ideas was to call their Selby paper the News of the (scr) Ouse.

Labour Leader Ed Miliband tweeted today: "Hope the issues are resolved soon. I’ve always appreciated what Free Press and SYT do – their campaigns and stories are vital." He has come under fire from the NUJ for ignoring the dispute, despite being a local MP (see post below).

• The NUJ has accused Labour leader Ed Miliband, a local MP, of ignoring the strike.

• Striking editor reveals Johnston Press pay levels for journalists.

• Salary shocker: How regional pay compares to other jobs.
• Francois Nel at UCLAN is conducting a survey on regional pay.
  

Workies being used to cover for strikers says NUJ

Striking South Yorkshire NUJ journalists claim their management is using work placement volunteers to "unwittingly undermine" the industrial action launched by the NUJ last Friday to protest at job cuts.

The union claims that at the Selby Times – one of four South Yorkshire Newspapers titles where NUJ journalists are on indefinite strike after the announcement by the Johnston Press-owned company of 18 editorial job cuts – a 16-year-old has been asked to extend his work experience by a week.

The teenager, who originally approached the paper asking to shadow the sports editor, is believed by the union to have been asked to work on both news and sports stories by the paper which is down to just an editor and sports editor

Journalists at the Doncaster Free Press, another paper involved in the dispute, also believe young people on work experience are being used to help publish their paper this week, as almost all the paper’s journalists are on strike.

NUJ negotiator Lawrence Shaw said: “We want a full and unambiguous assurance from management that they are not relying on youngsters and students working for free to produce content to get their newspapers out.

“If SYN management were found to be abusing the goodwill of youngsters to break the strike it would be utterly unforgivable. They need to make it clear they are not doing this.”

Salary shocker: How regional pay compares

This is how the wages of journalists working for the Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers compare to other industries, according to figures obtained via the NUJ.

They show how far regional journalism pay has fallen behind that of the police, teachers, nurses and social workers.

Members of the NUJ have started an indefinite strike at the newspaper group today over plans to make editorial staff redundant.

One of those under threat is Jim Oldfield, editor of the South Yorkshire Times, who hit out at the low wages paid to journalists in a speech in London last night.

South Yorkshire journalists confirm strike action

Journalists at the Johnston Press-owned South Yorkshire Newspapers have voted unanimously to confirm their strike which begins tomorrow (Friday) over threatened editorial redundancies.

The threatened cuts would hit the weekly South Yorkshire Times title at its office in Mexborough. The striking journalists say they are shocked at the threat to the job of the paper’s editor Jim Oldfield, whose commitment to local campaigning journalism they say has helped to make the paper the best-performing Johnston Press weekly in the region.

The NUJ parliamentary group of MPs has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons supporting journalists in Yorkshire "who are leading the fight for quality journalism and local news" and endorsing the NUJ campaign to defend the quality of news service that journalists bring to their local communities . The MPs call on the paper’s Johnston Press group proprietors to withdraw the proposals "which will cost jobs, undermine the future viability of the affected titles and damage the provision of local news in South Yorkshire".