In his letter to the York strikers, Bradford Father of Chapel, Bob Smith, said:
On behalf of members of the Newsquest Bradford Chapel, I'd like to wish you success with your action in support of better pay and conditions.Thanks very much to Bob and all those at Bradford for showing such wonderful solidarity. Please everyone, keep the donations coming.
Newsquest makes vast profits on the backs of its workers and ships most of it back to its US shareholders. Investment in its companies is minimal and its long-term strategy non-existent. NUJ members' standards of living fall further with every below-inflation wage settlement the company offers. How your managing director Steve Hughes can call a three per cent offer "increasingly attractive" when inflation is soaring above four per cent and food prices are up by more than seven per cent is mindboggling and shows how out of touch our managers are.
Hughes's take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum with the company's offer indicates a Victorian vindictiveness which is completely out of place in the 21st century.
All of which is why we applaud your decision to take strike action, and why I and my chapel members are right behind you. Your fight is for every journalist in Newsquest and is vital at a time when management are set to hack even more resources from a company which has already been pared to the bone.
