Keeping his counsel

During our strike, Newsquest management will no doubt be doing everything in their power to publish The Press and the Gazette & Herald as normal. Of course, with 70% of the editorial staff on the picket line protesting over their meagre wages, the quality of the papers is bound to plunge.

In their struggle to fill pages, press releases that can be chucked straight into the paper will come in very handy. In light of this, we thank the leader of City of York Council's Green Party group Coun Andy D'Agorne. He has committed to respecting our picket line by not sending press releases in to The Press for the duration of the dispute, and has asked other council leaders to do the same. This comes as a particular boon given that the authority's annual meeting - the highlight of the council year - comes on the first day of our strike.

On his blog, Andy said:

"The Greens will respect requests from the journalists affected not to send press releases to The Press during the dispute but to provide the information to other local media and the NUJ. I have asked other party leaders to do likewise."