The axe swings again

Those who thought Newsquest had already cut its York operations back to the bone were clearly mistaken. In the face of the economic downturn and anticipating a fall in its profits due to slacker advertising revenue, the company is once again planning to cut jobs.

We learned last Friday - a day after a regal visit from Newsquest chairman and chief executive Paul Davidson - that 18 of our colleagues are to be made redundant - nine van drivers, two cleaners, two printers and five pre-press staff. Today, just minutes before chapel reps were due to begin mediation with ACAS over our outstanding pay claim, management dropped a bombshell for the company's journalists.

Editor Kevin Booth told staff of plans to axe eight journalists' posts. A current reporting vacancy will not be filled, making a total of nine redundancies. No details were provided about which departments will be hit, but the editor said photographers, graphic artists and admin staff (all with virtually no union members) would be safe.

At a chapel meeting held later that day, members were rightly furious about the planned cuts, which are being replicated at Newsquest centres across the country. Two years ago, the company made nine editorial staff redundant but there was no decline in workloads, on the contrary. It seems we can expect the same scenario this time.

Chapel members committed themselves to opposing any compulsory redundancies and mounting a campaign to save quality local journalism in York and North Yorkshire, which we believe is being destroyed by Newsquest's slash and burn policies. We will be fighting for every one of our union colleagues who is under threat and making sure management engage in full assessment, consultation and representation as provided for in law.

We'll have more on our campaign soon...

Cost of living is rising

We began our campaign for fair pay with a five-day strike because chapel members feel fed up with below-inflation pay rises eroding our standard of living while our employer - Newsquest - continues to make massive profits.

Living is costly

While the standard measure of inflation (RPI) currently stands at four per cent year-on-year, house prices have gone up by 6.6 per cent, food by 7.2 per cent and energy costs by 15 per cent, not to mention the spiralling cost of fuel. These increases, coupled with below-inflation pay deals year after year, are making life costlier than ever.

In our last round of pay negotiations more than two years ago, we agreed a deal based on RPIX (a rate of inflation that doesn't include mortgages) plus 0.25 per cent. Using the same calculation for this year - just to stand still on our deal last time around - would currently work out at a 4.25 per cent rise.

Yet we have been offered just a three per cent pay rise - in real terms a 1.2 per cent pay cut.

Four other Newsquest centres have been offered a 3.5 per cent deal - Glasgow, North Essex, South Essex and South London. Our management has said an extra 0.5 per cent would be available as "merit money" for the editor to shower on whoever he pleases. But it has become clear both here and from colleagues in Bradford that Newsquest bosses are not in any way committed to spending this cash.

Billion dollar racket

Newsquest's management is pleading poverty but its profits in York alone were £4.3 million last year. Gannett, the American parent company that owns Newsquest - including The Press and the Gazette & Herald - made $1 billion in 2007.

Newsquest's national chief executive and chairman Paul Davidson received more than £1.1 million in salaries, bonuses and benefits last year and lives in the exclusive Virginia Water estate in Surrey - the wealthiest village in England.

Yet trainee reporters on The Press - graduates often with a mountain of debt - are forced to struggle by on only £13,500. The most any non-management journalist at The Press or the Gazette & Herald could ever hope to earn is £22,500 - even if they work for the company for decades they will never break through this glass ceiling.

And unless we put a stop to below-inflation pay deals year after year, journalists' standard of living will continue to worsen.

Greedy Gannett

Despite being community newspapers based in sleepy North Yorkshire, The Press and the Gazette & Herald are ultimately owned by the massive American-based corporation Gannett, owners of USA today and dozens of newspapers across the pond. The intermediary is Newsquest, the firm's British operation.

Despite pleading poverty when it comes to their employees wages, new figures show how the bosses are raking it in. According to Gannett's website, in the period from the start of this year to May 4 - precisely four months and four days - the firm's revenue was more than $2.3 billion. That works out at revenue coming in each day, every single day, of $18,531,936.

The company made in excess of $1 billion profit last year alone. Compared to that, our pay claim is peanuts...