The conclusion of our recent pay deal has been covered across the trade press: on the Media Guardian website, Hold The Front Page, Journalism.co.uk and the media industry weekly Press Gazette.
Some of the stories were changed after management refuted the fact that new trainees will get an increase of 17% (going from £13,449 to £16,188) after a three-month probationary period rate was scrapped. This is, in fact, the case and it will make a real difference to new starters who are struggling with student debt and rising living costs in an expensive city like York. We have also set a new baseline in the fight against low pay.
In traditional Newsquest style, the bosses did not issue a statement themselves. Who would have thought we work in the communications industry? Likewise, The Press's own coverage of the pay deal was meagre at best. A small nib on page seven of today's paper reads:
Pay offer accepted
Members of the National Union of Journalists at The Press have accepted the company's three per cent pay offer, ending a ten-month dispute. NUJ members at the newspaper and its sister title, the weekly Gazette & Herald, owned by the Newsquest Media Group, staged a five-day strike in May following a deadlock in talks. Agreement has now been reached following further talks between management, NUJ officials and the arbitration service ACAS.
The chapel had requested for a detailed, fair article covering the conclusion of the dispute, allowing also a comment from an NUJ spokesman. Sadly, in the end this was not permitted.
News of the eight planned redundancies (in addition to one post remaining unfilled) among editorial staff at The Press and the Gazette & Herald has reached the trade press, with Press Gazette and Hold The Front Page both covering the story.
Hold The Front Page also has news of more brutal job cuts by Newsquest at the Northern Echo, based in Darlington. There, ten editorial posts are to be axed through non-replacement of staff and early retirements, rather than redundancies, which gives some idea of how below-strength this rapacious company runs its newsrooms.
The NUJ website nationally also covers the stories, with its coverage of the York job cuts making clear that management's "consultation" is a sham as union representatives have been given no details of so-called restructuring plans. It also features the news from Darlington
In today's Press, meanwhile, there is a 150-word filler setting out how "difficult trading conditions" have forced the company to cut jobs. Managing director Steve Hughes says the company must "expand and contract with the market", which is utter nonsense: staff in York suffered cutsbacks and redundancies throughout the good economic times, during which Newsquest scarcely invested a penny. No response from NUJ reps was permitted.
The latest story about our dispute by Press Gazette, the journalism trade weekly, is on the threat by management to dock a full day's pay if any member misses part of the day due to the mandatory meetings. As the meetings last as long as is needed to complete the chapel's business, this is clearly about reducing the effectiveness of the action and saying: come in on time or not at all. The chapel will decide how to respond to this tomorrow, at the first of eight planned mandatory meetings at 8am.
News of our continuing battle for fair pay has already hit the trade press. We are featured in an article on the Press Gazette website, and also on Hold The Front Page. This was the press release issued by the NUJ and on its website:
Journalists in York are continuing their battle for fair pay by holding a series of mandatory chapel meetings each morning starting Thursday, June 12.
The 34 NUJ members will be holding meetings at 8am each morning up to and including Thursday, June 19. The meetings are intended to last as long as is needed for business to be completed.
NUJ Assistant Organiser, Jenny Lennox, said: "We are very disappointed that management still refuses to take this matter seriously. Our members feel they have no option but to take further action.
"The union remains committed to finding a resolution to this dispute and has repeatedly stated that we would be happy to meet with management but they continue to ignore us."
The action will affect The Press, the company’s main paper in the city, as well as other Newsquest titles including the Gazette & Herald. Members from these titles went on a five-day strike last month against a below inflation pay rise demanding a pay deal which matches local salaries and is in-line with pay at other Newsquest newspapers.
Our campaign for fair pay continues to make headlines in the journalism press. This week, the dispute has been covered in a very positive article on the Hold The Front Page website and also in Press Gazette, right, the industry's weekly trade magazine. Both made clear that despite the five-day strike being over, the chapel is very much determined to continue to press its case.
Our campaign continues to attract attention and support.
We reported how NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear visited the picket line on Saturday morning. He has written about his experience on his blog He says:
"There's a fantastic spirit about the strike and a determination to win a fair pay deal. I was happy to be able to deliver a show of support for the strikers and importantly pledge cash to them from the union's fighting fund."
Michelle Stanistreet, the NEC member for newspapers and agencies, who visited the picket line on Monday, has also paid testament to the spirit among the strikers on her blog She says:
"We need to keep up the fight for decent pay for journalists on highly profitable local papers. The York chapel is showing us the way. I can empathise with the people I spoke to today who are struggling to pay off student loans and find accommodation in an expensive area. The spirit of determination, unity and fun on the picket line was a lesson for the union as a whole. I was delighted to see the Stand Up For Journalism banner on display – as well resourced, motivated journalists are vital for a community like York. It was great to see that the chapel has the support of many local people – including the councillors and MP John Grogan who turned up on a bank holiday to show their support."
There's also a new article in the newspaper Socialist Worker by Frank Ormston, a local TSSA union rep who visited the picket line a number of times.
And we've had the following messages of support, one from our Business Editor who was sunning himself in warmer climes during the strike:
Feeling part of it
Well done all. The blog is fantastic. I really felt part of it from all this distance away. I know it's hard to believe, but I wished I was there. This is just the start of the battle. Fraternal greetings from paradise.
Ron Godfrey
Support for justice quest
Dear comrades, On behalf of all the 22,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union employed in the South West of England may I extend to you and all your fellow strikers our total support in your dispute to obtain justice for your members. If there is any practical help or support we can provide, please do not hesitate to get in touch, Yours fraternally
David A Millar
South West Regional Secretary, PCS
News of our strike has now gone transatlantic after the story was picked up by Gannett Watch, a US-based blog that keeps an eagle-eye trained on the doings of the American conglomerate that owns Newsquest and indeed The Press and the Gazette & Herald. Click here to see the post.
More good news on the media front. Aside from longer slots with interviews shown on Calendar and Look North last night, we also featured on ITV Tyne Tees news. Management have refused to give any comments to radio and TV, leaving us with a free run at it.
We also featured on the Hold The Front Page website today and at Journalism.co.uk, although the latter article looks at the video journalism angle. In a nutshell, we balloted for industrial action over this issue in December because of a lack of training, a shortage of reporters and there being no extra pay for the new skills. We called off the action after Steve Hughes promised 0.5% of budget towards payments for this. However, in the ongoing pay talks, this changed to become simply "merit money" for the editor to reward who he likes. It seems management are not even intending to spend this money.
Fundamentally, though, this strike is down to low pay and a below-inflation pay offer that we cannot accept.
The strike has enjoyed tremendous coverage on Radio and TV today. Pre-recorded interviews with Minster FM and BBC Radio York have been running throughout the day on the stations' news bulletins.
Both Calendar - ITV's news proggrame for Yorkshire - and the BBC's Look North visited the picket line today to capture footage of the strikers and record interview with chapel members. We were featured on both programmes' lunchtime news slots. Management declined to speak to either station so it was left to us to put across our view. So much the better.
We're thrilled with the coverage, especially given The Press's management's decision to virtually ignore the fact that about 25 of their staff are camped outside their office protesting at their deplorable pay. According to the weasel words on The Press's website, it is "business as usual". You could have fooled us, guys...
Newsquest York's managing director Steve Hughes put out a statement yesterday about our chapel's planned five-day strike. An article on the Press Gazette website included this:
Hughes rejected the union’s “misleading” claim about staff turnout in the strike ballot and said that 22 from a possible 58 voted in favour of the walk-out.
It is worth pointing out that it is simply untrue to say 58 people could have voted for a walkout. Obviously, the only people entitled to do so are union members, and there are 34 NUJ members at Newsquest York. Look at it that way and we have a big majority - close to 65%.
Of course, some people were unable to return their ballots, those on holiday during the voting period, for example. Of those who did cast their votes - 26 members - 85% said yes to strike action.
And who said journalists were no good with numbers?
Used to writing the news, chapel members have enjoyed making the news today. Our strike plans have received wide coverage including on the Media Guardian, Press Gazette and Hold The Front Page websites. We're looking forward to making more headlines next week.
