On song for the strike

Organising for the strike has been an inspiring experience. We've received tremendous support from other journalists and trade unionists. Everywhere we go, people are saying: we back your stand. It has also been a chance for chapel members to get together, discuss ideas and work collectively in the battle for better pay.

One of our members has been moved to write and record a song to mark our five-day action. Here, Richard Foster, a subeditor on The Press and the paper's folk music reviewer, explains how folk music dovetails with the history of people's struggles in England. Below are lyrics to the strike song; a recording and video will follow.

I have never been on strike in nearly 30 years as a journalist, although I’ve reported on quite a few, most memorably the miners’ strike between 1984 and 1985 when I worked for local radio in Lancashire.

So the decision by members of the National Union of Journalists at The Press, in York, to strike after eight months of fruitless pay negotiations had a big impact on me. It really churned me up. I could not settle until I had written some lyrics about the strike. I had voted against industrial action and writing this song helped me to come to terms with what it meant to go on strike.

Show Of Hands are an acclaimed folk band based in Devon. Their songwriter and main vocalist Steve Knightley wrote a song called Things I Learnt This Year. His chorus seemed to me to sum up the situation faced by those involved in the dispute, so I set about writing new verses about the York strike.

Throughout England’s history, while peasants and workers were marching, striking, fighting and being
punished by the state, radical ballads and songs have been written so the stories of particular struggles could be passed on to future generations.

For example, The Cutty Wren was written during the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, the Diggers Song was written in 1649 when the Diggers tried to build communities on waste land, Poverty Knock is a factory workers’ song inspired by dark, satanic mills, Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire is a First World War
marching song while Coal Not Dole was written during the miners’ strike of 1984 and 1985.

Now there’s a song about this year’s NUJ strike in York. If it helps to get our message across and lifts spirits on the picket line, then it will have served its purpose.

Things I Learnt This Year (Strike Version)
(by Steve Knightley, of Show Of Hands, with additional lyrics by Richard Foster)

Don’t tell the world about the deal, ’til the contract’s signed and sealed.
It’s always those that didn’t pay, who cross picket lines and work all day
Drink to the fortune of your friends. Don’t waste time predicting trends.
How strange the boss who let it slip at the bar and lost his grip.

Chorus: You can be right – standing in the wrong place. You can be wrong – footed in the rat race. You can be tight, drinking ’til your head’s clear. Here’s another list of things I learnt this year.

Swap your pens for placards by nine. Hand out leaflets on the picket line.
Broadcast news on cyber space. Keep the union on the case.
A hundred years of low pay, now’s the time to win the day.
Three heads that shine in the noon-day sun leave their mark on everyone.

Chorus: You can be right ­– standing in the wrong place. You can be wrong – footed in the rat race. You can be tight, drinking ’til your head’s clear. Here’s another list of things I learnt this year.

Buy your food from family firms. Say goodnight on friendly terms.
Filling The Press with PR guff simply is not good enough.
Sing it out loud and clear: “Come on readers, join us here”
Remember those who have no voice. We’ve a strike to win, we’ve made our choice.

Chorus: You can be right – standing in the wrong place. You can be wrong – footed in the rat race. You can be tight, drinking ’til your head’s clear. Here’s another list of things I learnt this year.

Repeat chorus and end with “You can be right”

Yesterday, once more

We've been rooting through the archives stored in The Press's library to learn about the NUJ's very first strike, which took place at The Yorkshire Herald, in the city, in 1911.

Apparently the genealogy of our titles goes something like this. Most of our members work on The Press, which was founded as the Yorkshire Evening Press in 1882, and first dropped the Yorkshire and then the Evening parts of its name. The latter was ditched after the switch to overnight publishing and a round of redundancies by Newsquest in 2006.

Some of our members work on the Gazette & Herald, a weekly for Ryedale in north Yorkshire. This was formed in 1954 - originally as the Yorkshire Gazette and Herald - after the amalgamation of The Yorkshire Herald (founded 1890), pictured, and the Yorkshire Gazette (founded 1819).

The Yorkshire Herald's previous incarnation was the York Herald, which was published from 1790 to 1889. The paper's title can still be seen carved in stone on the river-facing side of York's City Screen cinema, which formed part of The Press's offices until the move to its current base in 1989.

Now that's cleared up, let's return to the strike of 1911. We turn to the excellent Journalists: 100 years of the NUJ, by Tim Gopsill and Greg Neale:

The NUJ's first strike was also its longest. It began in 1911 and went on for 11 years.

It was not about pay, but working hours: the reporters at the York Herald, a morning paper, were 'the hardest driven of all the daily papers in the country', working from 9.30am to midnight or even 2am, seven days a week. The chief reporter, Clifford Nixon, was sacked for 'misconduct' after two years of cautious NUJ attempts to alleviate the Dickensian conditions; his offence had been to suggest ways of doing this. The union-approved plan included allowing each employee one day off a week and employing two new reporters; by now so many had become ill from overwork and had left that there were only four to cover the whole of East Yorkshire. No formal NUJ chapel had been formed, but Nixon had been acting as a spokesman for the staff. He became the union's first 'martyr' and it looked after him, quickly finding him a better job in Fleet Street.

All the other reporters quit - one of them even offering the company his month's notice money to get out; it was accepted. The union then blacklisted the paper, announced that any journalist who took work there would be expelled, and went to some lengths to stop young reporters filling the vacant jobs. It was only in 1922 that the ban was lifted. Henry Richardson later wrote that the action was 'both effective and ineffective. It did not improve conditions in the office at the time but it improved them in many another bad office'.

To buy Journalists: 100 years of the NUJ, by Tim Gopsill and Greg Neale, log on to the NUJ's online shop here

Support goes global

News of our strike has spread far and wide. We've been inundated with messages of support from as far afield as New York, where a former Press reporter is now based, and posties in Bristol. These have been a great boost for our morale, so please keep them coming. Email nujyork@gmail.com

Here's a selection of the latest messages:

"Just wishing you good luck for the strike - we're heading in the same direction with Johnston Press as they aren't budging from a 3% pay increase either! I'm part of the South Yorkshire NUJ chapel who are fighting for the same thing - respect for what we do. It's totally unfair and ridiculous how they are treating journalists - even working in a mind-numbing factory to get paid more and work less sounds more appealing at the moment!"

"We at Bristol North Delivery Office have heard of your struggle for fair pay and conditions, and are greatly encouraged by your determination to fight. Last year we took strike action against a bullying management set on wrecking our jobs, and we have emerged successful from our own dispute. We were always grateful for the support we received, and now offer our support to you in your struggle. We are sure you will be successful, a victory for you would strengthen the trade union movement. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need our support, be it solidarity, financial or how you see fit. Please keep us informed as to any developments. Yours in solidarity. Unit Rep and the Bristol NDO CWU Committee."

"Message of solidarity from London. It is time that more journalists and especially NUJ members took strike action against worsening conditions and pay as employers try to squeeze the last little profit out of us."

"Good luck. Having been at the Press when the Union was formed six or so years ago, I wish you all the best. Going to be a hard struggle but you are right to stand together."

"Good luck guys! I'll be sending you good thoughts from New York. As a former Press reporter, I know what an amazing job all of you do. You put in 100% and more, and it is ridiculous how little Newsquest value their staff and quality journalism. I was proud to be part of the forming of an NUJ chapel in York and even prouder to see you all stand up for what you believe. Go for it!"

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...

Standing up again

On November 5, NUJ members at The Press and the Gazette & Herald took collective action as part of the union's Stand Up For Journalism day. Fed up of a culture of rising workloads, understaffing and poor wages, we staged two collective tea breaks to demonstrate our strength of feeling. Now we are preparing to stand up again, this time about pay.

Our protest last autumn was about the threat to quality local journalism posed by companies that are only too happy to cut resources back to the bone to boost profits. Our dispute is also about challenging the thinking of companies such as Newsquest that refuse to invest in their journalists or their newspapers but still rake in millions of pounds while the quality of their products - and the service they can provide to the community - declines.

We had a wonderful day of action on November. Here's hoping for more fireworks come Thursday.

Facebook friends

Our strike now has a support group on the social networking site Facebook. Please join the group, add your comments to support the strike and spread the word among your friends and colleagues.

Click here to sign up.

Showing solidarity

More messages of solidarity have been pouring into the chapel by email to nujyork@gmail.com. Please keep them coming - we really appreciate them and they're a big morale boost for members who are due to walkout on Thursday.

"I wish you all the very best of luck with your action - as do all NUJ members in Coventry and Birmingham who on Tuesday voted to send a contribution to your fighting fund. Our experience in Coventry is that it isn't easy to go on strike but it has certainly been worth it in the longer term. Please advise your members to be strong. They are fighting not just for themselves but the whole industry."

"Solidarity greetings from Rotherham Advertiser Chapel. Branch agreed £100 and chapels will be asked to do collections. Keep up the fight!"

"My wife used to work for Newsquest and she despised them, so good luck. I have the misfortune of working for Trinity Mirror - but they became much more compliant following our month-long strike in 2005. We have certainly benefited during the following years."

"I'm writing to you on behalf of the 50-strong NUJ Chapel in Bolton and Bury to extend our full support for your action. In 2003, this chapel went on strike for several weeks during an angry pay dispute. And the editor-in-chief then, and up until last year, was, of course, Steve Hughes. All the journalists here back your stance for a greater pay increase and all eyes of NUJ members throughout Newsquest will focus on York next week. We applaud your stance, commitment and bravery in taking on a company notorious for its low pay and its constant climate of cuts and savings. Everyone here is keeping their fingers crossed the York chapel will prevail in its struggle. We will be thinking about you when the industrial action begins."

"Hello and good luck with your dispute members."

Digging deep

More wonderful news on the strike fund. Our colleagues at the Leeds NUJ Branch have donated £250, while fellow journalists in the 50-strong Bolton News-Bury Times chapel - papers both owned by Newsquest - have pledged £300. It makes a huge difference knowing we are not standing alone and that we have the support of fellow journalists and trade unionists.

These generous donations take our strike fund to £1,750 - a tremendous figure reached within five days of our action being called. Many thanks to all.

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."

Strike fund gets another boost

Our strike fund has been boosted still further after the Rotherham branch donated £100 from their fighting fund. We also owe a debt of gratitude to two more of our own chapel members who have both donated £50 to the fund. That takes our total to an impressive £1,200. Preparations are now well underway for the five strike days next week so please keep branch, chapel and individual donations coming. We are enormously grateful for all the support we've had so far.

Flooded with support

Many more messages of support are flooding in to nujyork@gmail.com. Many thanks to all our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement and please keep them coming. Here's a selection of the most recent emails:

"Good on you for sticking to your guns - managements may be pleading poverty, but shareholders' pockets are full, and so should ours be. We're going through the travails of renegotiating a pay deal and back you fully."

"As an ex-FoC of the York chapel it makes me enormously proud to see the group in such a healthy and feisty condition. I know there'll be a lot of my friends and colleagues from the Evening Press taking part in next weeks' strike, so to you all, and of course members who have joined since I left, I'm thinking of you. All 130 NUJ members over here at Leeds are right behind you. Loads of members have been emailing since they heard you were going out, stressing how much they support you and our proposal to donate the £500 to your fighting fund."

"Good luck with your action. This is an all too familiar story of a newspaper group raking in massive profits on the one hand and, on the other, trying to get away with cutting resources to the bone and depriving hard-working, dedicated and well-respected journalists of a living wage. Having worked for Newsquest I know exactly what you're up against, but you are in the right and you have our total support in your fight. Stick together, stay strong, and you can win."

"Good luck with your strike - we went on strike in Coventry three years ago and we're still reaping the benefits in pay negotiations. Once they realised we were prepared to go on strike and not just talk about it they started to take us more seriously and now they actually negotiate instead of just telling us there isn't any money for pay rises."

"I worked in provincial newspapers for years before moving into Press & PR, so I know what rubbish wages you get from the likes of Newsquest (in my area, they've got the Harrow Times). Press on, keep the faith, best of luck."

Spin by numbers

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?

They were the best of times...

The NUJ has a proud history as a democratic and fighting trade union - it celebrated its 100th birthday last year. What we didn't know until today, and we learn thanks to one knowledgeable supporter, was that our action continues a proud tradition among York journalists.

It turns out that the very first strike by NUJ members was staged by workers at the Yorkshire Herald, the distant predecessor of The Press, in 1911. Apparently working conditions there were "Dickensian"... This nugget can be found in Journalists: 100 years of the NUJ by Tim Gopsill, editor of the Journalist magazine, and Greg Neale.

We're glad to be carrying on this proud tradition...

Striking display of support

The chapel has been buoyed by the many messages of support we have received so far from fellow journalists and trade unionists. Many thanks to all and please keep them coming. Here's just a selection:

"Well done and good luck with the strike. Hopefully we at Leeds will be sending you a donation. Regards to all."

"All the best with your strike action. I think five days is definitely the way to go. The odd day does not hurt their operations enough. All the publishers are crying poverty this year, but they always do - in good times and bad - and we all know they can afford more than 3%. All the best from the ncjMedia chapel (Chronicle, Journal, Sunday Sun in Newcastle)."

"All the very best of luck in your dispute. We are going through a period of change and redundancies here in Johnston Press at the moment – admin, sales and editorial staff."

"Dear fellow NUJ members. Just wanted to send a note expressing my support for your action in calling the local management to account. I see from the NUJ mailing that although it may be decades since I was last involved in an NUJ local dispute, management attitudes and behaviour have not changed one bit."

"Dear Union Colleagues. As a BECTU representative I would like to pass on a message of support from our branch to our NUJ colleagues at the Press and Gazette & Herald who are currently experiencing such shabby treatment from management. We hope your industrial action brings an improvement in the situation and that the dispute can be resolved speedily in your favour."

Scargill backs journalists' strike

Probably Britain's most famous trade unionist, former miners' leader Arthur Scargill, visited York a week before our strike. He was in the city to attend a meeting of the Socialist Labour Party, which he leads, but he found time to give a message of support to NUJ members at Newsquest York as they prepared to head to the picket line. He said:

"As someone who has been the victim of press media over the years, I can give this assurance: I will practise what I preach and on behalf of the Socialist Labour Party, we will be on the picket line supporting the journalists."