27.02.09 14:55
NEWSQUEST; NUJ lawyers are proposing collective legal action against Newsquest following the latest management action. The company has told the union that the remaining volunteers for redundancy are not being allowed to leave and will be offered "alternative employment" in the new structure.
MD Tim Blott said this week that Newsquest head bummers were refusing to sanction more money for the remaining redundancies, thought to be around 15. Many staffers believe however that editor in chief Donald Martin has successfully argued that there are not enough staff to get the papers out next week if they are allowed to leave. Many staffers believe there will not be enough journalists there as it is next week and there is no way they will meet deadlines.
In another shocking about face management have issued contracts to certain staff without putting them in the pay band previously stated in the company proposals. Over half a dozen journalists have contacted the union to complain about job descriptions, responsibilities and pay not reflecting what had been been offered initially.
It appears management have responded by saying the pay bands and job description were only "notional". Notionally the union lawyers believe there could be a legal response and are preparing evidence to proceed to court.
Trinity; Daily Record & Sunday Mail chapel members were given the opportunity to quiz MD Mark Hollinshead today on the financial situation affecting the company.
The chapel were then meeting at 4.30pm to discuss details of the proposed restructure. The union welcomed the extension of the consultation process by a week and the chapel committee met on Thursday afternoon to discuss the next steps for the union facing up to 70 posts being made redundant.
23.02.09 18:30
In a week which already promised to be a hard shift for NUJ staff, things have got off to a shocking start with 70 redundancies announced at The Daily Record & Sunday Mail.
Officials knew they were facing announcements at Scotsman Publications where around 11 job losses are expected as part of the production and picture desk restructure; also at Harper Collins who are ready to announce an unknown number of job cuts.
However the scale of cuts proposed by Trinity Mirror took everyone by surprise and led to widespread anger in the Monday afternoon newsroom.
The Scottish Organiser and FoC are meeting with the MD and HR Director on Tuesday afternoon prior to reporting back to a mass meeting at 3pm.
Scotsman management have once again postponed plans to unveil their proposals for a seven day working for production and picture desk staff across the three titles. The meeting has been re-scheduled for Wednesday, a relief for union officials who are already well-booked to discuss job cuts across the country.