Journalists at Cumbrian Newspapers have been given an unexpected across-the-board pay rise of 5.1 per cent due to a rise in inflation in August.
The size of the CN Group journalists’ 27-month pay deal, was linked to the retail price index in August.
Under the deal, negotiated by the NUJ following a series of work stoppages earlier this year, journalists were set to get one per cent over the August rate of inflation.
The RPI rose 0.3 percentage points to 4.1 per cent in August. According to the union CN Group chiefs had expected the index to fall to 3.5 per cent. The pay rise will come into force next month.
The extra amount will contribute to agreed minimum rates at the flagship News & Star in Carlisle, where newly-qualified senior journalists will get a minimum of £19,110 and trainees will start on £15,288.
The North West Evening Mail in Barrow will see salary hikes between £100 and £1,200 on top of the main pay increase. Journalists at the Whitehaven News will get an additional increase of 0.25 per cent above inflation in 2009.
NUJ northern organiser Chris Morley said: ‘The three NUJ chapels at CN Group took principled action to achieve significantly better pay after the company pulled the plug on decent pensions.
‘That effort was put at risk by the freak fall in inflation in the early summer but thanks to the rise in August’s RPI figure, balance has been restored.”
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