View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

Herald titles to strike over £3 million cuts

By Press Gazette

Staff at Newsquest’s three Glasgow titles have voted ‘overwhelmingly’in favour of strike action and are set to stage the first in a series of walk-outs next Friday.

Some 74 per cent of NUJ members who voted said yes to strike action – 87 per cent voted for action short of a strike – in what the union claims will be the first strike in Scottish newspapers for 25 years.

Journalists at the Herald, Sunday Herald and the Glasgow Evening Times are unhappy about a proposed round of job cuts, as many as 90 according to company executives, designed to save the company an estimated £3m.

NUJ scottish organiser Paul Holleran said: ‘Our members have had enough of the extremism of this management. Despite massive profits they keep seeking cuts. They have gone too far this time in selecting fine, experienced journalists for compulsory redundancy when they are aware of a dozen or so others with similar skills are seeking voluntary redundancy deals in other parts of the building.

‘We will do whatever required to stop this dreadful behaviour and that includes striking, legal action and political pressure through an inquiry into their misleading assurances to the Competition Commission when they took over four years ago.”

Holleran told Press Gazette that Friday’s action could be the first in ‘a series of one and half-day walk-outs”. He admitted that the turnout of the ballot was low, but blamed this week’s Post Office strike.

The NUJ has for weeks been calling for the Competition Commission to investigate claims that Newsquest had not honoured a pledge not cut editorial budgets when it bought the papers in 2003, but the commission this week said there was not enough evidence to pursue the claim.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Newsquest Glasgow regional managing director Tim Blott told Press Gazette last month: ‘Since Newsquest took over, we have invested more than £10m in the papers and we’re investing more than £3m this year. I don’t think that shows a company that isn’t investing in the long term.”

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network