View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
October 13, 2016

NUJ demands pay rise for Newsquest staff on first day of south London strike

By Freddy Mayhew

The National Union of Journalists has put in a claim to Newsquest calling for a pay rise for journalists and the recruitment of more editorial staff as south London members began strike action today.

The union has asked for a rise relative to more than £1,500 for a reporter earning £20,000 a year and demanded a minimum entry-level salary of £17,500 as well as the London Living Wage.

It comes as union members at Newsquest’s office in Sutton formed a picket line on the first day of a seven-day strike over pay, working conditions and concerns about quality.

Newsquest is set to cut 11 jobs at the hub this month and has placed 27 out of 29 journalists at risk of redundancy.

The union says these cuts will leave 12 reporters and four editors covering 11 local newspapers and eight news websites across south London and Surrey.

Last month, Newsquest ended its partnership with a professional picture agency, leaving titles in south London without any staff photographers.

An NUJ spokesperson told Press Gazette both the Croydon Guardian and Wandsworth Guardian had been left with no reporters after cuts had forced some journalists to leave.

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

They said the publisher was looking to bring the cost per newspaper page down from £109 to £50.

“It’s simply not workable or sustainable. Both from the point of view of the journalists’ workloads and from the point of view of what they will be able to produce,” they said.

“We are saying they can’t afford not to invest in replacing these staff because if they don’t bring in these people, effectively they will be hamstrung by what they will be able to produce.

“There’s a danger of them alienating readers and damaging the brand by their actions.

“They need to genuinely listen to what the staff – those who actually do the job day to day – ar saying about what they need in order to properly represent their communities.”

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, submitted the 12-point pay claim on behalf of the Newsquest NUJ Group Chapel. Newsquest chapels will be pursuing it locally in the next few days.

The package includes a basic 1.5 per cent cost-of-living increase to keep up with inflation in the past 12 months and a 1 per cent increase in company pension contributions.

It includes an agreement that staff, except those exclusively working for Sunday publications, will work no more than one in four weekends.

A request was also made for more recruitment to cope with the demands of the “Write to Shape” editorial system that was recently introduced.

The NUJ said after its pay survey last year that Newsquest was “one of the stingiest employers” despite American owners Gannett paying its top five executives £15.9m and Gracia Martore, then president and chief executive, £7.5m.

Said Stanistreet: “We expect the management to take this claim seriously. Staff wages have been seriously eroded at the same time as demands and workloads have increased.

“I am expecting a speedy response from CEO Henry Faure Walker. Following recent negotiations over the dispute at Newsquest south London, he can no longer claim that local centres are autonomous as the involvement of head office was very clear.”

A spokesperson for the publisher declined to comment.

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