Western Mail: latest on Trinity Mirror’s hit list
The Western Mail & Echo group is the latest in a succession of Trinity Mirror divisions to be targeted for redundancies, with 50 jobs set to go.
At least 21 of the redundancies are expected to come from editorial. Ten of the 50 will be from existing vacancies.
Related
Jobs will be cut at The Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Celtic Newspapers and the magazines and special publications department.
One member of staff, who asked not to be named, said: “Staff are angry, shocked and bewildered at these cuts.”
A Trinity Mirror spokesman said the changes were being made “to improve the performance of the business and maintain its competiveness”.
Content from our partners
The move came as 130 NUJ members at the Birmingham Post & Mail, also owned by Trinity Mirror, started a policy of work to rule in response to the 16 editorial job cuts announced last month.
NUJ north of England organiser Miles Barter said: “The journalists, who are normally expected to work many hours of unpaid overtime, will stick to the 37.5 hour week specified in their contracts of employment. They hope to show management that some departments have been so badly cut that they only function on goodwill.”
Cuts at Trinity Mirror’s Kent Regional Newspaper’s division, which are expected to lead to the closure of the Kent Court Reporting Agency, have also been revealed this week.
Four jobs could go after Trinity Mirror pulled out of a partnership with Kent Messenger Group and Northcliffe’s Kent and Sussex Courier to use the agency, which is run by KMG.
KMG editorial director Simon Irwin told Press Gazette: “Without Kent Regional Newspapers the service was not financially viable. We are absolutely committed to covering Crown Court in our newspapers as much as we were before.”
According to a Trinity Mirror insider, the agency contract was terminated because it was not seen as value for money.
Dominic Ponsford
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
