View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

Mirror journalists claim board ‘dishonour’ over pay deal

By Dominic Ponsford

Mirror journalists have accused management of being ‘dishonourable people’ and refusing to stick to a pay agreement.

In May 2010, the British Association of Journalists and Trinity Mirror went to the Central Abritration Committee to agree a pay deal for journalists working on the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People titles.

According to the BAJ, an abitratation panel led by Professor John Goodman suggested an across-the-board pay rise of one per cent, with five per cent for those on minimum salaries.

At a chapel meeting yesterday, where journalists voted to reballot for industrial action over proposals by Trinity Mirror to cut 200 editorial jobs across the Mirror Group Newspapers titles, BAJ also passed a motion to ‘deplore’MGN’s failure to implement the pay award.

The motion stated: “MGN gave an undertaking to Professor Goodman and to Professor Purcell of the Central Arbitration Committee who arranged the arbitration that any award would be binding in honour on the parties.

“The failure of MGN’s MD Mark Hollinshead and MGN’s HR Director Lesley Sommerville to honour their undertakings and the failure of Sly Bailey, Vijay Vaghela and Paul Vickers as directors of MGN to approve the arbitration award shows them to be dishonourable people.

“This meeting instructs BAJ officials to make a complaint to Professor Goodman and to Professor Purcell about MGN’s failure to keep its word and pay the award.”

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

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said that a decision on the pay award would be made ‘in due course”.

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