NUJ demands that Johnston Press enters talks to resolve Yorkshire newspaper dispute
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called for Johnston Press to enter ACAS talks in order to resolve the dispute over job cuts.
Journalists at five newspapers, run by Johnston Press owned South Yorkshire Newspapers, have been on strike for eight days now over the proposals.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary,said: "We are calling on Johnston Press to enter into meaningful negotiations to resolve the dispute. Today we are asking everyone who supports quality journalism to contact Doncaster Free Press and tell them to enter into ACAS talks.
“We want to make sure local news reflects the communities it serves and this battle is about quality and resources. The impact of the cuts is a stark threat not simply to our members’ livelihoods but to local news and the future of the industry.”
The NUJ chapel agreed the following motion last night: “The senior management of South Yorkshire Newspapers (SYN) and indeed Johnston Press (JP) has shown that it is absolutely incapable of producing or expediting any kind of fair or lawful consultation on a redundancy plan which we believe will fatally damage its titles, our jobs and futures, and which will harm a free Press in this country.
“Instead the company has relied on a combination of bullying, harassment and bunker mentality to deliver a no-consultation approach in unlawfully pushing through these proposals.
“For this reason, the SYN chapel now calls on the auspices of the Government in the form of ACAS to intervene in this dispute.
“If the company yet again fails to engage, this demonstrates the complete moral, managerial and strategic redundancy of SYN and JP itself.
“The SYN NUJ chapel re-iterates its willingness to meaningfully negotiate a settlement of this dispute which does not harm our titles, our members or the future of the Press.”
The journalists have claimed that while they were on strike, work experience students were used in order to get the newspaper out. The work experience boy in question has since been asked not to return.