The meeting comes immediately after a bleak day for journalism jobs with the announcement of more than 100 editorial cuts across the media industry on Thursday (27/11/08) alone.

A series of telephone conferences held this week have begun to coordinate union action against the cuts across the main regional newspaper groups. Saturday’s meeting will bring union reps together to finalise campaign plans to ensure NUJ members have the support they need over the coming months.

A total of 59 redundancies across Trinity Mirror’s north west division has been announced, which includes 43 jobs set to go at the company’s Liverpool titles and eight from north Wales. The other cuts are set to be made in the Cheshire and Huddersfield centres.

Liverpool Daily Post and Echo father of chapel Mike Chapple said: "We are gravely concerned about the implications of so many job losses: the number announced was far greater than we anticipated.

"Current staffing levels on a day to day basis were already a cause for concern in terms of producing the high quality of journalism that is so important to us and our readers. We acknowledge the company's commitment to no compulsory redundancies but rest assured the chapel will be working hard to ensure the best deal for those who stay and those who go.”

Responding to the latest Trinity Mirror cuts NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: "Our members are shocked by the depth and scale of these proposed cuts, which slash at the cultural heart of a city currently the European capital of culture. They fail to see how cutbacks on this scale could be made without having a seriously damaging effect on the titles.

"The people of Liverpool are enormously proud of their local papers, so today’s announcement is going to be particularly worrying for everyone in the city. Meanwhile, the people of Huddersfield, Cheshire and North Wales are also seeing Trinity Mirror's scant regard for their local communities."

Managers at Telegraph Media Group have also announced plans to make cuts, which could reportedly equate to up to 50 jobs. NUJ members at the paper have made a statement deploring the redundancies and have called on management to open full talks with the union on a range of alternative savings. A new three-year pay deal has also been accepted by members at the papers.

NUJ Head of Publishing Barry Fitzpatrick said: “We condemn the decision by Telegraph management to push ahead with redundancies that will only succeed in undermining the quality of the titles.

“The chapel’s decision to accept a three-year pay deal is a sign of their genuine commitment to work with management to ensure stability at the papers during the current economic downturn. Our members have shown their willingness to engage in meaningful negotiations to secure the future of the titles. We’re now looking to management to respond in an equally cooperative manner.”

The union is also hosting a jobs summit on Saturday 24 January for all NUJ members to learn from successes and experiences fighting cuts across the country. For more information, email campaigns@nuj.org.uk.

27 November 2008

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