Journalists at the Financial Times in London crammed into the canteen today for a rousing rally against job cuts demanded by owners Pearson plc.

More than 150 members of the 220-strong NUJ chapel heard the veteran Labour politician and NUJ member Tony Benn appeal for a common cause among working people against the ravages of the market that are inflicting job cuts across the UK economy.

At the FT, managers want 80 redundancies, among them 20 journalists – even though the pink paper is still highly profitable.

Acting Father of the NUJ chapel David Crouch pointed out that according to the latest company figures it made £35,000 profit for every single employee.

Tony – who said he joined the NUJ 60 years ago - recalled the slump of the 1930s, adding that it led to a revival of progressive politics and the UK Labour government that brought in a great advance in public services in the late 1940s.

He said the same could happen in a new resurgence of democracy after the current recession.

Tony added: "“Democracy transfers power from the market place to the polling station. From the wallet to the ballot.”

Addressing an editorial workforce that reports the banking and finance industry in depth, he added: "Banking is far too important to be left to gamblers.

“There is an audience now for sensible things that will help people rebuild our society.”

The rally was part of an NUJ day of action that saw leafleting and lobbying by union members. Ten new members were recruited to the union. The canteen was so crowded that some members could not get in and had to listen from outside the doors.

The crowd included union reps from fellow Pearson chapels at Penguin Books and Pearson Education in Oxford who expressed their solidarity with newspaper colleagues.

The action at the FT is part of a union-wide campaign against media cutbacks.

22 January 2009