Ballot for action as north east towns abandoned
NUJ members at Newsquest North East have voted unanimously to hold a ballot for industrial action to fight cuts across the group.
Last week managers in Darlington announced a pay freeze, the closure of five district offices and the axing of 50 jobs - 17 in editorial.
More than 50 NUJ members attended a chapel meeting last night and voted to hold the ballot as soon as possible so any resulting action could be taken before the redundancies kick in on 1 January.
People who volunteer for redundancy will be told by 5 December if their application has been accepted.
The NUJ chapel are totally opposed to compulsory redundancies.
The Darlington Newsquest centre publishes the daily Northern Echo, the Darlington and Stockton Times, the Durham Times and the Advertiser series of free papers - employing just over 100 editorial staff.
The five district offices to close are Stockton, Redcar, Barnard Castle, Richmond and Thirsk.
The Trinity Mirror-owned Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough also announced this month the closure of district offices in Stockton and Redcar - as well as the one in Guisborough. There will be five editorial job losses.
The Newcastle Journal, also owned by Trinity Mirror, is axing 23 jobs and closing offices in North Shields and Durham.
Trinity Mirror is also freezing wages.
NUJ northern regional organiser Chris Morley said: "We are seeing a wholesale withdrawal of local newspapers from communities across the north east of England. Redcar and Stockton are seeing both their local papers pull staff out.
"The bosses say they will still cover these areas - but they are throwing away decades of local knowledge and goodwill.
"The companies seem to have given up on these towns - but NUJ members are determined to stand up for jobs and to stand up for journalism."
The NUJ is convening a joint meeting of reps from Trinity Mirror, Newsquest and Johnston Press chapels on Saturday (29 November) to co-ordinate action against cuts across the country.
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Labour MP, Ashok Kumar, has tabled an Early Day Motion - a parliamentary petition - deploring the moves by the Evening Gazette to close district offices.
Ashok’s Early Day Motion is number 2515.
There is also an EDM - number 2544 - against the Trinity Mirror pay freeze.
