Journalists at The Mirror vote to strike
NUJ members at The Mirror have voted yes in a ballot for strike action over compulsory redundancies, rotas and concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on editorial quality.
The vote comes after Reach, the commercial publisher that owns The Mirror, announced mass redundancies across the company in September. The Mirror is one of the titles worst affected by the cuts, losing around 40 writers and editors.
The union balloted a total of 83 members at the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror Group titles with 44 members returning their ballot paper, achieving a 53 per cent turnout. 95 per cent voted in favour of strike action, and 97 per cent in favour of action short of a strike. The ballot, which only ran for two weeks, closed at noon on 22 October 2025.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
“Our members at The Mirror have delivered a clear message to Reach chiefs in their campaign to protect colleagues and to protect quality journalism.
“We are pressing the company to resolve the issues our members are raising. We do not want to see Reach plugging the gap from these cuts by increasing the burden on remaining staff and using artificial intelligence to centralise and duplicate content. The company insists this is not the case – but our members do not accept this.
“AI cannot substitute for the talent and expertise of trained writers and editors. The Mirror is a distinctive voice in UK journalism, and these cuts erode media plurality and do a disservice to its readers and loyal staff.”
The union also balloted members at Reach’s Scottish titles. Though 72% voted for strike action and 92% voted for action short of a strike, the turnout was 48% - just short of the threshold required with 54 of 113 members returning their ballot. This was due to a short timetable with the vote only running for two weeks and delays in the postal system with some ballots taking ten days to arrive.