NUJ calls for rethink on closure of Galway Beo and Reach redundancies
The National Union of Journalists has called for Reach to reconsider its proposal to close Galway Beo and has said the company needs to look again at its proposals to make approximately a dozen journalists redundant across Ireland.
Galway Beo was among three online titles that the company announced would be closed in England, Scotland and Ireland. The announcement came amid a Reach statement that said it had put hundreds of journalists in the company at risk of redundancy, including dozens in Ireland, north and south.
There will be a collective redundancy consultation process, followed by individual redundancy consultation meetings, according to the plan revealed by Reach.
Ian McGuinness, NUJ Irish organiser, said:
“Our priority now is to meet and support our members who are at risk of redundancy, and we will be fighting vociferously on their behalf to try to save as many jobs as possible.
“We are also calling on Reach to seriously rethink its proposal to close Galway Beo. The introduction of this online title gave the regional news sector a shot in the arm and increased media diversity. The NUJ has been concerned at the concentration of ownership within the regional sector, and the loss of Galway Beo is of particular concern in this context.
“There have been so many rounds of redundancies in Reach over the years that it is hard to keep count of them. The company needs to halt this downward spiral of cuts and more cuts, and make strategic plans to support the quality journalists that they have, instead of reacting to quarterly or annual results by slashing.
“Our concerns are also with the Reach journalists who will remain in employment after these proposed cuts. They are the forgotten victims of round after round of redundancies. Many of them were already highly stressed and under-resourced due to previous redundancies in their titles. These cuts, and the resultant workloads that are dumped on the remaining journalists, could push many over the edge. The company has a duty of care to these employees, and the NUJ is calling for Reach to conduct a workload and stress risk assessment on the impact that these cuts will have on the remaining employees.
“We would encourage journalists in all media organisations to join the NUJ. Developments like this show the importance of being in the union.”