NUJ issues formal ballot notices to Reach over mass redundancies
The NUJ has submitted formal notices to ballot members for industrial action at The Mirror and Reach plc’s Scottish titles in a dispute over job losses, unreasonable workloads, and the use of artificial intelligence.
The ballot comes after Reach, the UK and Ireland’s largest commercial news publisher, placed 600 journalists at risk, threatening 321 jobs, in what the union called a ‘devastating body-blow’ for journalism.
Staff at The Mirror will be particularly affected by the cuts, losing around 40 writers and editors - including five dedicated brand writers, ten news journalists, and seven picture desk workers. At a meeting of the NUJ Mirror chapel, members took a unanimous decision to be balloted for strike action.
In Scotland, 4 in 10 journalists at the company have been placed at risk of redundancy. On Tuesday NUJ members at Reach’s Scottish titles, which include the Daily Record, voted strongly in favour of a ballot.
In addition to the loss of so many skilled journalists, NUJ members at Reach are hugely concerned by the workload burden placed on remaining staff, as well as the lack of clear commitments on the company’s use of artificial intelligence. The NUJ Reach group chapel has urged the company to fully disclose the ways in which AI is being used and to commit to consultation with the union on any new proposed uses of AI technologies. The union has also raised significant concerns over the use of artificial intelligence to centralise and duplicate content, which jeopardises editorial quality and blurs the distinction between the company’s different brands and regional titles.
The NUJ has asked members to vote ‘yes’ to both strike action and action short of strike. As NUJ reps at other NUJ chapels meet in coming weeks, the union has stressed that all options remain on the table, and further ballots seeking members’ views on industrial action may be announced.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
“These proposals, if carried out in full, will mean the dismissal of experienced and highly professional journalists. But it will also place considerable burdens on those who remain and newsrooms will be made weaker and less able to produce quality journalism.
“While the company insists that AI is not behind the cuts, this assertion is clearly not accepted by our members and is not borne out by the evidence. The union believes that left unchecked, these savage cuts will not stop here to the detriment of what we all understand as journalism.
“Senior managers talk of doing away with “duplication” in the reporting and production process, but this is the essence behind the individual brands that have proudly served the reading public for generations. The hollowing out of newsroom staffing in favour of AI chatter overseen by shrinkingly small staffing is the road to nowhere.
“We are therefore asking members to vote in favour of both strike action and action short of a strike.”