NUJ members at STV to hold one-day strike in New Year over cuts
Staff at STV News are to hold a one-day strike on 7 January over compulsory redundancies and the broadcaster’s plans to axe the north edition of its News at 6 programme.
The strike, which will affect all news staff in Scotland, was planned to coincide with the launch date, announced last week, of STV’s new commercial radio station, STV Radio. As a result, STV has now been forced to move the launch date to 6 January.
A previous ballot for industrial action of members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) showed 94% in favour of striking on a turnout of 82%.
Following a profits warning last July, STV announced plans in September to make 60 redundancies, half of which would be in news.
It also announced plans to axe one of the two regional editions of its flagship News at 6 programme, and to drop the current five-minute regional updates for Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee. Those licence changes to its public sector broadcasting duties require statutory approval from the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
The proposal has seen unprecedented public and political outrage, with all five main party leaders in Scotland uniting to oppose the plans. A poll published last week showed 83% of residents in the north were in favour of retaining the current news programme, with just 4% in favour of STV’s plans.
While the number of potential compulsory redundancies has fallen significantly due to restructuring and staff wishing to leave voluntarily, the company has pressed ahead with individual redundancy consultations with affected staff. The NUJ has made it clear that it will not accept any compulsory redundancies among its members.
On 16 December Ofcom gave provisional approval to a revised watered-down version of its original plans which would see STV have a single news programme across its two North and Central licence areas, but with a guaranteed minimum amount of regional coverage. The NUJ has criticised the plans as being bad for viewers, advertisers, and journalism.
The Ofcom proposal is open to consultation until early February with a decision not expected until March. The NUJ will be making a submission to the consultation arguing against the proposed changes.
In the meantime, despite having used a £200k half-year loss as justification to cut 60 jobs, the company has pressed ahead with spending £500k in setting up a commercial radio station. STV Radio is expected to make a further loss in 2026 before making its first profit in 2027.
The NUJ has argued that the launch of the radio station is only possible at the expense of journalists’ jobs and by cutting journalism in the north of Scotland.
Staff at STV News last voted for strike action in 2024 over pay and held two one-day strikes in March and May before agreeing an improved pay deal. Those strikes took all STV news broadcasts and bulletins off the air.
Nick McGowan-Lowe, NUJ National Organiser for Scotland, said:
“Our members are angry at the lack of leadership from the top of the company, angry at management’s handling of the proposed changes, and angry that their colleagues are facing compulsory redundancies because of the company’s financial mismanagement. It is not too late for management to rethink their plans and avoid damaging strikes.”