Newsquest journalists in Hampshire vote in favour of strike action

Members of the National Union of Journalists working for Newsquest in Hampshire have voted in favour of strike action in response to the continuation of a two-year pay freeze, the union announced today.

Last month union members submitted this year's pay claim asking for a five to eight per cent rise. Today the NUJ announced that 78 per cent of members in Hampshire voted in favour of strike action and 95 per cent in favour of action short of a strike. It has not yet been able to confirm the number of staff this relates to.

Following the result the union again called on Newsquest management to "fairly reward dedicated and hard-working staff".

"Newsquest's continuing attacks on its own journalists combined with greed in the boardroom has been truly exposed," Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ deputy general secretary said in a release.

"The business remains profitable but consistently fails to fairly reward staff. It is not acceptable for the company to continue attacking pay and conditions and treat the workforce with such contempt. Our members have simply had enough and this has been shown in the ballot result."

Despite a pay freeze, it was revealed earlier this month that the highest paid director of Newsquest Media received a 21.5 per cent pay rise last year, the NUJ added. Comments from Gracia Martore, chief financial officer at the company's US parent, Gannett, had also raised concerns after she said she wanted to "dispel the myth" that Newsquest doesn't make money.

"Newsquest makes a lot of money," she said, according to the NUJ release.

"In fact, their margin, as I have said a couple of times, is consistent with the margin that our local US community publishing operations generate.

"So their margins are in the high teens to low 20s. And they have consistently made money throughout the years, even in a year like last year when revenues were under as much pressure as they were."

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk, the NUJ's head of publishing Barry Fitzpatrick said this showed there was "no justification" for the freeze. He added that unless Newsquest was prepared to engage with the union then he expected other regions to also look to take action.

The NUJ Parliamentary Group has also written to Craig Dubow, chairman and chief executive officer of Gannett to raise the union's concerns and show its opposition to the pay and pension plans.

Newsquest told Journalism.co.uk that no one was available for comment at the time of writing.

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