Members of the NUJ voted in favour of strike action last week and today decided to act on the ballot, unless management guarantees no compulsory redundancies within the reorganisation plans.
Members are also demanding that freelance jobs be converted into staff posts where available. In a previous statement Sheffield Newspapers managing director John Bills said the proposal was for a reduction of 9.5 full-time roles within the subbing team at Sheffield.
He said at the time that five new roles would be created and an additional 18 editorial roles are available within the North Midlands/South Yorkshire region and that therefore there would be no overall reduction to current headcount.
"Prior to any implementation, we will consult extensively on an individual and collective basis. During this consultation process we will explain the procedure, consider all alternatives, examine ways of mitigating the effects of this proposal, determine redundancy terms and address any other issues that may arise."
There was no further comment from JP today.
In December, the publisher announced proposals to form a single operating unit comprising four of its subsidiary newspaper companies, in relation to operations at Wilfred Edmunds, North Notts Newspapers, South Yorkshire Newspapers and Sheffield Newspapers.
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