AS recipients of the allmediascotland.com eNewsletter were informed on Friday afternoon, the National Union of Journalists’ deputy ‘father of chapel’ (FoC) at the Evening Times newspaper has been suspended.
It happened at Friday lunchtime, when Gordon Thomson, a reporter at the paper, returned from a meeting with fellow union officials.
It is said he was summoned to a meeting with the paper’s editor, prompting a request by Thomson that he be accompanied by a witness – at which point he was told he was suspended.
This is the latest incident in a stand-off between the NUJ and the Herald group of newspapers, following proposed compulsory redundancy at the Evening Times. Already, there have been two walk-outs by staff across the group. Another, specifically at the Evening Times, is scheduled for Friday.
Staff are also working to rule.
he NUJ is saying that if the suspension is not lifted today, it will ask its lawyers to look into mounting legal action.
The Evening Times is owned by Newsquest, which publishes newspapers throughout the UK. On Saturday, the NUJ hosted a meeting in Glasgow, where a dozen FoCs at Newsquest titles, UK-wide, including in Yorkshire and Essex, discussed how they might support the industrial action at the Herald group.
Meanwhile, today, Paul Holleran, the NUJ Scottish Organiser, is meeting “leading Labour councillors” on Glasgow City Council to brief them on how they might lend their support.
