No slight presumably intended

SPIKE assumes the managing director of The Herald group of newspapers was not meaning to be disparaging when he wrote, on the papers’ internal eNewsletter, that “over a third of the NUJ’s members” did not vote in the ballot that has led to a work-to-rule being called, starting on Tuesday.

After all, in response to a staff survey conducted four years ago, the MD described a 43 per cent return as “healthy”.

The ballot was called amid health and safety concerns, not least in the wake of cost-cutting announced by the papers’ owners, Newsquest.

Meanwhile, from this weekend, fans of the Herald and Sunday Herald in London will have to access the papers either online or via subscription; it has been announced that “due to the current economic climate, combined with the increased transport costs, it will no longer be viable to supply the retailers around the London area with supplies” of the papers.