Work-to-rule planned at The Herald put on hold

INDUSTRIAL action by members of the National Union of Journalists at The Herald newspaper – and sister titles, the Sunday Herald and Evening Times – has been put on hold, as talks continue with management over compulsory redundancies.

A work-to-rule was meant to be taking place from midnight this evening, but the NUJ has put it on hold as discussions continue on job losses caused by the introduction of new editorial production technology.

In July, allmediascotland.com reported eight compulsory redundancies among 17 posts being axed.

A planned work-to-rule scheduled for early last month was called off, so that a ballot of members could be re-run, to avoid possibly falling foul of employment legislation. That re-run vote again delivered resounding support for industrial action.

Said Paul Holleran, Scottish Organiser of the NUJ: “We are hoping that talks with the senior editorial team can deliver an agreement on how the production system and staffing levels can be married to enable reasonable working conditions for all our members. The other element of discussion will be around the redundancy terms which we believe should reflect the arrangements we have had in place in recent years.”