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Insider UK
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Katharine Hay & Peter A Walker

Journalists at newspaper groups confirm strike dates

Journalists at two newspaper groups have confirmed dates for industrial action amid separate disputes over pay and redundancies.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at Reach - which includes the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Record, Sunday Mail and the Live sites - will walk out on 26 and 31 August and 15 and 16 September.

The action comes after the union claimed the company had failed to increase its pay deal of 3% or a minimum of £750.

Staff will also be working to rule, when employees do no more than the minimum required by their contract.

Journalists at National World Scotsman publications - including The Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening News and Scotland on Sunday - are due to walk out on 26 August and 2 September.

Staff voted for industrial action over compulsory redundancies following ballots, and separate action for those employed at the company’s Scottish weeklies.

Reach said strikes are not the outcome it wanted, but it remained focused on ensuring the group has a sustainable future and has contingency plans to keep disruption to its titles to a minimum.

A spokesperson for National World said the company had no comment.

John Toner, NUJ national organiser Scotland, said: “A meeting with National World management on Monday morning, held at the union’s request, took us no closer to resolving the issues of compulsory redundancies at the Scotsman titles.

“It now seems likely that those titles will take strike action on Friday 26 August, the same day as the NUJ members at Reach are due to take action.

“This would mean The Scotsman and the Daily Record would face strike action on the same day.

“We continue to believe that a resolution is possible, and we are willing to meet the employer at any point for talks.”

The NUJ said its members at Reach voted by 79% in favour of strikes and 88% for other forms of industrial action, on a turnout of 70%.

Staff said they received a 1% rise last year, despite claims the company gave £7m pay packages to its two top executives.

A Reach spokesperson said: “We greatly value our journalists and are disappointed that, despite our best efforts during the negotiation process and successful agreements with Unite and the BAJ [British Association of Journalists], we have been unable to reach an agreement with the NUJ.

“Whilst this is not the outcome we would have wished for, we remain focused on protecting the interests of all our colleagues, ensuring the group has a sustainable future in the face of an uncertain economic backdrop.

“We have contingency plans in place to keep disruption to our titles to a minimum and are working to support our journalists who choose not to take action.”

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