The NUJ and Cumbrian news company, the CN Group, are experiencing mixed emotions as the two sides endeavour to reach agreement on the dispute affecting the company.
CN is publisher of the Carlisle News & Star, the North West Evening Mail and The Whitehaven News. The dispute is most acrimonious at Barrow where pay levels are significantly lower than elsewhere within the group. At one stage, editor Steve Brauner found himself almost alone on the editorial floor last week as 30 members of the news room decided to hold a day’s disruptive action.
The dispute arose initially as a consequence of the company deciding to cancel its final salary pension scheme against union wishes.
There are three chapels involved in the dispute with the company: Barrow, Carlisle and Whitehaven although the latter two act together as one bargaining unit. Over 100 journalists in total are affected by the dispute.
The situation is very fluid according to Chris Morley, the NUJ’s northern organiser.
There are new offers on the table. The Carlisle chapel voted to suspend further action on Tuesday evening when the company put a 27 month long deal on the table and offered to bring forward the renegotiation date next year by one month to October. The offer was based on RPI + a percentage to be agreed plus uplift on existing pay.
“It signified” said Morley “a significant movement which demands further negotiation.”
The situation at Barrow however is more uncertain. At lunchtime yesterday, the chapel held a meeting and voted in favour of a further day of disruptive action for this Friday morning at the start of the shift.
Following the company’s decision to scrap the final salary pension scheme, Morley said there has been a serious breakdown in trust between the two parties. The company’s offer to the Barrow chapel was similar to that offered to the two others but it was not prepared to put actual figures to its proposal to explore a considerable increase in the pay structure at Barrow. For its part, the chapel is not prepared to accept the management’s offer at face value.
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