Journalists at the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life newspapers have voted in favour of strike action over an ongoing pay dispute with publisher Independent News and Media.
The National Union of Journalists said its members at the newspapers have received only a one per cent pay rise in ten years.
Despite two years of pay talks and attempts by the NUJ to secure a new collective agreement, the union said a further one per cent pay offer from INM was “meagre”.
INM has also proposed to eradicate acting up allowances and has called for the removal of minimum pay levels for staff jobs, established under the existing collective agreement, which could see salaries fall.
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The NUJ has now revealed that 22 of its members at the newspapers took part in a ballot, with 100 per cent voting for action short of a strike.
Nineteen staff members, or 86 per cent of those who took part, voted in favour of industrial action.
The NUJ said in a statement: “Following the result, the union is still willing to engage with the company to find a solution. The outstanding issues are the pay claim, minimum rates of pay, and acting up allowances.”
An INM spokesperson declined to comment.
The NUJ chapel is set to meet tomorrow and with INM management on Thursday.
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