NUJ members at Iliffe's Herts and Essex Newspapers have voted overwhelmingly for strike action over a proposed major restructure of its editorial departments.
Out of 31 members eligible to vote, 29 did so – of which, 24 (82.8 per cent) were in favour of a strike with five voting against.
The changes would include the axing of the posts of editor and news editor at the Hoddesdon and Cheshunt Mercury series and its sister title the Hertfordshire Mercury. The posts would be replaced with that of an overall editor and an overall news editor.
Herts and Essex Observer editor Val Brown also faces redundancy and her role would be given up to the H&EN editor-in-chief Colin Grant who the chapel last month passed a vote of no confidence in.
The chapel is currently awaiting a formal response from management.
The Harlow Star series and Lea Valley Star series editors would be replaced with a single overall editor.
A chapel spokesman said: "Ours is not a militant chapel – it last took industrial action in the 1970s as part of a national strike – and this ballot result is a clear indication of the depth and strength of members' feelings.”
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