National Union of Journalists general secretary, Jeremy Dear, wrote an open letter in today’s Guardian criticising the anti-union laws being used to call off strike action at Johnston Press.
The letter comes after the regional publisher used a court injunction on Friday to claim it did not employ any journalists.
The union was prevented from taking its planned strike further despite the fact that Johnston Press distributes a company handbooks to staff members, who also have ‘Johnston Press’ stamped on their payslips, the NUJ said.
Dear wrote:
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“When employers shut a factory or newspaper or sack hundreds of workers, they don’t consult anyone, let alone hold a vote – but when workers want to strike, they face a wall of legislation.
‘The law allows employers to overturn the democratic decisions of thousands of workers. This assault on workers’ fundamental rights to withdraw their labour is an issue for the entire union movement.”
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