Journalists on the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and The Glaswegian who say they weren’t consulted about job cuts are holding a strike ballot.
Ballot papers have been sent out to 173 journalists, asking them whether they want to strike on plans to close a 10-strong shared editorial picture retouching department.
Trinity Mirror, which owns the papers, wants to scrap the department and create a new three-person team working in the advertising section.
According to the company, the planned staff cut has been made possible by the use of new technology.
It is the latest in a series of costcutting measures imposed across the Trinity Mirror empire.
According to NUJ Scotland organiser Paul Holleran, the move has set back morale at the Record, which had been improving since Bruce Waddell took over as editor in September.
According to Holleran, the new retouching system – which is already being piloted – has already led to mistakes ending up in print.
He said: “This dispute is primarily about saving people’s jobs, but it is also about maintaining the quality of the product.
“They’ve also ridden roughshod over the house agreement.”
The outcome of the strike ballot is expected to be known on 13 April.
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