Journalists at Coventry Newspapers are to ballot for strike action following a long-running dispute over what the NUJ claims are inadequate staffing levels.
According to the union there has been a high turnover of staff since a round of redundancies four years ago at the Trinity Mirror-owned stable which publishes the Coventry Telegraph, Hinckley Times and weekly Times Series. The union said there has been non-replacement of staff and where there have been replacements the company was slow to act putting extra pressure on journalists.
The chapel rejected an assurance by the company to speed up its recruitment process and to inform the chapel of replacement processes and is pushing the company to employ an extra five members of staff bringing the total staff to 16. There are currently three vacancies being advertised at the paper.
The ballot comes as Trinity Mirror’s sale of its Midland titles, including the Coventry Newspapers, draws to a close.
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