NUJ officials say MP Austin Mitchell is to meet Thomson Reuters management on Monday in an attempt to help resolve the union wrangle over possible compulsory redundancies.
National Union of Journalists newspaper organiser Barry Fitzpatrick said Mitchell, MP for Grimsby would be discussing the options for the newly merged company where 70 UK editorial positions are under threat. Mitchell is chairman of the NUJ Parliamentary Group, MPs who raise issues in Parliament on behalf of the NUJ.
The NUJ has been meeting the company today and Fitzpatrick said it has formally initiated a disputes procedure which gives a deadline of 15 July to sort out the differences.
The NUJ is demanding information relating to the company’s decision to make cuts and arguing that compulsory cuts are unnecessary.
Thomson Reuters plans to axe 140 journalists’ jobs worldwide, as the news agency looks to eliminate the overlap between the two businesses. The company has entered into a period of consultation with staff over the proposed cuts – around half of which are understood to be in Europe.
Reuters News employed around 2,300 journalists, while the Thomson newsroom had about 300 people. The company made no comment today.
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