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.