February 2, 2012

Thomson Reuters journalists in two-day strike

Journalists at Thomson Reuters will embark on a two-day strike next week for the first time in 25 years.

NUJ members will begin the action next Thursday in protest at a below-inflation pay deal of 1.75 per cent.

‘Thomson Reuters must shoulder the responsibility for this dispute,’said NUJ chapel officers Mike Roddy and Helen Long.

‘The company ignored repeated warnings that members had reached a tipping point, after years of below inflation pay rises, combined with rising costs, that are pricing many members out of their jobs.

‘Those with families who cannot afford to live in London are especially feeling the pain as they are forced to commute into the capital on the most expensive train lines in Europe.

‘We hope management will now listen to its journalists and return to the table with a sensible offer to avert a costly strike.”

The strike was voted for by 83 per cent of NUJ members and is due to begin at one minute past midnight on Thursday 9 February.

NUJ deputy general secretary Barry Fitzpatrick said: ‘This strike is about fairness. The management is proposing a below-inflation pay deal, while holding back money for a merit scheme.

‘This is just not on. While our members struggle to make ends meet on their wages, the management should be putting all the money into an across the board pay increase.”