Journalists working at Trinity Mirror‘s Midlands operation will hold a one day strike next week following a vote for industrial action over plans by the publisher to close a number of titles and make a series of compulsory redundancies.
The National Union of Journalists said that members on the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham Post, Coventry Telegraph, Sunday Mercury and Midlands Weekly Media titles will strike next Thursday, 30 July.
Three Trinity union chapels in the Midlands decided to vote on strike action after the publisher revealed plans earlier this month to close nine newspapers and cut almost 120 jobs, including 17 journalists.
Speculation has also been rife Trinity Mirror plans to axe the Birmingham Post as a daily title.
Trinity Mirror workplace union chapels are also balloting for action over cuts in Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
The decision to hold the one day strike was taken across a series of chapel meetings in Birmingham and Coventry this week.
The union has 150 members working for the company in the midlands. Trinity Mirror bosses had earlier dismissed the decision to strike as ‘reckless and negligent’adding that just 45 per cent of all those who were balloted voted in favour of this strike action.
Chris Morley, NUJ northern organiser, said: ‘Trinity Mirror need to stop finding excuses to ignore the opposition of their workforce to these drastic cuts.
‘Journalists want the opportunity to save these papers but the company can see no options but slash and burn.”
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