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NUJ chapel votes for ballot as more job redundancies proposed at Brighton Argus

Posted: 11/06/09 By: Judith Townend

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Further redundancies have been proposed at The Argus in Brighton, Journalism.co.uk has learned.

Two jobs are under threat in the news sub-editing operation, a member of the Newsquest title's National Union of Journalists (NUJ) chapel said.

The announcement follows job cuts in January and a management decision to move the sub-editing and production operations of the associated freesheet weeklies, the Sussex Leader series and the Worthing Sentinel to Southampton.

"We had a chapel meeting today [Wednesday] and there was a unanimous vote to ballot for action. The news subs are over-stretched as it is and don't feel they've been treated fairly, in that they've apparently been evaluated and monitored without their knowledge, to establish a 'skills matrix' which will determine which staff members will go," a member of the chapel told Journalism.co.uk.

There is speculation among staff members that the Argus will move 'most if not all' of its production to the Southampton centre in the future.

"They're also proposing to move a subbing job focused on ad features, and six advertising jobs on the Propertynet online system, to Southampton," the chapel member said.

"We do not comment on our business," a spokesperson at Newsquest Sussex told Journalism.co.uk when contacted for further information.

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