Trinity Mirror Midlands journalists to strike for 48 hours

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UPDATE 5:04pm (BST):

Journalists at Trinity Mirror's Midlands titles are set to strike for 48 hours in response to management changes at the group.

National Union of Journalist (NUJ) members at the affected papers, which include the Birmingham Post and Mail, and Coventry Telegraph, have agreed to stop work on October 7 and 8

,

a press statement from the NUJ has confirmed.

Staff at the Midlands titles voted in favour of strike action if compulsory redundancies were made by Trinity as part of a series of organisational changes announced last month , which the group said would 'require substantially fewer journalists' and voluntary redundancies.

The restructuring will integrate Trinity's online and print newsrooms in the region and see its Midlands titles served by a centralised production unit and multimedia desk.

Coventry and Solihull members voted 85.4 per cent in favour of strike action, while 68.4 per cent and 87.5 per cent supported the motion in ballots in Birmingham and at Midland Weekly Media respectively.

According to a release from the NUJ, the ballots attracted a 79 per cent turnout of NUJ members in Coventry and Solihull, 71 per cent in Birmingham and 61.5 per cent at Midland Weekly Media.

NUJ chapels in the region have agreed to acknowledge Trinity's commitment to 'no compulsory redundancy' measures and to review the strike plan following the 'the outcome of the individual selection process', which will end on October 6.

The union also supported the 'working party on a digital/multimedia working agreement' set up by the publisher in the wake of the plans.

But the union has called for more progress from the publisher on redundancy payments and improving pay for trainees on weekly titles in the region.

"All the NUJ chapels within Trinity Mirror's Midlands operations are united in their staunch opposition to compulsory redundancies and to winning a better deal in the multimedia future the company says it wants to usher in," said Chris Morley, NUJ northern regional organiser, in the statement.

"The strength of the votes for industrial action should send the strongest message to bosses that the chapels will not tolerate any journalist being forced out the door. The ball is now firmly in the company's court and if they do not fulfil their aim of achieving their cuts by voluntary means, they know what the consequences will be."