Sanctions divide PON
Socialist Press1978 1978-11-29Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 11 →
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Journalists on provincial papers have stepped up sanctions in their campaign against the five per cent pay limit.
But the inadequacy and divisive nature of the action is already becoming apparent.
Already journalists at Bolton have been dismissed by management for operating the sanctions. The only advice they have received from the NUJ is to hold fast, sit at. their desks and "refuse to accept' that they are sacked.
On some papers the sanctions are being stringently operated and biting. In Britsol the evening paper has been reduced to an emergency edition as management concentrate on the prestigious morning On others the sanctions are being operated in such a way that management is little inconvenienced. NOINA implementing the sanctions to the best effect.
These include a ban on telephones, an end to night work and all flexibility and a stubborn insistence on finishing each job to the satisfaction of the journalist before the next one is begun.
But the employers-who have applied for permission from the Department of Employment (!) to pay 7% of the most intransigent sets of employers substantially.
Sanctions could bring a small increase in the offer which will not bring a decisive shift in the living standards of the NUJ members concerned.
The employers' proposals to 'weight' any offer in favour of the better paid journalists must also. be rejected.