Fight Sacking
Socialist Press1975 1975-08-20Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 8 →
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The deepening world economic crisis is drastically hitting newspapr circulation. Hence all the attempts by the gutter press to boost circulation, such as the revival of the gossip columns and the change by various popular newspapers to a tabloid formula. These attempts have been accompanied by various cuts in manning levels, union org anisation and also sackings.
The dismissal of more than 200 journalists in Birmingham working for the Post, Mail, Sunday Mercury and Sports Argus was manoeuvred after they had to turn down a derisory pay offer of £1 a week.
After more than nine months negotiations since then, 10 journalists, all members of the NUJ, on a picket line outside the Birming-, ham Post & Mail, have been arrested after attempting to prevent a lorry carrying blacked newspapers fromileaving its premises. Police and plain-clothes members: of the serious crime squad assaulted the pickets and several journalists wer roughed up.
The determination of the newspaper employers to force through large-scale redundancies has also been highlighted at The Observer where they have attempted to sack a third of the printers. As in the Post & Mail dispute in Birmingham workers have resisted strongly. As we go to press, however, printing union officials have agreed to a large number of voluntary redundancies - in the region of 200. Any such agreement must be fought.