Publishing jobs face the axe

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YOUR MAN AT THE TOP'S 4e.

Elsevier, the Amsterdam based publishing and printing multinational, has declared 14 redundancies at the 35-strong Oxford office of Elsevier International Projects.

Best known for scientific and technical publications (North Holland and Exerpta Medica are among its imprints) Elsevier has in recent years set up or taken over companies in the USA (E.P. Dutton), Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK (EIP, Phaidon and Applied Science, among others).

Announcing the 40% -plus "proposed" redundancies the Friday before Easter, the company made no attempt to defend the decision; simply announcing that their programme was "too ambitious". , and the books produced had been inadequately promoted.

Losses were likely in the future, declared management, therefore half the workers had to pay for it and go on the dole.

In a subsequent homily the managing director advised the workforce to divide and either a) assist a phoenix to rise from the ashes or b) go home and look at their 'Easter Eggs" (proposed redundancy compensation).

GHT TO STAY ON YOUR B Of course Is no there guarantee of secure more employment those for workers the employer proposes should remain, nor can money payments compensate for more jobs lost in book publishing, which has its share of speed-up and redundancies.

In London Marshall Cavendish, the partwork and (like EIP) illustrated reference book publishers, have threatened 20 redundancies in a bid to end a two-month strike over pay by more than 100 National Union of Journalist members.

The unions in book publishing are now constantly being confronted with employers' attempts at "natural wastage"

The workers at Elsevier have rightly demanded financial and other information to be made available to their elected representatives, as well as the withdrawal of the "proposals"

This information should be used to support a fight by the NU and ASTMS members at Elsevier to defend all jobs, confronting the employer independent of "professional" "Servicess, accountants or of ACAS.

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SOCIALIST PRESS

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