"BETRAYAL" CLAIM AS POST AND MAIL JOBS AXED

21-10-2009

Birmingham Post and Mail staff are still reeling from yesterday’s news that 40 jobs are to go in the newsroom – along with 40 more in sales and distribution. The NUJ has accused owners Trinity Mirror of a “betrayal”, and members will meet today to discuss a ballot for industrial action.

The changes will see the Birmingham Post becoming a weekly paper, and the Mail switching to morning publication.

One hack who didn’t want be named said, “We knew there was bad news coming, but this is far worse than we ever imagined. There’s real anger in the newsroom.

“It’s as though the suits in London just don’t care about Birmingham or the regional press.

“They’ve only got one thought – ‘how can we cut costs?’ Not ‘how can we sell more papers or advertising?’”

The mood isn’t helped by the knowledge that just three months ago, Trinity Mirror posted half year profits of £49.1 million and according to internal newsletters the Post and Mail are now back in profit.

Some hacks whose jobs were saved when Trinity Mirror’s regional weeklies were axed are now facing redundancy for the second time in three months.

It remains to be seen whether there’s an appetite for strike action when the NUJ chapel meets today, but the mood of the union’s Northern Organiser Chris Morley – a former Mail journalist – was uncompromising:

“There is overwhelming disbelief and anger among our members in the Midlands at this announcement.

“It is the latest - and worst - betrayal in a long line by Trinity Mirror of its Midlands operations and is nothing less than the corporate equivalent of self-harm.

“Months of so-called consultation showed the folly of the original plans and dangers they posed for the longer-term future of the papers and digital operations. Our chapels entered those consultations positively and in good faith but have had that thrown back in their faces by a dishonourable company.

“The company was hell-bent on an outcome aimed at saving vast, unrealistic and unsustainable sums of money from the start, irrespective of the damage this could bring to the newspapers, websites and the staff that work on them.

"It appears the consultation was a sham and used as a smokescreen to mask management planning for the assault on jobs and even the pay of journalists.

“Our members are utterly demoralised with Trinity Mirror but in no mood to take this lying down. We will support them in every way at this critical time.”

Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary, said: “This is an assault on journalism and civil society in the West Midlands.

“It shows yet again that the right of citizens to know what is happening in a democracy is too important to be left in the hands of corporations whose only motivation is profit.

“The NUJ will support our members in Birmingham in whatever action they decide to take to stand up for journalists and journalism.”

Trinity Mirror said the changes had been introduced to address as forecast £6 million loss facing the company’s Midlands businesses (gathered under the BPM Media banner) in 2010.

Managing director of BPM Media, John Griffith, said: "In reaching the decisions we are announcing today, we have taken great care to consider all the options and we have sought the views of our staff, advertisers and key contacts.

"We believe the changes we plan to introduce offer the best way forward for the business, to help us tackle the immediate issue of the forecast deficit and to set us up more effectively for the longer term.'