Herald GroupFalkirk East MSP Cathy Peattie has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament expressing concerns about the Herald Group. Supporters so far include Labour, SNP and Green MSPs. The motion reads: S3M-305 Cathy Peattie: Herald Group of Newspapers - That the Parliament views with concern recent developments within the Herald group of newspapers; notes that there has been a significant reduction in editorial staffing levels with further job cuts now proposed and that this has clear implications for the quality and content of publications and along with other health and safety concerns, for stress and staff health; notes that these developments are taking place despite increased profits and assurances given by Newsquest to the Competition Commission, and believes that this is to the detriment of the long term future of the titles and the Scottish newspaper industry. Cathy Peattie said that she was not surprised that staff had walked out. "They have a long list of causes for dissatisfaction - redundancies, staffing shortages, poor working conditions and high stress levels. This is damaging the health of the workforce and the health of the paper. Rather than discuss the problems, Newsquest has derecognised the NUJ. "Profits are up, staffing is down, and standards look sure to follow, but still they are looking for a further £3m in cuts. Some of the proposed compulsory redundancies have been averted by redeployment, but it's mighty suspicious that the one remaining is a female sub-editor who also has a disability, and there is good reason to believe that the company will be looking for more compulsory redundancies in the near future. "Newsquest's purchase of the Herald group was backed by assurances that they would maintain standards and not cut editorial budgets. The Competition Commission may have decided that too much time has passed for it to be able to do anything, but that doesn't change the fact that Newsquest gave assurances via the commission to the people of Scotland, and those assurances now look worthless." Paul Holleran of the NUJ said "There is growing public and political support for our campaign to save jobs and protect the quality of these papers and the strength of feeling among the staff is growing day by day. We are delighted that MSPs will have a chance to add to their already much appreciated support." (July 2007) |
|