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Journalists in Bristol go on strike in pay dispute
Journalists swapped their laptops for placards as they went on strike as part of a national pay dispute between the NUJ and Reach.
Reporters from publications including the Bristol Post and Western Daily Press took to the picket line on Baldwin Street on Wednesday.
Green Party co-leader and Bristol councillor Carla Denyer joined the strikers on Wednesday along with representatives from other trade unions including Equity.
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Staff at Reach – who also own the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express as well as local papers including the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo – were given a one per cent pay rise last year and this year have rejected an offer of three per cent.
The NUJ have asked for 8.5 per cent, and voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking four days of industrial action in a ballot in July and August.
NUJ Bristol branch treasurer Paul Breeden said: “Staff working for Reach in this region have already suffered years of historically low pay, and now the contempt with which Reach plc treats its journalists is catching up with the management.
“There has been a huge increase in membership of the NUJ both in the Bristol area and nationally in the past two years, and now we are expecting only a skeleton staff of managers to be working on the strike days.
“The issues with low pay will shock people. Reach employees in this region have had to use food banks to feed their families.”
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NUJ south west rep Tim Lezard added: “Young journalists in their first job have not managed to last more than a year, while experienced journalists are also leaving in their droves.
“To complete the vicious circle, they are not being replaced, piling even more work and pressure on the ones who remain, who are now being asked to take what is effectively a pay cut.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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