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Journalists at Wales’ biggest news publisher secure better pay and conditions after strike

23 Sep 2022 2 minute read
Some of Reach Plc’s newspapers in Wales

Journalists at Wales’ biggest news publisher have secured better pay conditions today after going on strike last month.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said that journalists at Reach, whose titles in Wales include the Western Mail and Daily Post newspapers, as well as their sister WalesOnline and North Wales Live websites, had voted to accept an improved offer.

Last month journalists in Wales had gone on strike, joining colleagues across the UK from news titles such as The Mirror, Express, Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Bristol Post, Birmingham Mail, and The Journal.

“Following a ballot of all NUJ members across Reach, the NUJ group chapel met today and acknowledged the outcome of the ballot result and the decision to accept the company’s revised pay proposal, a process in which over 76 per cent of members cast their vote,” an NUJ spokesperson said.

“The group chapel paid tribute to the collective work and solidarity of members across the group to secure a settlement that delivers significant pay rises to over 700 journalists, many of whom are the lowest paid staff, and improved redundancy terms and conditions for many members in currently in receipt of statutory minimums.”

‘Hard work’

Reach had originally offered a 3% pay increase, worth £750, which was rejected by 79% of NUJ members in a ballot in August. They then went on strike on 31 August.

The new deal will see pay rise for workers in deals ranging from 14 to 44%.

In accepting this revised pay deal, the NUJ’s Reach group chapel made it clear that this new deal, which delivers significant improvements for many journalists across the group, was “just the beginning”.

Continuing to advocate for improved pay and conditions for all members will be their priority in the coming period, they said.

“It is testament to the hard work of NUJ reps and members across Reach that we have seen such great strides in recruitment and organisation,” they added.


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The Original Mark
The Original Mark
2 years ago

I wonder if this means that the quality of news coverage will improve along with their wages?

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