Back – after 25 years
THE NUJ has won back the right to represent members at a newspaper group that pioneered union busting tactics in the 1980s. A bitter dispute at Messenger Newspapers in Stockport and Warrington led to the sacking of journalists and printers and scores of arrests and injuries as police attacked pickets.
Ten NUJ members lost their jobs in 1983 when they refused to cross a picket line set up by sacked colleagues from the NGA print union — now part of Unite. But now the NUJ has won back union recognition at the group, owned by Newsquest.
In the 1980s it was owned by Eddie Shah, a crusading anti-union entrepreneur who precipitated the dispute by axing six printers’ jobs. Now it is owned by Newsquest.
The recognition agreement also covers the Warrington Guardian series, the St Helen’s Star, the Leigh Journal and the Wirral Globe. The union achieved recognition by proving that 60 percent of the journalists were members.
Jenny Lennox, NUJ Assistant Organiser, said: “I congratulate the members for winning this campaign. We now have to negotiate a new agreement in the face of company attempts to enforce pay freezes and other cutbacks.”