Third strike and EMAP will be out

journalists at the EMAP Public Sector group in London are on course for a strike after managers refused to increase a pay offer. They have already voted unanimously to go for a strike ballot over an offer of 2.75 per cent — or of 3.5 per cent to be implemented six months later. They want the full 3.5 per cent from the due date.

Managers initially offered just 2.65 per cent, claiming this was what they were paying elsewhere in the group, but the union discovered others were getting 2.75 per cent.

EMAP Public Sector is part of the group that was bought by the Guardian and venture capitalists Apax Partners earlier this year. It is the only part with full NUJ recognition; 26 of the 30 journalists are NUJ members. They have staged two other strikes over pay in the last six years. The group includes the Nursing times, Health Service Journal and Local Government Chronicle.

Father of Chapel Richard Staines said: “We need to make a stand in these difficult economic times to make sure that our wages aren’t undermined. We just can’t accept what they’re offering at the moment.”