Determined York chapel continues dispute with 8am chapel meetings

NUJ members working for the York Press group kept up their fight for an above-inflation pay rise by holding a series of 8am mandatory chapel meetings for eight days in June.

“The beauty of chapel meetings is that we can take action for as long or short a length of time as we like,” said joint FOC Sam Southgate.

“We can simply return to work when we decide the meeting’s business is over — effectively allowing us flexibility in whether to strike for five minutes, two hours, or days at a time.

“When we delivered notice of our next action, we reiterated that we remain willing to get back around the table should management be willing to reopen serious negotiations.”

He thanked the many NUJ members and other trade unionists who have given money and solidarity to the strikers and urged members to press their MPs to sign Early Day Motion 1639, proposed by John McDonnell MP, which backs the strikers’ demands.

NUJ members from York will speak at union branch or chapel meetings. Contact nujyork@gmail.com

The Journalist is published by the National Union of Journalists