Strike threat at Independent Media

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS faces the prospect of an all-out strike within days after clerical staff last night agreed to ballot for industrial action in response to the company's severance programme.

Trade union SIPTU, which represents most of the workers affected, has also lodged an application for an all-out picket with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The National Union of Journalists will also ballot members this week in a move that could see journalists at the Irish Independent, Evening Herald and Sunday Independent strike in support of their SIPTU colleagues.

Workers and SIPTU officials accused the company of breaking an agreement that 205 redundancies, which had been sought by Independent Media as part of a restructuring programme, would be on a voluntary basis. Independent Media said last week that workers who failed to sign up for the €23 million voluntary package before May 21 would be made redundant and would only receive their statutory entitlements.

The company claimed last night that 190 people had accepted the package, which it described as "extremely generous" and provides for lump sum payments to staff of between €40,000 and €260,000. But SIPTU said the figure was closer to 165.

SIPTU referred the issue of redundancies to the government-sponsored National Implementation Body (NIB) last week, claiming the Tony O'Reilly-headed company was in breach of Sustaining Progress, the national partnership agreement between the government, employers and trade unions.

The NIB noted that Independent declined an invitation to attend parallel talks at the Labour Court to resolve the issue.

The NIB also determined that Independent's actions should be referred to the Labour Court under the terms of Sustaining Progress, so that the court could assess whether the company was in breach of the agreement. An Independent spokesman declined to comment on the move last night.

Staff affected by the restructuring claim say they are being forced to take the redundancy package. Other staff who remain after the restructuring are understood to be concerned for their positions, which they fear will be less secure. The company has said the restructuring programme is vital for its future health and that it needs to drive down its cost base to cope with strong competition.

Journalists at the Belfast Telegraph, also part of the Independent stable, staged a 48-hour work stoppage last week in pursuit of a pay claim.