Thursday, November 19, 2015

UPDATED--"Financial Times journalists vote to strike over pension changes"

Following up on October 22's "Financial Times Journalists Authorize Strike Action Over Pensions".
We are a few hours late getting to this, the siren didn't go off.

Update below.
Original post:

Lifted in toto from Reuters:
Journalists at Britain's Financial Times newspaper have voted to take strike action over changes to the group's pensions proposed by its new owner Japan's Nikkei, the National Union of Journalists said on Thursday.

The union said two thirds of its members at the business newspaper had voted, with 92 percent of them backing action over the planned changes to pensions proposed by management and Nikkei.
Union members say the new owners plan to use some 4 million pounds of saving from pension changes to help pay rent on the newspaper's offices at Southwark Bridge in London that are still owned by the paper's former proprietor, Pearson.

The Financial Times and its editor, Lionel Barber, did not immediately respond to a requests for comment.

The salmon pink title commands strong loyalty from its readers and has coped better than others with the shift to online publishing. Pearson agreed to sell it to Japanese publisher Nikkei in July for $1.3 billion.
 Update via Politico.eu: "Financial Times journalists delay strike"

And from the PressGazette:

FT journalists vote for industrial action in protest over cuts to pensions following Nikkei sale
Financial Times journalists have voted in favour of taking industrial action in protest over cuts to their pension scheme brought about by the sale of the title to Nikkei.

Some 272 journalists at the FT are members of the National Union of Journalists, representing just over half the editorial work force. Of these, 66 per cent took part in the ballot.

NUJ members are to meet today to decide what form the industrial action they could take.
The dispute centres around changes to the final salary scheme brought about by Nikkei’s purchase of the FT from Pearson, which is due to be completed this month.

The changes proposed by FT management will see staff changed to a new scheme costing £4m less a year to run.

FT journalists see this as a betrayal of promises made by Nikkei that they would not be financially worse off as a result of the sale.

On Monday the FT’s vice president for HR Sarah Hopkins sent an email to staff claiming that the strike threat had been suspended. This followed an agreement from Nikkei provide an extra £4m which would delay the effect of the pensions changes for at least a year....MORE
Also at the PressGazette:
Daily Mirror resorts to making journalists sell burgers