STV staff reaffirm support for ballot on industrial action

Staff at STV have reaffirmed their intention to ballot for industrial action after rejecting a request from bosses at the broadcaster to delay the process for two weeks.

The STV headquarters in Glasgow. Picture: Leslie Barrie/Geograph

The Glasgow-based media firm confirmed earlier this month it would close its loss-making STV2 channel while also undertaking a restructure of its news division, with a total of 59 jobs at risk.

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members at STV are fighting against any compulsory redundancies, as well as requesting better terms for anyone considering voluntary redundancy.

NUJ members met this morning to consider a request from management a ballot on industrial action be delayed for two weeks. In return, management had offered to extend both the consultation period and the deadline for voluntary redundancy applications by two weeks.

This offer was unanimously rejected, and the ballot will go ahead. Meanwhile, consultations between the union and STV management will continue.

NUJ Scotland Organiser John Toner said: “Our members are absolutely united on this matter and will not rescind the ballot. We are almost two weeks into this process and most of our members are still waiting to find out whether they have jobs, and what those jobs would actually entail in this new structure for STV News.

“We look forward to more detailed answers to our questions in the coming week.”

STV chief executive Simon Pitts will appear before MSPs next week to justify job cuts at the broadcaster.