Irish journalists among more than 1,150 Reach staff to strike over pay

Irish journalists employed by news group Reach took part in strike action against the company on Wednesday after pay negotiations broke down.

National Union of Journalist members gathered in Dublin and Belfast in solidarity with more than 1,150 Reach workers who participated in walkouts across Ireland and Britain.

Dublin journalists employed on Reach’s Irish titles — which include the Irish Daily Mirror, the Irish Sunday Mirror and the Irish Daily Star — were joined at a solidarity gathering by NUJ branch members from the city at the statue of trade union leader Jim Larkin on O’Connell Street.

Journalists voted in favour of a strike earlier this month after a final offer of a 3 per cent pay rise was rejected as insufficient in light of the soaring cost of living.

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NUJ officials have also pointed to operating profits of more than £146 million (€173 million) at Reach in 2021, the “staggering” pay package of £4 million (€4.65 million) awarded to chief executive Jim Mullen and a seeming inconsistency between the Daily Mirror’s editorial support for workers in other industries and the attitude of its publisher to its own staff.

“We have been brought to this position by the intransigence of Reach plc’s CEO Jim Mullen,” said Irish NUJ secretary Séamus Dooley.

Mr Larkin’s rival William Martin Murphy, himself a newspaper publisher, would “probably blush at the sheer effrontery” of Mr Mullen’s refusal to enter “meaningful negotiations”, Mr Dooley added.

“It is time for Reach plc to get real.”

The industrial action had been due to begin last Friday but was postponed after the publisher agreed to new talks. These subsequently broke down, however.

“Ultimately, the lack of willingness on the part of Reach chief executive Jim Mullen to budge an inch meant the negotiations were doomed to failure,” said NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet.

“This is a business with cash in the bank, a business that is happy to spend £7 million on lavish pay packages for its top two executives, a business that is about to hand over a further £4 million to shareholders,” she said.

“Yet is also a business that believes its hard-working journalists deserve whopping real terms pay cut and refuses to come to an agreement on pay that will ensure our members can keep themselves and their families afloat this winter.”

Ms Stanistreet described it as “shameful” that a media company publishing titles that claim to be an ally of working people “would choose to treat its own staff so shabbily”.

In response, Reach said: “We greatly value our journalists and are disappointed that, despite our best efforts during a long negotiation process and successful agreements with Unite and the BAJ, we have been unable to reach an agreement with the NUJ.

“Whilst this is not the outcome we would have wished for, 2022 continues to be extremely challenging for the whole publishing sector with reduced demand for advertising and energy inflation driving the cost of newsprint to record levels.

“We therefore remain focused on protecting the interests of all our colleagues and stakeholders, ensuring the group has a sustainable future in the face of an uncertain economic climate. We continue to be open to further talks at any time to resolve this dispute and move forward.”

The Dublin protest was held by the Larkin statue in the absence of a functioning premises. An office for Reach journalists is currently being configured at Independent House on Talbot Street, with staff working from home in the meantime. In Belfast, members picketed the Reach premises at Rosemary Street.

In the UK, Reach — previously known as Trinity Mirror — is also the publisher of the national tabloid the Express, the Manchester Evening News, the Liverpool Echo and the Western Mail, among dozens of others. In the Irish market, it also owns RSVP magazine and the websites Dublin Live, Belfast Live, Cork Beo and Galway Beo.