Staff at the Drogheda Independent group of newspapers have voted for strike action in support of five colleagues who have been made redundant or placed on a three-day week.
The employees concerned, who are members of the Unite trade union, have given two weeks notice of industrial action.
The union said the industrial action could halt production of the
Drogheda Independent, the
Dundalk Argusand the
Fingal Independentin the first week of October.
In a statement today, Unite said that five employees - all women who work in administration and sales - were called in by management of Independent News and Media and told that two were to be made redundant. Three others were told they were to have their working week reduced by 40 per cent with immediate effect.
"They were also told to make themselves available five days a week as cover but with no compensation paid unless they were called upon", the union stated.
Unite said 90 per cent of its members in the group voted in favour of industrial action.
A spokesman for Independent News and Media said a redundancy programme was needed because of the economic downturn. He said the company had held discussions with the union in July and decided to minimise the number of job losses to two with three other staff being placed on a three-day week.
The union denied that there had been any consultation with it in July over the company's plans.