Journalists at a newspaper owned by former UUP deputy leader Lord Kilclooney have voted to take industrial action in protest at what they say is an attempt to force a staff member to take redundancy.
The staff at the Longford News, owned by Lord Kilclooney through his company Alpha Newspaper Group, said 'volunteers' had been sought for a redundancy in the newsroom and that this would have "a devastating impact on the health and welfare of the remaining staff".
National Union of Journalists Irish Organiser Nicola Coleman said the company had taken the "unprecedented" step of seeking a volunteer for a statutory redundancy, with no payment above the legal entitlement.
"The Longford Newsis badly staffed and workers are forced to work long hours under extreme pressure in order to produce the weekly newspaper.
"A further reduction in staff will add further stress on staff and will undermine editorial quality. The response of management to the threat of industrial action has been to nominate one reporter for redundancy without any meaningful negotiation. There is no case for this redundancy and the company has failed to justify this action."
Alpha Newspaper Group could not immediately be contacted for comment.