Birmingham and Coventry National Union of Journalists

Christine Buckley has pulled out of next week's meeting
Apologies have been received from Christine Buckley, editor of The Journalist, who says she has an urgent, last minute personal commitment which means she can not be the guest speaker at our branch meeting in Coventry on Thursday, June 16. The meeting at the Old Windmill in Spon Street, Coventry, will carry on as usual and branch chairwoman Barbara Goulden will offer members the chance to discuss the upcoming election of a new Deputy General Secretary, internships, and which training workshops members would be interested in the branch organising.


Shropshire Newspapers to ballot for strike action over redundancies
Journalists at Shropshire Newspapers have voted unanimously at an emergency NUJ chapel meeting to ballot for strike action in a dispute over redundancies. Midland News Association, which owns the papers, is targeting 35 redundancies across all departments, but the journalists are demanding a guarantee that there will be no compulsory editorial job losses. Midland News Association also owns the Wolverhampton Express and Star where the company is seeking a redundancy target of 60 jobs.

NUJ northern and midlands organiser Chris Morley said: "Our members at Shropshire Newspapers are greatly concerned at the appalling prospect of compulsory redundancies.They also fear for the future of their titles and the communities they serve if the cuts go too deep.
Full article can be read here . . . .


Writing better features
There will be a free afternoon workshop run by journalist and film scriptwriter Brendan Foley at 2:00pm on Saturday July 16 in the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire studios in Priory Place, Coventry. Brendan has entitled his workshop Writing Better Features and says the informal afternoon session will cover print, web and radio writing and should be suitable for people at all levels of their career.
All those interested in attending should Email: barbara.goulden@btinternet.com


Scotland: 'Extraordinary level' of Daily Record/Sunday Mail job cuts
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has questioned 'the extraordinary level of redundancies being contemplated at the Daily Record and Sunday Mail' where the management has announced 90 redundancies among journalists at the titles

The chapel met Wednesday and NUJ negotiators will go back to management with a range of demands and questions. We have secured a meeting with government ministers next week and if the chapel wishes, we'll aim to organise a public meeting in the city next week and invite other unions to raise the profile of the issue. It's vital members in the building don't feel they're on their own.
Full article can be read here . . . .