The six staff due to lose their jobs today at Brighton and Hove’s daily newspaper have been given a four-week reprieve.
The Argus was due to make six news sub-editors redundant today as staff who belong to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) start a second day on strike.
The six have been told that they will not be redundant until Friday 17 December when the subbing of the news pages will be carried out from Southampton.
One NUJ member said yesterday: “It doesn’t seem as though they’ve thought things through, like how’s it going to work.
“They’re not ready to take on the work in Southampton.
“The journalists there were on strike last week.
“We were offered the chance to move to Southampton but that meant either moving house or a four-hour daily commute for less money.
“We’ve been asking drivers to hoot their horns in support as they go past and you’ve heard the noise.
Support
“It’s been fantastic. There’s a lot of support for us but whether in the end it’ll make any difference … sadly, I suspect not.”
Today some of the striking journalists were giving out flyers at Brighton Station explaining the reasons for the strike and asking for support.
Yesterday some of them visited two of Brighton’s biggest housing estates.
One of them was quick to point out this morning: “We deliberately haven’t asked people to boycott the paper. We just want them to know what’s happening.”
The Argus did mention the strike today – in a three-paragraph story on page 5.
The staff on strike are inviting people to join them at 3pm today outside the Argus offices in Crowhurst Road, Hollingbury, to show their support.
Yesterday at 11am, dozens of people, from local politicians to ordinary readers, joined the staff on the picket line.
All three Brighton and Hove MPs sent messages of support as did Labour peer Lord Bassam of Brighton and councillors from across the political spectrum.
