Northcliffe is ordered to recognise NUJ – again

The NUJ journalists’ union has secured recognition on newspapers recently taken over by Northcliffe Media in East Sussex and Surrey.

Last October, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) accepted the NUJ’s application for recognition, but talks with management resulted in a different bargaining unit from that initially specified by the union. This meant that the CAC had to reconsider the application – and Northcliffe claimed that, since a number of staff had resigned since the application (partly because of fears that the company’s prospects would worsen under its new owners), there was no longer a majority of staff in favour of recognition.

But a check by the CAC revealed that the NUJ did have the 50% support it needed for its application to go ahead.