Newspaper commits to quality after NUJ strikes

A dispute over pay and editorial quality at the Milton Keynes Citizen has ended with the offer of a 3% backdated pay rise for 2007 and a commitment to immediate talks on this year’s increase.

Members of the NUJ journalists’ union at the newspaper, which is owned by Johnston Press, took six days of strike action in January before the settlement was reached.

The pay award is accompanied by the establishment of a new working group to look at improvements that will “maintain and strengthen quality journalism”. The group will comprise both journalists and management representatives.

Welcoming managers’ recognition of concerns over levels of investment, NUJ national organiser Barry Fitzpatrick said: “When fewer journalists are being called upon to fill ever more column inches, there is a clear danger that quality will suffer. It’s vital that the new working group takes a serious look at what must be done to ensure the Citizen and its sister titles continue to offer the very best service.”

He added that the prospect of ”constructive negotiations on 2008 pay” should enable the newspaper’s journalists to “continue to concentrate on what they do best: reporting the news rather than making it”.