tamworthtimesFollowing the announcement made by Trinity Mirror earlier in the month about the closure of Midlands based titles, including our own Tamworth Times, union members have voted overwhelmingly to strike.

A report in yesterdays Guardian suggests that 80% of Trinity Mirror Birmingham National Union of Journalists members voted in favour of the strike amidst the news of the closures and changes to other titles in the region, including the Birmingham Post and Mail.

The closures which include Tamworth’s own weekly Tamworth Times publication and other changes are threatening the jobs of up to 120 local staff in the region.  Chris Morley, Northern organiser for NUJ said:

“Trinity Mirror management should realise that compulsory redundancies, and the attacks on journalism in the Midlands that they propose, are totally unacceptable to their own workforce,”

However, Trinity Mirror have hit back at the NUJ ballot and comments, branding them reckless and negligent.  A spokesperson for Trinity Mirror told the Guardian:

“The NUJ’s claims are hugely misleading when in reality less than 45% of all those who were balloted voted in favour of this strike,

“We are obviously disappointed with this reckless and negligent decision. We are fighting to secure the future of our businesses in the Midlands which are now running at a loss. This action will not benefit their members in any way whatsoever.”

As reported last week, it is believed that Tamworth Times final edition is this week, (although we have not been able to confirm this as of yet) so these strike actions may come to late to save our local title.

The changes to the local publications though runs much deeper with many Tamworth residents regularly reading the Birmingham Mail and Post.  Our local neighbours up the road in Lichfield are also set to loose their local title as reported on The Lichfield Blog.