NUJ urges fair pay for Newsquest journalists

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) says Newsquest has paid a total of £22.5m in dividends to its US parent company Gannett this year, and with increased profit margins ensuring more than a fifth of revenue amounts to profit, the NUJ is urging action from Henry Faure Walker, Newsquest CEO and the company’s board, to introduce fair pay for the company’s journalists. This year, where pay reviews have been reported, they have been about three per cent, a level the NUJ believes fails to capture the value and contribution of Newsquest journalists. Financial statements in the latest published accounts reveal two executive directors at Newsquest received significant boosts to their pay last year, in combined performance related payments of £696,000 and almost 15 per cent increases to salary.

Journalists at the company lie at the heart of Newsquest’s success, added NUJ, and will be surprised to read finance director Paul Hunter’s comments of being ‘particularly pleased with the ongoing stability in Newsquest’s revenues’ and recognition that they ‘have been broadly flat for the last two years, a period where the wider news publishing industry has generally been experiencing significant revenue declines’ without action on fair remuneration for those crucial to this success. Hunter’s views must now serve as the useful basis to inform discussions and meaningful engagement with the NUJ to end the low pay culture for the group’s journalists.

The publisher’s pension deficit payments consisting of millions have now also ceased, easing cost pressures on the company’s books, continued NUJ.

Chris Morley, Newsquest NUJ national coordinator, said: “Publication of Newsquest’s accounts will come as a shock to staff given the massive hike in executive pay contrasting with the puny rises given to everyone else who already struggle with among the worst pay in the news publishing industry.

“For the two UK executive directors to between them enjoy not only a bankable 14.5% total increase in their salaries – an injection last year of £89,000 to their base pay – but a whopping 74% boost in ‘performance related payments’ to almost £700,000.

“If their performance was that good, we believe that journalists, who are key to generating the group revenue, should be far better rewarded. Instead, this year where offers have been made to our members, they have often been months after the annual pay anniversary and typically only around 3%. In the case of LDRs, Newsquest only passed on the 1.5% uplift in funding from the BBC, although it did at least establish a better minimum salary which additionally benefitted a few.

“The living standards of Newsquest staff have been devastated in recent years with sky-high inflation but bargain basement pay reviews. This year was clearly a chance for the company to start to rebuild the financial security for employees.

“But we now know from the latest accounts that the company chose not to do so when huge sums of £10m, £5m and £7.5m were paid to US parent company Gannett in dividend payments in April, June and August this year.

“Additionally, the business’s finances are even more positive following the payment in January of a £5m scheduled final deficit payment into the old final salary pension scheme. The accounts make clear that a further payment in 2025 will not be necessary as the old scheme is now fully funded. This gives the company much more financial flexibility which we say should lead to long overdue investments in the staff.”

Newsquest NUJ Group Chapel said: “It is disappointing to see senior executives receiving inflation-busting increases in salaries and booming bonuses when the workforce is left with mere crumbs at a time that the company has more room for manoeuvre financially than it has had for many years.

“We know from comparisons with colleagues in other news publishers that Newsquest pay is not competitive, and we are calling on senior management to reverse this trend and instead make the company a magnet for top journalistic talent.”