STV journalists to take strike action in ongoing pay row, union says

The National Union of Journalists said on Monday that news reporting staff at STV will strike after voting by 89% in favour of industrial action.
The STV offices in Glasgow (Alamy/PA)
Ryan McDougall11 March 2024

A Scottish broadcaster has been told to “wake up and listen to its staff” by a union, as its journalists prepare for strike action in an ongoing pay dispute.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said on Monday that news reporting staff at STV will strike after voting by 89% in favour of industrial action.

The NUJ says this is due to last-minute talks with Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) resulting in STV’s management refusing to offer to resolve a pay dispute.

There is now expected to be disruption throughout the summer, as journalists walk out of newsrooms and onto picket lines.

Strike dates have yet to be announced, however, NUJ members who work for the broadcaster are to meet on Tuesday to discuss the form and timescale of industrial action.

Nick McGowan-Lowe, the NUJ’s national organiser for Scotland said: “This is an overwhelming result which should make the STV board wake up and listen to its staff.

“Our members are dedicated and talented professionals who have made STV Scotland’s most-watched peak-time TV channel for the fifth consecutive year – but they have had enough of being told they should accept below inflation pay rises at a time when the company boasts of record revenues.

“This situation is quickly resolvable as soon as the company comes back to the table with a fair offer, but the longer they refuse to do so, the angrier advertisers and audiences will get as their favourite programmes are affected.”

It comes as STV, which holds the licence for Channel 3 in central and north Scotland, announced they made £168.4 million in revenue last year.

The union said despite this, the company has said it can not afford to grant journalists a pay rise which matches inflation for all employees, citing difficult marketing conditions last year.

The NUJ said it asked for a 6% increase.

STV holds the Channel 3 licence to cover central and north Scotland.

STV has been contacted for comment.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT