Pay showdown seen after talks collapse

National Union of Journalists officials have rejected a revised 1.25 per cent across-the-board increase, while an attempt by management to force former Thomson London staff to give up their nine-day fortnight in return for a £500-a-year pay rise was rejected as "derisory", it said.

The combined Thomson Reuters NUJ Chapel is due to hold a mandatory meeting on Thursday to discuss the pay offer. A ballot for industrial action could also be held on the issue of former Thomson staff being forced to give up their nine-day fortnight following last April’s merger with Reuters. Reuters staff moved to a five-day week almost a decade ago and in return received a seven per cent across-the-board pay increase.

Management, led by editor-in-chief David Schlesinger, maintain they are changing the company's shift patterns, not the hours worked, The Guardian said. “When Reuters dumped its nine-day fortnight, in contrast, there was an increase in working hours.”

NUJ officials, however, claim that former Thomson Financial News staff are already on significantly lower wages than their Reuters colleagues for doing the same work and any move to a five-day week should be on a voluntary basis.

"Thomson Reuters encourages flexible working and will consider individual requests in line with company policy," a Reuters spokeswoman said in response.

The two sides have been battling over pay for months, the newspaper said. Management initially said there would be no across-the-board annual pay increase from April this year, but up to 2.5 per cent would be paid out on a performance basis.

That has since changed to a 1.25 per cent across-the-board increase, out of a total budget increase of 2.5 per cent, with the rest to be paid based on performance. From next year, management are understood to want to base all pay increases on performance, The Guardian added. ■