Staff at Independent Newspapers in Dublin are to meet management within the next fortnight in relation to a new restructuring plan which could signal job losses at the company.
Unions at the newspaper group's Dublin office, which produces the Irish Independent, the Evening Heraldand the Sunday Independent, have been told by management that it intends to make an announcement regarding "production restructuring" at the meeting.
The company's human resources director, Declan Carlyle, told The Irish Timesyesterday that the company wished to make a presentation to its employees in relation to "changes we have in mind". He would not say what the changes were until the meeting took place. A date has yet to be set for the meeting.
Concerns over possible outsourcing of the newspaper group's production work, performed by subeditors and designers, were raised following the publication of an advertisement for graphic artists in yesterday's Irish Independent.The advertisement was placed by Indian multinational HCL in partnership with Independent News & Media (IN&M).
IN&M has already outsourced its classified advertising function to HCL, which has offices based in Armagh. The salaries offered in the advertisement range from €21,250 to €25,800.
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said there could be no justification for redundancies.
"The NUJ is always open to listening to proposals from companies, but bearing in mind the profitability of Independent News & Media, I cannot imagine a justification for any proposals that would have any adverse impact on staffing levels or on the terms and conditions of our members."
