The National Union of Journalists yesterday urged the Regional Newspapers Association of Ireland (RNAI) to accept a recent Labour Court ruling which found that they did not have a case for winding up a pension scheme for regional newspaper journalists.
The Labour Court recommended an increase in the employer and employee contribution to 15.2 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively.
After a members' ballot yesterday morning, the NUJ's Irish organiser Des Fagan has written to the RNAI, advising them that NUJ chapels have unanimously accepted the Labour Court ruling.
Mr Fagan said the fact that members had accepted the contribution increase to 8.5 per cent showed that there is a desire to save the scheme.
Previously, NUJ members in 27 newspapers voted to take industrial action against the RNAI after it had, itself, voted to end the pension scheme.
The defined benefit scheme, which caters for 220 journalists at 50 titles across the State as well as a number of retired journalists, had been designed to provide a two-thirds pension of a notional €25,000 salary on retirement.
Mr Fagan said: "The strong mandate for industrial action and the subsequent acceptance of the Labour Court recommendation reflects a strong commitment to protect the pension scheme in the face of a concerted campaign by employers to undermine the pensions of a group of dedicated journalists, many of whom have given many years loyal service to the local newspaper sector."
He said that arguments for ending the scheme had been rejected and it was now time to end the uncertainty.