The National Union of Journalists has condemned the company that publishes the Irish Examiner and Evening Echo newspapers for issuing protective notice to staff.
NUJ Irish Organiser Des Fagan condemned the actions of the Examiner Publications as "an attempt to intimidate staff and their families in the run-up to Christmas."
In a statement he said, "it would have been better for the Company to put realistic proposals to the
NUJ. We have made every effort to reach agreement with this company, which has at every turn
refused to engage in meaningful negotiations and is instead recycling unacceptable proposals.
The workers are seeking an 8 per cent pay rise over three years, backdated to January 2003. A near nine-to-one majority of journalists on both papers voted in favour of industrial action in a secret ballot last week.