FT journalists to vote on strike

Journalists at the Financial Times will decide later this month whether to strike over union fears that the paper’s final salary pension is under threat, reports Simon Zekaria of The Wall Street Journal.

Zekaria writes, “The National Union of Journalists, a trade union for journalists in the U.K. and Ireland, said Wednesday that ballot papers were sent last week with a decision due on Nov. 19.

“In a statement last month, the NUJ said Nikkei and FT management had failed ‘to honor promises over maintaining equivalent terms of employment’, citing proposals to take at least £4 million ($6.08 million) a year from pension funds to pay for rent and other costs.

“The NUJ says Nikkei wants to use the money to pay for the running costs of the newspaper’s offices at One Southwark Bridge. The offices weren’t included as part of the agreement struck between Pearson PLC and Nikkei earlier this year. The $1.32 billion deal will see Nikkei adding the salmon-colored FT to its stable of assets, which includes Nihon Keizai Shimbun, as well as other publications and broadcasting operations.”

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