Scottish Media heads for strike

Union stewards at Scottish Media Group are due to announce dates for industrial action.

No progress has been made towards resolving a dispute over pay and redundancies since BECTU members at Scottish and Grampian TV voted for strike action.

In a postal ballot last month 83% of Glasgow-based SMG members voted for industrial action, which was also supported by 81% of BECTU members at Grampian.

Turnout in Glasgow was 69%, while a record 89% of Grampian members took part in the ballot.

The dispute began with SMG's decision to impose a 2% pay increase without agreement in January this year, a figure well below inflation.

Discussions with SMG failed to resolve the dispute, and feelings were inflamed by the subsequent announcement of redundancies at Grampian.