ITV News Channel closure dispute

Unions at ITN have placed the proposed closure of the ITV News Channel into dispute.

ITN supplies the output for the Channel; ITV's decision puts at risk more than 70 jobs currently filled by technical and editorial staff.

Following consultations with the staff affected, a decision had been taken to seek a guarantee from ITN that no compulsory redundancies would result from the closure and that furthermore an enhanced redundancy package would be provided to staff losing their employment to take account not only of the numbers of staff involved but of the difficulties that will no doubt be encountered in the search for alternative work.

Unfortunately, management were not persuaded of the need to respond positively to the demands of the joint unions and as a result the matter has been placed into dispute.

A further meeting under the disputes procedure will be held in early January.

A trawl for volunteers from amongst all ITN staff is currently underway with a revised closing date of 9 January; in addition applications for current vacancies can be submitted up to end of business on Tuesday 3 January.

The unions are also seeking further and urgent clarity on the number of new jobs that will be created by ITV plc's declared commitment to invest an additional £2 million in new news services.