Unions at Independent Newspapers are to seek approval from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for an all-out picket on the company.
The immediate threat of a strike has dissipated, however, following an announcement by the company yesterday that it has secured 205 redundancies through a "voluntary" severance package.
Unions say they remain in dispute with the company over the terms and conditions of staff remaining in the organisation. The three unions directly involved - SIPTU, the GPMU and the TEEU - yesterday decided not to serve strike notice on the company, despite a ballot by members this week in favour of industrial action.
A strike was unlikely to have been effective given a separate vote by members of the National Union of Journalists not to support the action.
Instead, the three unions involved decided to pursue another avenue by applying to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on Monday for an all-out picket at the company. If Congress approves, then the three unions not directly involved in the dispute - the NUJ, the SMAUI and AMICUS - would be asked to conduct an aggregate ballot on whether to support a strike.
Union sources conceded that industrial action was now less likely given that there would be no compulsory redundancies.
They insisted, however, that there remained a serious issue to be resolved in that staff staying at the company had been told their terms and conditions would be changed. The unions were pursuing the action, the sources said, to ensure the company's compliance with collective agreements.
In a statement confirming that it had secured the 205 voluntary redundancies sought, the company attempted to justify the hardline stance it had taken.
Its chief executive, Mr Vincent Crowley, said technology and ever-increasing competition had forced Independent Newspapers to take some hard decisions.
"Change was imperative for the future competitiveness of our company and to ensure the security and generous terms of employment enjoyed by our remaining 410 staff." The €23 million severance package had been available since August last year, he said, and in April the company had advised staff that it would not be available indefinitely.
Staff in the affected areas who did not accept the severance package, worth between €40,000 and €260,000 depending on length of service, had been told they could be made redundant next week and receive statutory payments only.
Responding to the company's statement, the NUJ's Irish secretary, Mr Séamus Dooley, said it was stretching the English language to say the redundancies were achieved on a voluntary basis.
"The company set aside collective agreements, abandoned Sustaining Progress and imposed redundancies in a despicable manner, with little regard for the dignity of men and women with long years of service," he said.
He said the NUJ took no comfort from the fact that its members were not the target of redundancies on this occasion.
"It is not true to say that the restructuring will not have an impact on our work as journalists. The company has closed the library, placed severe restrictions on international calls, outsourced copy-taking to the UK - resulting in chaos at newsroom level - all in the name of competitiveness and progress."
