Support Manchester journos

Despite making record profits of £32.6m last year, Manchester Evening News bosses are:

• Axing 22% of the workforce
• Getting rid of 27 journalists - including all photographers - leaving the picture desk entirely dependent on freelance and casual staff.
• Making eight clerical staff - such as scanners, librarians, secretaries and messengers - redundant.
• Merging the news and features subbing departments increasing the workload for the remaining staff.
• Forcing the remaining staff to work more shifts between 6am and 11pm will impact on their lives.

"We work in advertising and have been kidding ourselves for 20 years that we work in the newspaper industry, " says Mark Dodson, regional chief executive of Guardian Media Group who wants to focus his sights on getting more advertising - and not working at increasing the quality of the MEN in order to sell newspapers. He said: "It's futile to try and turn circulation around."

MEN workers unanimously passed the following motion:
"We condemn utterly the proposed programme of redundancies, cuts and resulting decline in quality and editorial content. The inevitable worsening of the terms and conditions for the remaining staff are completely unacceptable.

"The proposal to axe the staff photographers, leaving a major regional newspaper reliant on casuals and freelances makes neither economic nor editorial sense. This chapel has absolutely no confidence in and feels betrayed by the board, the editor and editorial managers.

"We condemn the incompetent and insensitive way management have announced, organised and acted upon the review. Refusing to give us the data on which decisions have been based shows contempt for staff, for the business, for the paper and for the readers.

"Therefore, this chapel has decided to instruct national officers to organise a campaign against the cuts including a ballot for industrial action."

Now we now call upon YOU to support our action.
Send your words of support to the MEN Chapel by logging on to: www.menchapel.org.uk <http://www.menchapel.org.uk>
Send your words of protest to:
Scott Trust chair Liz Forgan - liz.forgan@virgin.net <mailto:liz.forgan@virgin.net>
GMG regional chief executive - mark.dodson@men-news.co.uk <mailto:mark.dodson@men-news.co.uk> And Guardian editor - alan.rusbridger@guardian.co.uk <mailto:alan.rusbridger@guardian.co.uk>