Murdoch warning to ‘Times’

Press, 10 February 1982, Page 9

Murdoch warning to ‘Times’

NZPA London Rupert Murdoch, proprietor of Times Newspapers, has threatened to close “The Times” and the “Sunday Times” unless the unions agreed "within days” to the axeing of 600 jobs. He said the company was “literally bleeding to death,” mainly because of overmanning and the losses were threatening the whole of the News International group, which includes the "Sun” and the “News of the World.” Apart from, the 600, hundreds of other casual jobs are also expected to go. The leader of journalists at "The Times,” Paul Routledge, said he was shocked by the closure threat. But he added: “We have lived with this for so long, the constant threat of closure and redundancy and

it is not a very happy atmosphere in which to produce a newspaper.” Unofficial figures mentioned yesterday broke down the losses to 390 jobs for the print union Natsopa, 25 to 30 among journalists, and most of the balance from the other print union, the National Graphical Association. Only four months ago Mr Murdoch, who took over the group in March last year after the 12 month shutdown by the previous Thomson management, threatened to close the group unless a pay dispute with the N.G.A. was settled. His latest warning, in a personal letter to every member of the 2600-strong staff, said the newspapers would have to close down if the crisis was not resolved

“within days rather than weeks." When he bought the group for SNZ92 million, Mr Murdoch sought to cut 563 jobs, after initially saying he wanted a 40 per cent cut in the then 4200 employees. Yesterday he said 600 more jobs had to go, most at once, others to be phased out fairly quickly. The expected loss this year was $NZ34.5 million, not counting the cost of redundancies. This had been partly caused by interruptions in production, delay in implementing agreements, newsprint costs, exchange rates, and the general economic climate. “But far and away the most dramatic contribution to our losses comes from the

fact that we are employing far more people than our competitors and far more people than we need to produce' our newspapers." he went on.

He pointed out as an example that in the clerical department there were 671 employees, excluding managers and juniors, compared to a combined clerical staff on the "Guardian" and the “Observer" of 250.

“I could quote figures like these in other departments,” he said.

Discussions aimed at solving the problem had failed, he said, “and we are having to talk yet again to union officials at chapel, branch, and national levels, this time with an urgency and immediacy we have never known before.”