JOURNALISTS at STV are to go on strike for the second time in 2024 in their campaign for a 6% pay rise.
The move is expected to cause cancellation and severe disruption of all STV news bulletins.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said members at STV in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness, as well as Westminster, will walk out for 24 hours on Tuesday, April 16.
The NUJ has also voted for a third day of action on Wednesday, May 1 to coincide with STV’s annual general meeting. That is when shareholders will be asked to approve a £664,167 pay package for Simon Pitts (below), STV chief executive.
His current pay package is 40% higher than that of Tim Davie, BBC director general.
Nick McGowan-Lowe, NUJ national organiser, said: “The STV board claim that stingy below-inflation pay rises for journalists are all they can afford, but when it comes to executive pay, there’s no such scrimping and saving.
"STV’s bulletins have been the most watched in Scotland for the past five years, outperforming the BBC, even though STV journalists are paid far less than their counterparts at the BBC or ITV.
"But at the top of the organisation, Simon Pitts expects his six-figure salary to be rubber stamped by shareholders, even while earning far more than the director general of the BBC, who runs an organisation 40 times bigger.
"Our members’ pay claim is reasonable and fair and STV needs to settle with us soon.”
During the last strike day on March 26, news bulletins and the flagship STV News at Six show were pulled off air.
READ MORE: STV news broadcaster Bernard Ponsonby stepping down after 34 years
One STV journalist said: “I have many years of experience in journalism and relevant qualifications, but I have had to take steps to look at obtaining secondary income through casual bar work. I’m a single-income household and now it is becoming a struggle due to the cost-of-living crisis and everything, the mortgage, insurance, food costs etc are all increasing while my wages are stagnant.
"More than 60 per cent of my income goes on covering my monthly bills every month, with little left at the end. I worked extremely hard to get to a position where I could buy my property, but I am now in a position where it is becoming difficult to afford.
"I live in fear of unexpected costs, or repairs, because I simply cannot afford them. I joined STV in the hopes of a lengthy career in the company which, from the outside, appeared to have ample job progression, but I feel I am coasting with no chance to really develop in an industry I have, for years, been incredibly passionate about.
"While I want to stay at STV, the lack of wage increases is making it difficult to find a reason to.”
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