Well, those previously reported stresses at the Manchester Evening News are likely to result in a two-day strike from Sunday. The stresses stem from the proposal that the MEN should start publishing an additional edition, which would come out in the morning. It is not the concept of an extra edition that staff at the paper object to, more the fact that there doesn't seem to be any budget to increase manpower to cope with the added workload.
The strike, which will be followed by an indefinite work to rule, is timed to disrupt the launch of the new morning edition on Monday. The paper's editor Paul Horrocks said yesterday that he was "disappointed" at the National Union Of Journalists decision to strike, telling the Guardian: "We are continuing with our plans to start the early edition of the Manchester Evening News on 1 Nov, as planned. A lot of effort has gone into trying to avoid this industrial action and the management has already made a number of concessions to the chapel journalists." Horrocks said he was still willing to speak to the unions, implying he hoped the strike could still be averted.