Criticism against the NZZ Media Group

The union said in its statement on Tuesday that it felt ignored as a social partner because it had not been informed of the planned closure in advance. It is a mockery to initiate a consultation process to save jobs when "long-term, binding contracts" (quote NZZ media release) had been concluded with Tamedia. The decision was all the more surprising as NZZ-Print had transferred employees from St. Gallen to Schlieren a few weeks ago in order to reduce overcapacity. Only a few months ago, the NZZ was delighted to have won a lucrative printing contract for the Coop newspaper.

In its letter, Syndicom demands "the reversal of this seemingly absurd decision". The problems in the printing industry cannot be negated, but good money is still being earned. With the closure, the employees would be "shunted off to the unemployment fund" so that "the pockets on the carpet floor can continue to be bulging". Syndicom now wants to work with those affected to find solutions to safeguard jobs.

Syna also outraged

According to SDA, the trade union Syna is also "outraged that the closure is being communicated via the media and that those responsible do not consider it necessary to involve the social partners in a consultation process". Syna is calling on the NZZ Media Group to fulfill its duty as a social partner and sit down at the table with the contractual partners. After all, the NZZ Media Group said yes to the CLA for the graphic arts industry and thus committed itself to complying with its provisions. CLA agreements cannot be so easily undermined, the press release states.

Imprint worries about editorial independence

In a statement, the journalists' association Impressum expresses its "dismay" at the closure of the printing plant and calls on the NZZ Media Group to "seriously and in good faith" examine the alternatives to the closure and redundancies with the staff representatives and Syndicom. Should the NZZ Media Group nevertheless decide to make redundancies, Impressum expects a social plan to be negotiated and signed with the social partners. This should be socially acceptable and take due account of the high level of commitment of the employees. As an association of journalists, Impressum is particularly concerned about the possible effects of the closure on the editorial team. Its independence must be given the highest priority. Impressum has asked the NZZ media group to disclose how it intends to guarantee the independence and responsiveness of its NZZ newspaper in the long term. (hae/pd/SDA)