Hardly a surprising reaction but here’s what the National Union of Journalists has said, in reaction to the news that 90 jobs will be cut at the Independent, the majority of which are editorial positions:

“The scale of today’s announcement will have come as a massive shock to our members at the Independent,”  the NUJ’s Head of Publishing Barry Fitzpatrick said.

“Journalists’ confidence in management at the moment is shaky at best, and far below what we would expect when entering into negotiations over any major restructuring.

“The public boardroom disputes have done little to reassure staff or readers concerned about the future of the titles.

“We need to see clear guarantees that there will be no compulsory redundancies. We will also be looking for plans from management as to how the health and safety of staff who remain will be protected.

“Our members already complain about their workloads and, as the company attempts to produce quality papers on just three quarters of the staff, the company has a duty of care to protect its employees from work related stress and we will hold them to account for their responsibility,” Fitzpatrick said in an NUJ statement released this afternoon.

The NUJ will meet the company on Thursday November 20.