The Wapping print works which was notoriously used to break the print workers' organisation is to close, with two-thirds of staff set to lose their jobs.
Around 400 jobs are expected to go when Wapping closes, with jobs across the industry potentially threatened as the Murdoch press looks to aggressively expand into the contract print market.
News International, the owner of the plant, has unveiled a new heavily automated works at Broxbourne in North London, capable of turning out twice the amount of newsprint as the existing site. News International claim the plant, just off the M25 near Enfield, is the biggest printing centre in the world. It is part of a £650m initiative including plants in Knowsley, near Liverpool, and Motherwell, near Glasgow.
The Sun is already being printed at Broxbourne, with the Times, Sunday Times and News of the World set to join it shortly. The Daily and Sunday Telegraph will begin printing from Broxbourne late this year, after they drop their current print deals in favour of the News International press, and Wall Street Journal Europe is also set to be transferred.
News International have said that part of the group's aim is to bring other major newspapers into the Broxbourne setup under contract printing deals.
Comments
yeah, I remember this fight
yeah, I remember this fight against "Fortress Wapping". It was tough one. This was was equal to the American air trafffic controllers strike which was busted up(PATCO, Aug. 1981).
i quite like the idea of all
i quite like the idea of all newspapers being printed in one place, heh heh...