It is the fourth round of redundancies at the Glasgow newspapers in the past 14 months. Newsquest told staff at the Herald, Sunday Herald, Evening Times and The National that to make savings of £1m it would cut between 20 and 25 editorial jobs.
The cuts will leave the staff number at the Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times newspapers half of what is was before Newsquest took over, says the National Union of Journalists.
Paul Holleran, NUJ Scotland national organiser, said the union would fight compulsory redundancies. The cuts would mean the loss of talented staff and leave the remaining few with unacceptable workloads, which would have an inevitable impact on quality. He said: "This is the fourth round of editorial redundancies in the Newsquest Scottish titles in 14 months. This is not a clever way of running a publishing company and there is a serious risk to the future of the newspapers in this stable.
"We are concerned that a further reduction in quality is inevitable as talented journalists lose their jobs and those remaining struggle with an increasing workload to gather and produce news and features that help sell the product.
"Newsquest executives and board members need to take a new look at the way they are running the business. Pursuing unrealistic profit targets by constantly making cuts, instead of looking at innovative ways to improve the business, are not sustainable in the long term.
"There now are fewer than half the journalists employed at The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times compared to when Newsquest took over this historic Scottish publisher. Their promises to the Competition Commission nurture and grow the business now ring hollow.
"The NUJ will endeavour to work with the new management team, which has inherited this situation, in mitigating the loss of jobs and damage to the titles. However, we are not prepared to accept blatant compulsory redundancies and there is little doubt the chapel will stand up for that principle.
"I am sure we can put into place maximum consultation to ensure a restructured editorial team which provides support for the workforce while producing decent newspapers but Newsquest needs to work flexibly with the union on a number of fronts, including acceptable redundancy terms for those at risk."
Newsquest’s last financial accounts in October 2015 reported £70m in profits as it increased its adjusted earnings by 2.7 per cent.
