Union members at STV confirm intention to press ahead with ballot for industrial action

Staff at STV are to press on with a ballot for industrial action, saying they have rejected a request from bosses to delay the process.

Earlier this month, the broadcaster announced major plans for change, putting a total of 59 jobs at risk.

The move would see the media firm close its loss-making STV2 channel and restructure its news operation with a view to making savings of £1 million a year.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at STV said they met on Tuesday to consider a request from management to delay the ballot for two weeks.

In return, management had offered to extend both the consultation period and the deadline for voluntary redundancy applications by two weeks, the union said.

The offer was "unanimously'' rejected, and the ballot will go ahead, the NUJ confirmed.

Meanwhile, consultations between the broadcaster and the union are continuing.

NUJ Scotland organiser John Toner said: "Our members are absolutely united on this matter and will not rescind the ballot.

"We are almost two weeks into this process and most of our members are still waiting to find out whether they have jobs, and what those jobs would actually entail in this new structure for STV News.

"We look forward to more detailed answers to our questions in the coming week.''

A spokeswoman for STV said: "We are actively engaged in a consultation process with our news teams and trade union partners to discuss our future plans for STV News and we are committed to continuing these discussions."