Monday 2 April 2012

NUJ starts campaign to block Sly Bailey's bonus


The NUJ is urging Trinity Mirror shareholders to block proposals for a new reduced remuneration package for the company's chief executive Sly Bailey and called for her bonus to be used to save journalists’ jobs.

According to the union, Trinity Mirror’s remuneration board has proposed that Bailey's maximum potential annual cash bonus be cut from £825,000, 110 per cent of her base salary of £750,000, to 55 per cent.

That is a cut of £412,500 and reduces her maximum cash bonus to the same sum. The board also recommended that she be eligible for a higher long-term bonus from her present 80 percent of salary to 144 per cent.

The NUJ says the figures show that Bailey earned a base salary of £750,000 and a short-term cash bonus worth a further 30 per cent of salary, with her pension contributions totalling another £248,000. She also received 503,000 shares worth an extra £396,000 which vest in 2014, and could earn a further 762,000 shares by 2014.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “What exactly is Trinity Mirror rewarding Sly Bailey for? Her record speaks for itself. The NUJ has long been calling for the newspaper group to invest in its staff and quality journalism, not lining the pockets of management. This is not the politics of envy; this is saying that if Trinity Mirror is to succeed and survive, then it needs to be spending the money on its staff and titles.”

Chris Morley, NUJ Northern & Midlands organiser, added: “It is a step in the right direction that non-executive directors, who have previously blithely ratcheted up their boardroom pals’ pay without real regard to the company’s size, have now twigged that a system of rewards needs to be based on real performance and growth and be reliant on future employment into the future. But the system shareholders are being asked to approve for next year is still way too weighted towards instant gratification.”

Trinity shareholders will be asked to approve the changes at Trinity Mirror's annual general meeting on 10 May.

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