Staff at Nature journals ready for strike this week over pay

Staff in the Nature portfolio of science journals will walk out this week after voting overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over a 5.8 per cent proposed pay deal.

The industrial action, which will begin on 20 June, follows the breakdown of talks in April over a pay offer that the titles’ owners, Springer Nature, has claimed is “above inflation” and “fair”.

However, staff at the German-British publisher, which employs nearly 400 academic editors, journalists, art editors and production workers across 60 journals, claim the offer does not reflect the higher costs of living following a sustained period of double-digit inflation in late 2022 and early 2023.

A ballot of National Union of Journalist (NUJ) members saw a 90 per cent turnout, with 93 per cent of those participating supporting strike action. The planned action will include a number of strike days, as well as working to rule, scheduled throughout June and July.

An NUJ spokesperson said the vote “sends a signal to the company that they need to come back to the negotiating table”.

“We knew that the majority of staff were frustrated with the company and the way it was handling these negotiations, but even we were surprised by the strength of feeling shown by this ballot result,” they said.

On the pay offer – which follows months of talks between the union and Springer Nature, including talks involving the mediation body Acas – the NUJ added that it was “disingenuous to suggest that the offer on the table is now magically above inflation just because the headline rate of inflation has come down since September last year”.

“A fall in inflation rate does not equate to a fall in prices – things are still getting more expensive, just more slowly,” they added.

The union also drew attention to the strong profits made by the publisher in recent years. In 2022, Springer Nature Group made a profit of €487 million (£412 million) on its global revenues of €1.8 billion.

It has recently announced it is seeking to hire two new vice-presidents, at salaries of up to $250,000 (£197,000) each, it added.

The NUJ said the strike could affect the publication of Nature, the group’s flagship title that has been published weekly since 1869, though Springer Nature said weekly publication could "will continue, supported by our global team”. Other titles that could also be affected include the EMBO Journal and the British Dental Journal.

In a statement, a Springer Nature spokesperson said the “above-inflation salary increase on offer is a fair one and remains open to all members of the NUJ bargaining unit, many of whom have now accepted it”.

“We also recently announced additional measures to assist with increased commuting and living costs to support all UK employees, which builds on further cost-of-living payments we made in 2022 and 2023,” they added.

“We remain hopeful that the situation will be resolved soon and have clearly indicated our willingness to come to the table for further discussion.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com