Talks between journalists and APN break down

Talks between the journalists union and APN NZ, the publisher of the Herald, over a collective contract to cover staff on the new Herald on Sunday have reached an impasse.

APN says neither the launch next Sunday of the new paper nor publication of the Monday to Saturday editions will be affected.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union is talking of legal action, claiming APN is breaking the Employment Relations Act by not offering the daily paper's collective agreement to new Herald on Sunday journalists.

Herald on Sunday publisher Rick Neville said the company was prepared to negotiate a collective agreement for staff who wanted one, but an agreement tailored to the circumstances of a start-up Sunday newspaper. These were different to a daily.