FT Staff Demands Newspaper's Owners Close Gender Pay Gap by 2020

(Bloomberg) -- Staff at Nikkei Inc.'s Financial Times newspaper said they would support strike action if it hadn't closed its gender pay gap by 2020, adding pressure to management to address salary disparities.

“The Financial Times ought to be ashamed if it enters [2020] with anything less than pay equality,” staff said in a joint e-mailed statement after a meeting on Wednesday. “We would be prepared to support industrial action in pursuit of this goal should it be required.”

The threat of a strike comes after similar disclosures of pay inequalities at the British Broadcasting Corp. last month sparked a backlash and an open letter from at least 40 women calling for change. The average difference in pay between men and women at the FT is currently 13 percent and staff are increasingly concerned that senior managers are not taking it seriously, the statement said.

“Male and female journalists are united in their anger over this,” said Steve Bird, head of the FT's National Union of Journalists committee. “The FT is not alone in falling short but we believe it should lead the way in bridging this historic gap.”

In the statement, the FT journalists called for detailed pay averages for roles across the company to be published, including reference to financial incentives and bonuses for senior and executive staff. They also asked management to release information on pay gaps on grounds of ethnicity, social background and disability.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Mayes in London at jmayes9@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net.