More than 100 Central Coast residents are set to lose their jobs as deliverers for the Central Coast Express Advocate, as NewsLocal, the subsidiary that operates all of media conglomerate News Corp’s community newspapers in NSW, has hired a distribution company to replace its current employees.
The shift to Warner’s Bay based, Novadel, comes into effect on July 6, with up to 180 drivers and walkers set to lose out.
The move was prompted by a distribution review which also telegraphed major changes to the Central Coast Express Advocate, with the bi-weekly publication set to drop an edition entirely, becoming just a weekly publication, with Thursdays now the day of publication.
The change also sees the consolidation of the North and South editions into just the one coats wide edition.
These changes will take effect from June 15.
Current deliverers and walkers have been notified by NewsLocal that their employment will cease on July 6, but they have also been informed that they may offer their services to Novadel.
News Corp did not respond to questions regarding the exact number of positions being cut, nor did they respond regarding the rumour that Novadel would only have 35 deliverer positions servicing the entirety of the Central Coast
Source:
Document, Jun 8
Dilon Luke, Journalist