CRUNCH talks were taking place today between union members and management from printers RR Donnelley over plans to introduce continental shift patterns.

The Graphical Paper and Media Union (GPMU) argues that the proposed changes to contracts will mean loss of weekends for its 350 members at the new plant, which moved last year from York to Flaxton Moor, near Knaresborough, and is now producing Yellow Pages.

It also claims that by bringing Saturday nights and Sunday days into the normal shift pattern, some could lose overtime payments.

One meeting between the union and management has already broken up in disarray, but now the issue is being considered at top-level talks at the Jarvis International in Skelton today involving Anne Field, national negotiator for the GPMU.

A Donnelley's worker who declined to be named said: "The outcome will be put to us some time this week, and strike action may have to be considered.

"Had we known that the management was planning to change our contracts, many of us would have taken redundancy rather than move from Boroughbridge Road, York, to Flaxton Moor."

But Ray Houston, vice president and divisional director of RR Donnelley, who denied there would be any loss of pay, said: "Now that all the top people have got together, this is an issue we are going to have to get settled.

"The urgency is that we are blessed with an unexpectedly big volume of work and we need the 24-hour seven-day-a-week shift patterns to accommodate that volume. It is more than we expected, so it is a good problem."

Two proposals from employees were also being considered at today's meeting.

Updated: 15:03 Tuesday, September 25, 2001