Members of the National Union of Journalists at the Coventry Telegraph in the United Kingdom will vote on whether to strike in protest over what they say are inadequate editorial staffing levels, with forty union members receiving their ballot papers next week.

The number of editorial staffers has dropped constantly over the past two years due to not replacing people who leave, or long delays when vacancies are filled, said NUJ members at the Telegraph and its sister papers, the Coventry Times and Hinckley Times, which are part of Trinity Mirror's portfolio in the Midlands, currently up for sale, according to HoldtheFrontPage.

“The result is increased pressure on remaining staff and serious threats to the quality of the product,” Chapel MoC Lucy Lynch stated in a letter to managing director John Bills, according to HoldtheFrontPage.

Telegraph NUJ members voted unanimously to hold a ballot, which they say is due to unsuccessful efforts to resolve the problem via internal dispute procedures.

At a chapel meeting they voted unanimously to hold a ballot, and say this follows unsuccessful efforts to resolve the situation through internal dispute procedures. The chapel also rejected a deal brokered by employment dispute prevention organisation Acas.

Union members are calling for the number of Telegraph reporters to be increased to at least 12, from the current eight, and for an additional reporter for its districts, bringing the total of district reporters to four. There are also concerns about the number of staff members on weeklies and the paper's photography department, sports desk and sub-editing teams.