Management at the Belfast Telegraph and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) are discussing a possible change in shift patterns for employees at the paper in which all editorial staff would begin working on Sundays, The Sunday Business Post reported. The proposals were strongly opposed during the union meeting.

The newspaper's management is also in separate talks with the Unite trade union about voluntary redundancies for production and clerical staff.

Nicola Coleman, The Irish organiser of the NUJ, told the Sunday Business Post that the union was concerned about the possible further editorial cutbacks.

“The Belfast Telegraph has recently undergone a redundancy programme,” she said. “Further threats to editorial resources will be strongly resisted. We believe it is not possible to further diminish resources and maintain a viable newspaper,” The Sunday Business Post reported.

Independent News and Media (UK), which owns the Telegraph, reported losses of more than £3.4 million (€4,285,000) on British operations in 2006, more than double the losses in the previous year, The Sunday Business Post reported.

In addition, the title's circulation has also declined by almost 20,000 over the past three years, according to audited ABC figures. The Telegraph's latest circulation figure stood at 75,694, compared to 94,540 for 2004/2005, The Sunday Business Post reported.

The Telegraph has a traditionally strong identity in Belfast. As the city's only evening paper, it sales were strong across the North and in the small ad market. The title launched a morning edition in compact format three years ago. In June this year, the newspaper's Derry office was closed, and in July, its Saturday sports title, Ireland's Saturday Night, also was shut down.

Relations with newsagents may also possibly lead the group to take over door-to-door deliveries in Belfast, which the Federation of Retail Newsagents are discussing, according to The Sunday Business Post.