FT chapel achieves 2025/2026 pay deal
Following months of pay talks, a 3.75% agreement for editorial staff has been agreed for 2025 and an increase of 3.5% for 2026, with agreement to review next year’s deal should annual inflation reach 3.5% or beyond.
For 2025, pay for all editorial staff will increase by 3.75 per cent. This rise will be back-dated to 1 January.
For 2026, pay for all editorial staff will increase by 3.5 per cent and should annual inflation in 2025 reach a level of 3.5 per cent or higher, management and unions will renegotiate the agreement for 2026. It has been agreed the inflation gauge for this assessment will be annual UK CPI for 2025 as calculated by the UK Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in its 2025 autumn forecast.
The break clause provides a commitment to negotiate in good faith, taking into consideration all relevant factors. It does not mean an automatic commitment to raise the 2026 pay increase beyond 3.5 per cent.
Steve Bird, NUJ FT chapel chair, said:
"After prolonged and intense pay talks during which one of the FT chapels took the matter into dispute, NUJ members have agreed a deal that will give them an increase above inflation pay rise for 2025 and the prospect of an inflation-beating rise in 2026. At a time of record profits for the FT, members have sent a strong signal that they will continue to fight for a fair share and for pay rises that do not leave them lagging behind inflation."
At a meeting of the FT chapel on 27 February, the following statement was unanimously agreed:
"The FT chapel welcomes the first ever active participation of US-based FT Guild members in both pay talks and joint union decision making.
"The chapel accepts the 2025/26 offer on the understanding that should the second year break clause be triggered, management will enter new talks in the spirit of reaching an adequate inflation compensation.
"The chapel urges management to express publicly its aspiration that no FT journalist should see their real pay fall over time.
"The FT chapel urges management to set up a joint working group to establish measures of real pay development over time that are accepted as by both sides as informative for future pay talks."