This morning the Mecom share hit a record low, as threats of industrial action looms in Holland and protests have reached a new creative peak in Germany.

As readers have pointed out to me, I did neglect blogging about recent Mecom developments last week, but matters reached a boiling point yesterday when Wegener-editors decided to support industrial action in Holland, and staff at Berliner Zeitung in Germany went to the rather unusual step of advertising for a new publisher (if you’re fluent in Scandinavian languages, I’ve  covered these stories more in-depth  with a colleague of mine here and here).

The editors-in-chief of Mecom’s most recently acquired newspaper group, Wegener, decided yesterday to go on strike next Monday evening and stop the presses on the following day if a conflict with the regional newspaper groups’ new board of directors was not resolved.

“There will be more talks to avert industrial action, but there are very serious tensions between the two parties, after the new Wegener CEO introduced plans to cut 400-450 jobs, 80-90 on the editorial side, last week,” Thomas Bruning, the general secretary of the Dutch Journalist unions told me.

Mecom-boss David Montgomery was expected in Holland yesterday, but staff at Wegener's titles made it very clear that, as matters stood, he was not welcome in the newsrooms. There was almost an echo of bygone times as staff rallied behind the call for industrial action, as seen in this video from a staff meeting at Wegener-owned de Gelderlander. Editor-in-chief of the title, Kees Pijnapples, told me they were still in talks with the new Wegener management and he sincerely hoped they would avert industrial action.

Update (10/7): in the end, the strike was averted. Last Friday, Wegener's management agreed to amend the restructuring plan and present a new plan in September.