Journalists working in the Irish Examinerand the Evening Echohave voted overwhelmingly to in favour of industrial action.
The 180 journalists are seeking an eight per cent pay increase over three years, dated from January 2003.
Representatives of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and management met with the LRC on November 19 th, but the talks failed to come to a conclusion which triggered the strike ballot.
Management put a three-year pay deal on the table. It offered 3 per cent over one year and 4 per cent over the succeeding two years, plus profit sharing, to staff.
It is understood that three other unions - representing craftsmen, printers and other workers - will put this deal to their members but the NUJ will not. The NUJ claim is partly focused on the fact that editorial staff hired since 1995 are on a lower pay scale than those taken on before that date. This agreement was reached to enable the company overcome financial difficulties it faced at the time.
A union survey indicates that those on the lower scale earn an average of €26,000 a year, although a high proportion are paid less than this. The older group's scale starts at around €33,000, closer to the average for those working in the business. The NUJ wants its claim structured to redress that balance.
The lower scale for new entrants was agreed in the mid-1990s during a period of financial difficulty for the Cork-based titles. The firm's fortunes have since turned around and it is now the second-largest media group in the State.
The dispute does not currently involve the group's other businesses, which include the Sunday Business Post.
Thomas Crosbie Holdings is the Examiner group's ultimate parent. According to the latest available figures, Examiner Publications' wage bill came to €17.27 million in 2001. In the same year, it made €5 million profit on €50 million turnover.
The journalists and the NUJ's Irish organiser will consider what form the industrial action will take when they meet next Friday, December 5th, after which it is intended to issue notice to the company.
There are 460 staff working at Examiner Publications (Cork) and its sister company, Echo Publications (Cork), which produces the Evening Echo.