Steve Sibbald, national officer at Unite, said: "The current situation is far better than the receivers coming in and all staff losing their jobs.

"There is not much point in simply delaying inevitable losses or risking more jobs at the company."

In a statement released yesterday, Wyndeham Press Group said that the staff losses are a response to the loss of the Future Publishing Contract, the closure of women's magazine Eve, and the ongoing downturn in the sector.

However, Paul Utting hinted at further changes to come. He said: "Heron is loss-making and its performance has been deteriorating in recent months as a result of overcapacity, increasing input expenditures and uncompetitive labour costs."

A source close to the company told PrintWeek: "There will have to be significant changes to the pay structure if Heron is going to be made profitable, the wages paid to its staff are way above the industry average."

The company has signed up St Ives veteran Roy Kingston, who has previously also worked at Wyndeham, as HR consultant to assist with the job cuts.

Sibbald said that he anticipates an "attack on wages" at the company, as well as possible shift changes.

"A lot of potential measures we are willing to reach agreement on, and ultimately, our members will be the ones who decide.

"However, we are bound by our national agreement with our members and will not agree to anything that contravenes that."

The union said it will be meeting with representatives at Wyndeham Heron tomorrow.