With rumours swirling in the U.S. that AOL (NYSE: TWX) is about to announce a hefty number of layoffs, this little item has emerged in today’s Press Gazette - management from the company’s UK operation are in negotiations with the National Union of Journalists over proposed redundancies as a result of AOL UK’s restructuring.

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(In late 2006, Time Warner sold its AOL internet access business in the UK to Carphone Warehouse for £370 million and now AOL UK is, much like its U.S. counterpart, concentrating on being a content portal, funded largely by advertising).

The numbers in the UK are significantly more modest than those being reported for the U.S.—13 employees versus 2,000-2,500 (reported by Silicon Alley Insider)—and they include people from other areas of the business, not just the editorial staff that would normally be represented by the NUJ. Still, a little ripple from afar is usually the sign of something much more tumultuous going on elsewhere.