Journalists at Nine Publishing will begin a five day strike tomorrow after rejecting a revised enterprise bargaining offer from management.
Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance members at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and Watoday will walk off the job at 11am AEST.
Union members voted to reject a new offer from management at stopwork meetings in newsrooms this afternoon.
Negotiations have been underway for several months, but the latest offer from management still fails to include a fair pay rise that keeps ahead of the cost of living and has been rejected by MEAA members.
During negotiations, Nine has announced 70-90 redundancies in its publishing division and today in newsroom meetings management failed to guarantee that there could not be more redundancies in the future.
“Journalists at Nine Publishing are being asked to do more for less,” said the acting Director of MEAA Media, Michelle Rae.
“They are taking a stand for newsrooms that reflect the diversity of the communities they are reporting for, for ethical and transparent use of Artificial Intelligence, and for better wages.
“Journalists have asked for a modest wage increase in line with the CPI after foregoing any pay rise during COVID and at a time when the company is making record profits.
“It’s totally unacceptable that the company is asking workers to make a choice between a modest pay rise and the possibility of more job cuts after already announcing up to 90 redundancies in its publishing division which it has blamed on the end of its funding deal with Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code.
“The reality is that profits to shareholders for the past few years have been bloated by the Meta deal. The company always knew that golden goose would not last forever, and now the Meta deal is over it is the profit bottom line that should be cut, not the frontline editorial staff upon whom Nine’s reputation for independent quality journalism depends.
“The Australian public relies on these journalists to keep them informed, to hold power to account and to shine a light on corruption and wrongdoing but they cannot do it without safe and secure jobs.
“It is extra galling to our members that while they are attempting to negotiate a new enterprise agreement and dealing with the stress of redundancies in an Australian winter, managing director Mike Sneesby, is enjoying sunny France as he takes part in the Olympic torch relay.
“Our members have a simple message to Mr Sneesby: get your priorities right and don’t torch journalism.”
