‘Don’t torch journalism’: 500 journalists strike in Australia over jobs and pay Up to 500 journalists from some of Australia’s leading newspapers began a five-day walkout on Friday (July 26) to oppose job cuts and demand a real wage increase.
Editorial staff from some of Australia’s most established newspapers including The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, The Brisbane Times and WAToday began the stop-work action last Friday at 11:00 am. The strike includes all newspaper staff covering the games in Paris, but not television. About 200 workers were dispatched by Nine to Paris to cover the games across all media.
Late last month, Nine announced that up to 200 of its 5,000 employees would be made redundant. Up to 90 of the planned cuts are in publishing, meaning more than one-sixth of the division’s staff face job losses. The strike comes after staff took a national vote and rejected a last-minute offer from Nine’s management around improved pay. Nine’s management had originally offered a 2.5% pay rise in the first year, a deal that staff said was not acceptable.
This was followed by a further offer by Nine’s managing director of publishing, Tory Maguire of 3.5% in the first year, 4% in the second year and 3% in the third year, but this too, was rejected on the basis that it did not keep ahead of the cost of living, was less than the current inflation rate of 4% and would mean a pay cut in real terms. Rallies have taken place outside Nine’s offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth at the same time as members walked off the job.
Michelle Rae, acting director of The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), the largest union for Australia’s creative professionals said that “Journalists at Nine Publishing are being asked to do more for less.”
“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 better wages.” One journalist who works for The Age, a daily newspaper in Melbourne, posted to social media that they were proud to walk out with colleagues in the fight for fair pay, secure jobs, and diversity in the workplace.
“This is the fourth newsroom I’ve worked in; I know firsthand what it’s like when decades of experience go out the door—journalism suffers, and the public is all the poorer for it. Going on strike and forgoing pay for up to five days (in this economy!) is a sacrifice but you won’t get quality journalism without quality jobs.” – Campaign
