Nine reaches pay deal with journalists after strike action ends

Headshot of Remy Varga
Remy Varga
The Nightly
Nine CEO Mike Sneesby in Paris.
Nine CEO Mike Sneesby in Paris. Credit: 7 NEWS/7 NEWS

Nine management has reached a pay deal with staff after a five-day strike that threatened the media network’s coverage of the Olympic Games.

Sources told The Nightly the three-year pay deal included a four per cent raise the first year followed by annual increases of 3.75 per cent over the next two years and was voted on during a national meeting on Wednesday.

Earlier staff from The Age, The SMH, The Brisbane Times, WA Today and the Australian Financial Review ended a five-day strike where staff sent to Paris to cover the Olympics were compelled to not work. Some positions, such as foreign correspondents, were excluded.

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Nine is bracing for a brutal round of redundancies after announcing in June it would lay off up to 200 employees, including 90 from the publishing division.

The network’s decision to push ahead with its coverage of the Paris Olympics, which it spent $100m securing, has sparked outrage internally as did the decision by chief executive Mike Sneesby to take part in the torch relay.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance organised for striking journalists to meet Mr Sneesby at Sydney Airport but he did not appear as anticipated.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance said Wednesday’s deal was in line with inflation and included protections around the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms and for freelancers.

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