Nine Publishing journalists to walk off job ahead of Olympic Games opening weekend
Nine Publishing journalists will walk off the job from 11am AEST on Friday ahead of the opening weekend of the Olympic Games after rejecting the latest enterprise bargaining offer from management.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance confirmed on Thursday evening that staff at the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Australian Financial Review, WA Today and The Brisbane Times would proceed with Friday’s planned strike after panning the latest offer.
“Union members voted to reject a new offer from management at stopwork meetings in newsrooms this afternoon,” the MEAA said in a statement.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The union said the latest offer “fails to include a fair pay rise that keeps ahead of the cost of living” and that management could not guarantee during negotiations there would be no more redundancies in future.
MEAA acting director Michelle Rae said Nine’s journalists were being asked to do “more for less”.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
The strike comes as the Olympics open this weekend, with Nine the official broadcaster for 2024, placing its cross-platform coverage in jeopardy.
It is understood newspaper staff currently in Paris are part of the strike action.
Staff on Monday “overwhelmingly” voted to strike for five days, including the opening weekend of the Paris Olympic Games, after Nine was unable to reach a fair pay deal.
Just hours after staff voted to strike, Nine boss Mike Sneesby was pictured in France carrying the Olympic torch through the streets of a town outside Paris.
It is understood staff will hold rallies outside each of Nine’s offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth on Friday.
“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,” Rae said.
