Journalists at Nine Entertainment have a new pay deal on returning to work after a five day strike.
Management of Nine Publishing put forward an offer that satisfied key demands, including a pay rise above inflation (4%, 3.75%, 3.75%), ethical use of artificial intelligence, a commitment to report on diversity in the workplace and an agreement to negotiate for a fair deal for freelancers.
The offer, which was accepted by union members, will be subject to a formal vote after which it will be submitted to the Fair Work Commission for approval.
The action affected journalists from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday and coincided with the start of the Olympics. The media group has taken 123 staff to Paris to cover broadcast production for 5,000 hours of programming, as well as a team of 18 journalists from all five publications.
The strikes came after the media company cut 90 jobs from the mastheads and union members passed a vote of no confidence in CEO Mike Sneesby.
MEAA Media's acting director, Michelle Rae, said members should be very proud that their solidarity with each other and their commitment to their role of public interest journalism has produced this outcome.
“In an historic first, staff and freelancers stood side-by-side so that no-one was left behind," she said.
“They took a stand to protect quality journalism at their mastheads and it’s clear from the massive public support for the journalists while they were on strike that readers want access to quality journalism and the boards of media companies need to find a new business model."
Rae said that the public not only does not accept that job cuts is the solution, but they want to know AI is used ethically, that both staff and freelancers have secure working conditions, and that newsrooms are representative of the diverse community they serve.
“It is disappointing that it took a strike to focus management on coming to the table with an improved offer," she said.
“This could have been avoided if Nine’s managers had listened to the concerns raised by union representatives over many meetings. Instead, the company’s earlier failure to resolve the enterprise bargaining agreement and its announcement of up to 90 job cuts has caused reputational damage to Nine.”
Nine said that it is pleased to confirm that the company has reached an in-principle agreement with the union on a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
"We welcomed the MEAA’s decision today to resume negotiations, which supported a swift resolution of the outstanding issues," said a spokesperson.
"The new deal provides certainty for the business and our people as we continue to produce world-class journalism for our readers."
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