Fairfax tells journalists it wants to cut out of hours pay and drop automatic salary rises
Fairfax Media has told its journalists that in wants to give no automatic pay rises and wants to reduce the amount it pays those who work after 6pm.
The publisher has also said that new employees should get less generous redundancy terms of three weeks pay per year of service, capped at 52 weeks. This would replace the current terms of four weeks per year of service plus two weeks notice.
The message to the company’s journalists was sent out by Fairfax publishing boss Allen Williams on the two year anniversary of the announcement of the most dramatic cuts in the company’s history.
In June 2012 the company stunned its staff with the announcement of the axing of 1,900 jobs, and the closure of two of its major presses at Chullora and Tullamarine. Fairfax’s press in Chullora in NSW closed a few days ago and now stands empty.
Yesterday’s message to staff from Williams, and editorial boss Sean Aylmer, warned them that the company expected further falls in print revenue. Aylmer – who will lead the company’s side of the negotiations – wrote: “Advertising revenue in print is expected to fall. In Australia the decline has been very marked over the past three years, and that’s expected to keep going over the next few years.”
He also warned that there would no longer be automatic pay rises, saying: “We need to engender a high performance culture.
“We need to shift our pay structure to a meritocracy basis, rather than the current lowest common denominator model. The best people should be able to be paid more. We propose to cease automatic pay increases and to implement a merit based system. The size of the pool available for increases will be subject to business conditions.”
Aylmer also warned journalists that they should expect to work more flexible hours, saying: “We now operate in a 24/7 news cycle and our newsrooms need to reflect this. Our audience now demands much more than ever before and we need to become much more customer centric.
“We propose to review the hours, shifts and overtime clauses to better reflect the realities of the digital newsrooms, and the need for flexibility.”
Currently staff receive a 10% pay supplement on hours worked between 6pm and 8.30pm
In a meeting with journalists’ union the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Williams proposed holding weekly bargaining meetings around the proposals.
The union has written to members telling them: “Your representatives made it clear that any agreement MUST include a fair pay rise for all editorial staff and our concern that the company’s proposals would have the effect of creating different classes of employees, in effect bringing division to the editorial floor.”
The union will shortly hold a ballot on industrial action.
Fairfax’s note in full:
Dear colleagues,
The Fairfax Media – Metropolitan Journalists Collective Agreement (Metro EA) is coming to the end of its term. Today we began the negotiation of a new agreement. It comes at an important time as we continue to transform our business.
I truly believe that we all want to achieve the same goal – a sustainable Fairfax with a strong core of quality, independent journalism. We are committed to an open and productive negotiation.
Management and union representatives met today to discuss the company proposal and the union log of claims. The company position is set out below by Sean Aylmer, who is leading the company’s negotiating team, which includes Rod Quinn, Melina Cruickshank, Greg Moses and Sean Herger. Please don’t hesitate to contact the team if you have any questions or feedback.
Regards,
Allen Williams
Managing Director – Australian Publishing MediaCompany position – as outlined by Sean Aylmer:
Our discussions over the next period are based around a few fundamental principles.
The first is that quality journalism is our raison d’etre. Without it we don’t have a business.
The second is that advertising revenue in print is expected to fall. In Australia the decline has been very marked over the past three years, and that’s expected to keep going over the next few years.
The third is the need to achieve a sustainable newsroom, employing as many professionals as possible to create quality journalism. As part of that we need real transparency between management and staff.
We need flexibility from staff to adapt to changing circumstances. We need understanding from management that change is difficult and the best way to alleviate these difficulties is to communicate.
We need to work together. The MEAA represents its members and we respect that. I would like the MEAA and our staff to respect what we are trying to do to create a sustainable newsroom for as many journalists as possible.
Our proposals:
The first is around wages and rewarding high performers.
We have some of the best journalists in the country. We have a workplace that is changing faster than ever. We need to engender a high performance culture.
We need to shift our pay structure to a meritocracy basis, rather than the current lowest common denominator model. The best people should be able to be paid more.
We propose to cease automatic pay increases and to implement a merit based system. The size of the pool available for increases will be subject to business conditions.
As part of the shift to a merit based system, we propose to cease accelerated progression at grade 2.
The second proposal is around redundancy.
The current redundancy provisions were negotiated many years ago under very different business conditions.
We propose a new clause which will:
1. Retain the existing scale for current permanent employees under the EBA.
2. Introduce a new scale of 3 weeks per year of service capped at 52 weeks for new starters.
3. Introduce a simplified process which does not require a VR program. We would like to work with the union and our staff to come up with a different approach.
Our third proposal is around hours. We now operate in a 24/7 news cycle and our newsrooms need to reflect this. Our audience now demands much more than ever before and we need to become much more customer centric.
We propose to review the hours, shifts and overtime clauses to better reflect the realities of the digital newsrooms, and the need for flexibility.
Specifically we propose to adjust the span of ordinary hours from 7am to 8:30pm.
Proposed Next Steps
In our bargaining meeting today with the MEAA, we proposed we have weekly bargaining meetings which will deal with the following areas, in no particular order:
1. Wages, merit, grade progression, higher duties
2. Redundancy and consultation
3. Hours, rostering, overtime and casuals
4. Scope, exemptions and other issues as they may relate to the employment relationship
5. Women in media claims, superannuation, parental leave, allowances / expenses
We will provide you with further information and keep you updated as the negotiations progress.
Well well well.
Wonder if Williams will show his face or just push management forward to cop the flack.
Having worked there for years and knowing the union very well, they will be up for the fight and this will go no-where.
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Fair enough, I say. Is there any other industry where staff receive automatic pay increases every year? Given the parlous state of newspaper reveneues, journalists can hardly expect this anachronistic practice to continue.
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Well its nice to see that Fairfax management thinks it time to take over from the MEAA. Or is this the MEAA resigning?
Non editorial staff at Fairfax were seriously pissed with the apartheid like privileges of editorial these past decades. No surprise that Mr Hywood chooses to avoid this particular staff message.
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Why is this shocking news, given the revenue issue in the print medium. Also how many other non-editorial staff in media are paid extra for over-time, it goes with the territory in terms of you do the hours required to get the job done.
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As a Farifax journalist I would like to know when we ever got automatic payrises and when we ever got paid more for working overtime!?!
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Cry me a river was at Fairfax for ten years non-editorial staff 3 pay rises in that entire time! Welcome to the real world people agree with Stan the man.
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Don’t know who they are talking about. I’m at Fairfax and haven’t had a praise for over 15 years. I’ve also never been paid overtime, although I work plenty every week, or had days in lieu and I pay for my own mobile phone. Oh, and I’m a journalist.
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@ Jamma: Looking at the way Williams is handling this and the most recent redundancy announcements (where Fairfax got rid of most of it’s photographic staff, amongst others), his idea of leadership seems to involve avoiding talking to staff at all costs. Rather his MO consists of a) sending out an email to staff to let them know the bad news followed by b) sending his managers out to the frontline to deal with/duke it out with/explain it to distressed/angry staff. Leading from the rear?
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Not Me and Confused – every journalist at Fairfax has got a 3.5% or thereabouts increase every year, as negotiated in the EBA. Look at your payslips over teh 15 years youve been there. If you hadn’t had a pay rise it would be the same as when you started
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Geez, I hope the Fairfax journos are better informed about the stories they write than they are about their own paypackets.
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Fairfax editorial is a pampered, seriously unattuned padded cell that has had a terrible shock in the sunlight. Managements, in particular some now at the very tippy top, have played love-in with the MEAA over many years (I suspect as a political device to give people the impression they actually care about journalism). The smart money (that’s you David Marr etc) cashed out when the fat redundancy schemes were still on the table. No one anywhere else gets uncapped payouts of a month for every year’s service. Even people with an editorial background who had slipped up to management (too many names to mention, but one in particular is back for a second BIG slice).
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The hot news here is that they’re not done with the cutting and slicing. Which is a total indictment of the management. Hywood has been yapping for 3 years about the new Fairfax and has paid consultants stupefying amounts to plan it. Huge sums have been spent on (and some of the very best have taken) redundancies.
Now we have this pissant tactic that will simply distract the remaining staff, provide the Oz with yet more ammunition to distract people from its own sorry mess and deliver peanuts.
When the consultants sell you the “right sizing” you are supposed to make sure it’s right. Gettit?
Punchline: sack the management, board and anyone with a finger in this gravy train of impersonators
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@ Tom, I think @ Not me just wants some praise – he hasn’t had any for 15 years. Hey, @Not me, you’re great. You’re doing a great job. And that shirt looks awesome on you!
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@ Tom….A 3.5%pa pay rise isn’t a pay rise at all. It’s merely keeping your pay at the rate of inflation (the rate at which shit goes up annually.) So if you’d worked at a company for 15 years and that company had only paid you 3.5%pa during that time, yes, your pay would buy you the exact same amount of stuff it would have 15 years ago. There’s no actual ‘rise’.
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@LW at last! Thank you xxx i did mean to say “pay rise” but my fingers were too fat. I do appreciate your generous spirit tho 🙂
And yes, The ATO is quite right, adjustements to CPI is not a payrise when you take on more responsibilities and, supposedly, get “promoted” over the years.
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Hate to tell you this Fairfax journos , but there are ALOT of workers out there who don’t get automatic CPI increases built into their employment contracts. And nor do they get six weeks leave each year as I believe you do. Time to join the real world
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I think the time has come for Hywood to hit the road.
Journos don’t need automatic pay rises and penalty rates but they deserve better than Hywood and Allen Williams.
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The other point is these journos get 6 weeks leave a year (many of them never claim leave, it was oldest trick in the book) and many have left with very very big packages. Glory days are gone people
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It seems Fairfax are working on trying to produce newspapers without staff.
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Roger. Roger Corbett, yes you. How YOU DOING.
Backing Greg?
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Time for some clarification:
Not all Fairfax journos are covered by the EBA that this article refers to. This EBA applies to metropolitan masthead journalists, photographers and librarians only. Community papers and WAToday and Brisbane Times websites are not currently covered by this EBA. The reason we have an EBA at all is because we have a union, which we support with close to 90% membership at the SMH. The union negotiates are on our behalf and we back its decisions by either informal voting or electoral ballot. This is an expensive enterprise and I pay hundreds of dollars a year in union fees but these are levied in proportion to your salary so others pay more and some pay less.
Non-editorial employees at Fairfax could collectivise and access the advantages and disadvantages (cost, lost wages due to industrial action, etc…) that union membership entails but they don’t and that is why they are not covered by an EBA and why they don’t receive annual cost of living increases. They do however often have access to other benefits such as car allowances and parking spots that are not generally offered to editorial staff.
Another misconception is that journalists get more leave than other Australian full-time employees. This is incorrect. All full-time employees in this country are entitled to six weeks leave every year – four weeks annual leave and 10 public holidays equals six work-free weeks every year. Journalists work on public holidays because news doesn’t stop, so we get the extra 10 days as leave instead, but it amounts to the same thing. Our leave loading was annualised years ago and no position that I know of in the news room attracts overtime payments.
The changes that management seeks to make to our EBA may or may not be justified on the grounds of worsening economic conditions but certainly not on the premise that journalists enjoy unique or unfair privileges as compared to other professional occupations.
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Damn you Mindy, clouding the issue with facts.
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