Fairfax strikers say it is ‘up in the air’ whether staff return to work at 3pm
Sources at Fairfax Media say that it is “up in the air” as to whether staff at the publisher’s various major mastheads will return to work at the end of the walkout at 3pm today, while management has threatened to dock wages and potentially terminate staff involved in the “unlawful” industrial actions.
Yesterday, saw around 500 members of staff at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age walk out after the publisher announced “proposals” which would see the photographic desks of the newspapers shrink from 50 photographers to ten, further outsourcing of sub-editing and further editorial cuts to the lifestyle sections. The strike was supported with subsequent walk outs by staffs at The Canberra Times, Illawarra Mercury, Newcastle Herald and a partial walkout of union members at the Australian Financial Review.
Photographers at The Age protesting the redundancies.
Staff at newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne have told Mumbrella there is still uncertainty about whether they will vote to return to work following further stop work meetings to be held at 3pm today.
Fairfax should sack like every other media company does – slowly and one at a time until the 50 have all been shown the door. These mass sackings are never going to go well. It’s all too messy and emotional.
The worse part of this is they repeatedly get the communication around it wrong, it blows up and is played out publicly.
Every other company does redundancies but it doesn’t make the media.
Mr Williams I also believe that Employees should not feel intimidated or pressured into NOT taking industrial action either.
500 staff walked off the job?
This is a highly inflated and inaccurate figure Mr Christensen.
As for the picket line out the front of the Fairfax HQ.. I’ve been nearby all day and there’s about 30 people milling around.. last time I saw, eating pizza and sunbaking.
This is one massive beat up.
Hi Beat Up,
That figure is conservative and covers the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Canberra Times, Illawarra Mercury, Newcastle Herald and a partial walkout of the Financial Review.
It is confirmed by the Media Entertainment Alliance and is well below other media reports. Pyrmont only holds the SMH and AFR and I’m not sure the size of the picket is a reflection of the size of the strike or our journalism.
Cheers
Nic – Mumbrella.