Nine faces newspaper strike over pay dispute
Nine’s ongoing dispute with its Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Australian Financial Review journalists is likely to escalate, with employees voting to walk off the job should management not return with an improved offer.
Media director for the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the industry trade union, Adam Portelli told Mumbrella: “Members are seeking a meaningfully improved offer from the company that reflects Nine’s significant profits and respects the essential role that these journalists perform.”
Journalists at the Nine titles have voted to strike, should an improved offer not be tabled.
“Whether or not this dispute escalates further is now up to Nine.”
The vote from staff follows on from comments made by Nine Publishing managing director James Chessell at last week’s Mumbrella’s Publish Conference, in which he expressed confidence that the company would close the gap between staff demands and what management is offering, following the so-far “constructive tone” of the negotiations.
“We’re currently at 3.5% plus a bonus, which would take someone who’s on a hundred grand up to 5% for FY23, probably a little over 5%. The union is at 5.5% and the union wants a three-year deal, whereas we want a one or two-year deal,” he said.
Nine has offered its journalists a 3.5% increase on graded rates, backdated to 1 July 2022, with a 3% increase to the discretionary ‘merit pool’ for high-income earners on the payroll. This is in addition to a 0.5% rise in superannuation from the same date, plus a $1750 ‘recognition bonus’ paid to its employees in July. It is also understood the 3.5% increase proposed by Nine is above the 2% increase under the News Corp EBA and the 2.5% increase under the Guardian Australia EBA, both of which were negotiated by the MEAA.
Nine declined to comment further at this stage.
The MEAA this week told its members: “Management can be in no doubt that our campaign for a fair agreement from Nine is only going to get bigger. After the company reported bumper profits last week, we are demanding:
- A fair pay rise.
- Guaranteed career progression.
- Minimum standards for contributors.”
Nine’s Chessell on stage at the Mumbrella Publish Conference last week
Last week Chessell added: “We pay our journos better than anyone else in Australia,” continuing that there has been progress in finding common ground on most issues, now “we’re basically down to pay”.
It is understood one in five journalists under the Nine Publishing EBA earn above $165,000, with 47% earning above $125,000
Earlier this year, Nine signed a deal with the AAP for a six-month trial, signalling it was preparing for the likelihood of a walkout with EBA negotiations on the horizon. On stage last week, Chessell confirmed this, as he said: “I’m not gonna lie, it gives us cover if there is industrial action.”
Nine’s member journalists have been participating in protected industrial action since last week, taking part in a social media campaign to voice frustration, also wearing union t-shirts in the workplace.
Should a strike occur, it would be its first walk-out since the Nine-Fairfax merger in 2018.
In its recent financial year earnings, Nine posted a 53% jump in EBITDA on FY2021 figures in its publishing division to $180 million, which the MEAA called a “slap in the face” for journalists at Nine’s metro titles.
In its financial results, Nine also noted that following a review in director fees during the previous financial year, benchmarked against peer groups consisting of other media and entertainment organisations, and companies of a similar market capitalisation, complexity and prominence, there was a 10% increase in director fees and committee chair fees, effective 1 January 2022.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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