Nine publishing staff strike pay deal with management

Nine’s publishing staff have accepted an improved pay offer from management, just hours after returning to work following the first strike across the newspapers since 2017.

The new offer, tabled by managing director Tory Maguire, totalled 11.5 per cent over three years, with a 4 per cent, 3.75 per cent, 3.75 per cent annual progression. It was approved by staff across Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Paris following floor meetings on Wednesday afternoon.

Nine has cut a deal with its publishing staff.Credit: Joe Armao

It is an improvement of one percentage point on Nine’s previous offer of 10.5 per cent with a 3.5 per cent/4 per cent/3 per cent split, which was rejected as it did not keep ahead of inflation, which sat at 3.6 per cent in the March quarter.

Workers across The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, WAtoday and The Brisbane Times returned to work at 11am on Wednesday, and management re-entered negotiations.

On Friday, 500 staff across the mastheads, including some in Paris for the Olympic Games went on strike for five days after a pay deal with Nine management could not be reached.

Union staff across the mastheads conveyed a desire for the new negotiations to reduce the number of redundancies recently flagged by the company to be as many as 70 to 90 from the division, as the company looks to find tens of millions of dollars in savings.

However, staff were informed that while there were no assurances fewer staff would be made redundant, there was a commitment to establish a redundancy committee and ensure transparency over the process. An AI code will also be established that will align with the ethics of the mastheads, as well as new diversity, equity and inclusivity clauses; domestic violence leave; and improved parental leave, shifting from 16 weeks to 18 weeks.

Following the vote, a Nine spokesperson said the company was pleased to confirm it has reached an in-principle agreement with the union on a new EBA.

“We welcomed the MEAA’s decision today to resume negotiations, which supported a swift resolution of the outstanding issues. The new deal provides certainty for the business and our people as we continue to produce world-class journalism for our readers.”

In an all-staff Slack message on Wednesday, executive editor Luke McIlveen said he recognised the recent period has been stressful and created uncertainty for some people.

“It’s important that we come together to continue to produce Australia’s best journalism for the millions of people who rely on us every day. Please reach out to your editors if you have any questions or concerns.”

Chief executive Mike Sneesby arrived in Sydney on Wednesday while other members of Nine’s executive team remained in Paris. Chief sales officer Michael Stephenson recently arrived to host major advertisers, while chief financial officer Matt Stanton, who is also director of Nine’s Games coverage, remains, alongside director of television Michael Healy.

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