Nine CEO Mike Sneesby ‘profoundly disappointed’ over strike action by publishing staff over pay dispute

The media company is in turmoil after hundreds of publishing staff walked off the job for five days on Friday amid a breakdown in pay negotiations.

Nine Entertainment chief executive officer Mike Sneesby has told staff he is “profoundly disappointed” that journalists have voted to walk off the job for five days over a pay dispute as employees voiced their anger at him on Friday.

Staff protesting were seen wearing t-shirts wearing T-shirts featuring a caricature of Mr Sneesby holding the Olympic torch with the words, “don’t torch journalism” and some had made replicas of the torch to show their disdain for the CEO.

Sending an email from Paris on Friday morning, Mr Sneesby said the timing of the strike action by 500 publishing staff “comes on the eve of one of the biggest news events on the planet” for which the company will pay at least $120m — this includes the broadcasting deal and production costs. “We have invested significantly to bring unrivalled coverage of the 2024 Games to our valued audiences through Nine’s world-leading journalism,” Mr Sneesby said.

“While we have endeavoured to avert the industrial action, we have been preparing for the prospect of prolonged industrial action.”

The Nine boss came under fire after he was filmed carrying the Olympic torch and meandering through French streets dressed in all white attire, resulting in anger from employees about him taking part in the torch relay.
Staff have walked off the job from across Nine’s publishing division at its offices including in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from publications The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday.

This will also include reporters sent to Paris to cover the significant sporting event.

Employees have also called on Mr Sneesby and other members of management to forgo their bonuses for both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.

Nine publishing staff chanting for fair pay after walking off the job in Melbourne on Friday for five days @australianpic.twitter.com/dhwwaLyQ1a

— Sophie Elsworth (@sophieelsworth) July 26, 2024

Employees who are members of the media union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, have demanded a 20 per cent pay rise over the next three years but the offer by Nine was about half this at 10.5 per cent.

26/07/2024: Staff at Nine’s Melbourne headquarters at Docklands walking off the job for five days over a pay dispute with management. PIC: Sophie Elsworth.

The Age’s state political reporter Broede Carmody addressed a waiting media pack at the walkout in Melbourne and he was asked if there were staff in Paris who were not happy about the protest occurring while they are overseas on assignment.

“There is no unrest in Paris, of course it’s a difficult decision,” he said.

“The majority of people in Paris are union members, the majority of people in Paris are not exempt.

“There’s nothing that I’ve seen at the moment that suggests a lack of solidarity.”

When questioned if Mr Sneesby’s role as CEO is tenable, Carmody said: “That’s a matter for the Nine board.”

But one of Nine’s highest-profile radio broadcasters, 2GB’s Ben Fordham, hit out at the industrial action on air on Friday, particularly for those employees impacted in Paris.

“Can you imagine going to cover the Olympic Games and then getting there and saying, ‘I’m going on strike’,” he said.

“How many rocks are in their heads, and these are our colleagues I’m talking about. The Nine network has spent a tonne of money getting the rights to the Olympics, we want to be able to cover them well for all of our readers and viewers and listeners in Australia and you’ve got some people in Paris sitting in their arses and not working and striking, fair dinkum.”

Nine CEO Mike Sneesby carries the Paris Olympics torch in the Olympic torch relay. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

Editorial workers at Nine Publishing mastheads will be on strike from 11am AEST tomorrow.

We want a pay rise in line with CPI, a commitment to workplace diversity, safeguards around AI and a fair deal for freelancers. #MEAAmedia#DontTorchJournalismpic.twitter.com/LwP3k3FmS8

— MEAA (@withMEAA) July 25, 2024

Last month Mr Sneesby announced there would be between 70 and 90 redundancies in the publishing division and a total of about 200 jobs across the company due to the financial pressures the media company continues to face.

The strike action also comes after months of turmoil at the media company including the departure of former Nine news boss Darren Wick who left after a complaint was lodged against him by a female staffer.

It prompted an external independent investigation – which is ongoing – into the culture at the network after further complaints of inappropriate conduct were made public.

One of the Nine’s most senior journalists, Melbourne-based reporter Nick McKenzie, spoke to ABC Melbourne mornings radio host Rafael Epstein on Friday and said journalists were simply “asking for a fair go from management in terms of the latest EBA.”

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s investigative reporter Nick McKenzie. Picture: Christian Gilles.

McKenzie, who is taking strike action, also said there should be “pay rates that keep up with inflation rather than effectively suffering pay cuts.”

“The pay offers on the table don’t go far enough to make sure that these journalists that give their heart and soul to the Victorian public can just keep up with inflation,” McKenzie said.

“Fundamentally it is about the way that management will look after its reporters and once again this is not about people seeking an unfair pay rise, the journalists that I work with believe in the newspaper, they care about journalism, they care about democracy and they care about serving our subscribers and the greater public.”

McKenzie said the strike action will have an impact on the company’s Olympics coverage.