Nine Entertainment’s publishing division accept 11.5pc pay rise over three years
Staff at Nine Entertainment’s newspapers including The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review have accepted a pay rise deal after months of negotiation.
Nine Entertainment’s publishing staff have accepted a 11.5 per cent pay increase over three years just hours after returning to work on Wednesday.
About 500 staff from Nine’s mastheads including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAToday, walked off the job last week for five days after rejecting a 10.5 per cent pay offer over three years, however the matter was finally resolved after further negotiations with management.
Members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance from Nine’s mastheads walked back into their offices at locations across the country at 11am AEST on Wednesday including in Melbourne and could be heard repeatedly chanting “union power.”
The acceptance of the offer comes after months of negotiations between the staff’s union members and management - employees originally wanted a 20 per cent pay rise over three years (increases of 8, 6 and 6 per cent) but management came back this month with an offer of 10.5 per cent (3.5, 4 and 3 per cent) which was rejected.
On Wednesday the pay offer was accepted and included pay rises of 4, 3.75 and 3.75 per cent over the next three years.
The dispute comes amid ongoing turmoil at the network including angst among staff after the company’s CEO Mike Sneesby ran with the Olympic torch on the outskirts of Paris last week and grievances that many TV stars were at the Olympics that didn’t need to be there.
The Age’s state political reporter Broede Carmody said outside Nine’s Docklands office on Monday staff needed fairer pay rises before entering the negotiations with management.
“We need a better deal, we need that better deal today,” he said.
“Our members passed a vote of no confidence on him (Mr Sneesby) a few weeks ago, he could have fixed this before we went on strike, we made that very clear.”
Publishing staff at Nine Entertainment’s Melbourne headquarters chanting “union power†before returning to work after a five-day strike. Negotiations over pay continue, @australian. pic.twitter.com/Mn1UobRnOt
— Sophie Elsworth (@sophieelsworth) July 31, 2024
The media company’s share price closed at $1.46 on Wednesday.
This pay resolution also comes after The Australian revealed this week that the Nine board is set for a “refresh” after the departure of chair Peter Costello in June after he barged into The Australian’s Liam Mendes at Canberra Airport while the reporter was asking him questions.
An ongoing external independent investigation is also continuing into serious allegations of misconduct at the television arm of the media company after the exit of former news boss Darren Wick who had a complaint lodged against him by a female staff member.
The board, now led by Catherine West has set up a nomination committee to begin the hunt for a new board member, possibly two.
Earlier in the week the MEAA also took a swipe at former ABC chair Ita Buttrose after she criticised journalists at the public broadcasters and said sometimes reporters failed to present both sides of a story.
The MEAA said her criticisms were “insulting” and dismissed them as being irrelevant.
More Coverage
Nine’s time bomb with a silent Wick: defiant ex-TV news supremo breaks cover
WATCH | Darren Wick has been confronted with the question he has carefully dodged for six months, over a scandal still reverberating through Nine after his departure amid sexual harassment allegations.
Afterpay boosts growth and ROI with brand marketing
A brand marketing campaign by Afterpay, which aimed to prove the power of the discipline, has exceeded return-on-investment and customer acquisition targets to drive effectiveness and growth for the business.