Editorial workers vote to stroll off the job after rejecting annual pay enhance of between 3 and 4 p.c.
Journalists at a few of Australia’s largest newspapers have gone on strike on the eve of the Paris Olympics after administration knocked again their calls for for increased pay.
Editorial workers at 9 Leisure, which owns The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Monetary Overview, the Brisbane Occasions and WAtoday, stopped working at 11am on Friday, hours earlier than the opening ceremony of the thirty third Olympic Video games.
In Melbourne, journalists picketed outdoors The Age newspaper whereas carrying T-shirts and waving placards emblazoned with the slogan: “Don’t torch journalism.”
The walkout comes after workers voted to reject annual pay will increase of between 3 and 4 p.c over the following three years on the premise that the provide didn’t maintain tempo with rising residing prices.
“We would like a pay rise in keeping with CPI, a dedication to office variety, safeguards round AI and a good deal for freelancers,” the Media, Leisure and Arts Alliance mentioned in a publish on X.
9 Leisure, which additionally owns 9 Community tv and 9 Radio, is the official broadcaster of the video games and has despatched about 200 workers to Paris to cowl the competitors.
Like different international locations, Australia has seen its media panorama devastated by successive rounds of job cuts in recent times amid plunging promoting revenues.
9 Leisure mentioned final month that it could let go of as much as 200 staff, weeks after rivals Information Ltd and Seven West Media introduced redundancies.