Left-wing journalists at five newspapers owned by corporate media giant Nine will go on strike demanding more diversity and higher wages.
Members of media union the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAToday will stop work for five days beginning at 11am on Friday after rejecting an offer from Nine Publishing management.
Nine has made dozens of redundancies in recent weeks, and union members are demanding guarantees there will not be more in the future, along with a “diversity pay audit and quotas”, protection against the use of AI, and higher pay rises.
Earlier this week 90% of union members voted to strike if they did not get a “genuine commitment to better workplace gender and cultural diversity”, and on Thursday turned down an offer the MEAA described as “inferior”.
“Journalists at Nine Publishing are being asked to do more for less,” said the acting Director of MEAA Media, Michelle Rae.
“They are taking a stand for newsrooms that reflect the diversity of the communities they are reporting for, for ethical and transparent use of Artificial Intelligence, and for better wages.
“Journalists have asked for a modest wage increase in line with the CPI after foregoing any pay rise during COVID and at a time when the company is making record profits.
“The Australian public relies on these journalists to keep them informed, to hold power to account and to shine a light on corruption and wrongdoing but they cannot do it without safe and secure jobs.”
The five newspapers involved are known for their left-of-centre reporting, support for mass immigration, refusal to report on immigrant crime, and capitulation to radical gender ideology.
