Four days into their strike, union members and Nine journalists have called for CEO Mike Sneesby and his executive team to forego their bonuses this year and next year instead of cutting 70-90 jobs.
See also: ‘We deserve better’: Nine journalists walk off job on first day of Olympics
The union argues Nine is “spending hundreds of thousands of dollars wining and dining its top managers and their guests in Paris but says it needs to sack 90 journalists to save costs.”
In 2023, Sneesby’s statutory remuneration was listed as $3.41 million.
Journalist Broede Carmody, who is also a union delegate, said in a video published to MEAA’s social channels: “It’s more than just about the money. It’s about the fact that the company is ripping out up to 90 jobs from our newsrooms.
“We’re also here to call on Mike Sneesby, the Nine CEO, and all senior executives at Nine, to forego their financial bonuses for the financial year just gone, that haven’t been paid yet, as well as this financial year, and to reinvest that back into the company to save jobs.”
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Carmody said the request for a pay rise in line with CPI isn’t being offered at all, and negotiations are “on the condition that we throw our sub-editor colleagues under the bus and collapse their schedules so they get paid a lower base salary.”
Culture editor Osman Faruqi added in the video that journalists don’t want to be on strike, but “we’ve been attacked by the management at Channel Nine. This company has not offered us a fair pay rise.”
Faruqi said the proposed job cuts constitute “more than 1 in 10 people who work at this company … they’re hacking us to the bone.”
Journalists at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday walked off the job on Friday. The union has asked readers to not buy Nine newspapers or click on digital stories, and urged freelancers not to accept work from Nine, during the strike.
Picket lines and rallies were held outside Nine offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, with journalists appearing in matching t-shirts featuring a caricature of Sneesby running with the Olympic torch.
Placards included messages such as “When Nine Sneesbys, The Age Gets A Cold,” “Quality Journalism Needs Quality Jobs,” and “We’d Rather Be Reporting.”
On the day the strike began, Nine called it “disappointing,” but confirmed there are “comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics.”
Sneesby has declined to comment further. When approached on the streets of Paris by rival 7News about the strike, he responded: “Look guys, (I’ve) just got back from dinner and it’s not really the time to have a chat.”
When asked, “Are you here on a holiday with your family?” Sneesby reportedly did not respond and walked away.
7News reported the Paris hotel he is staying in costs “almost $2,500 a night.”
Journalists striking have been backed up by colleagues from across the industry, with the union posting a video featuring supportive messages from the likes of Tony Armstrong, Paul Kelly, Dave Hughes, Jane Harper, Shaun Micalleff, Shameless Media’s Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews, Rosie Batty, and Richard Flanagan.
Tony Armstrong, Paul Kelly, Dave Hughes and Jane Harper are among the dozens of high-profile Australians standing with journalists from the newsrooms of The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAToday, demanding quality jobs for quality… pic.twitter.com/620t1UVeIm
— MEAA (@withMEAA) July 28, 2024
The strike was called after the union rejected a revised enterprise bargaining offer last week. After several months of negotiations, the most recent offer was rejected because it “still fails to include a fair pay rise that keeps ahead of the cost of living.” News Corp reported that Thursday’s offer was a 3.5% annual pay rise, compared to the 2% which was already in place.
Following the announcement of 200 job cuts at Nine in June, MEAA members at Nine Publishing passed a resounding vote of no confidence in Sneesby in early July.
The reason given for the cuts was to “offset the loss of revenue from the Meta deal and challenges in the advertising market,” with Sneesby saying at the time that “in order for us to be able to keep investing in digital growth opportunities across Nine, we must continue to responsibly manage costs through the cycle.”
The strike also follows former news boss Darren Wick‘s exit amidst allegations of lecherous behaviour, and the shuttering of Pedestrian-licensed titles including Vice, Gizmodo, Refinery29, Kotaku, and Lifehacker.
Last week, one Nine journalist wrote: “Nine recently gave a boss accused of misconduct a $1 million payout. It’s putting up Scotty Cam in a five star hotel for the Paris Olympics. But this very profitable company refuses to offer its journalists fair pay. That’s why we’re striking.”
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Top image: Mike Sneesby