ABC union staff voted against the latest pay offer. Photo: Kokkai Ng.
The ABC will be without more than 75 per cent of its staff for 24 hours after union members voted to strike over pay and conditions issues.
A majority of staff voted in favour of industrial action, to take place from 11 am on Wednesday (25 March).
Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) chief executive Erin Madeley said this decision had come after months of negotiating to secure sustainable jobs, fair pay and improved working conditions.
“ABC staff are taking this step because they want fair pay that keeps up with the cost of living, genuine job security, and working conditions that allow them to continue serving the Australian public with integrity,” she said.
“They should never have been pushed to this point.”
The approved actions include unlimited work stoppages. Exemptions have been made to allow for emergency broadcasting.
According to the MEAA, the decision to strike followed ABC staff voting no to a revised enterprise agreement offer from management that included “limited improvements” to job security but no increase to pay or key conditions compared with the previous offer.
The offer included a 10 per cent salary increase over three years, with a 3.5 per cent increase in the first year and back pay to October 2025. There was also a one-off $1,000 payment for all ongoing and fixed-term staff covered by the existing EA.
Ms Madeley said below‑inflation pay outcomes and ongoing insecure work threatened the future of public‑interest journalism.
“Experienced journalists and media workers are being asked to do more with less, with fewer opportunities for pay progression, less certainty about their future, and growing workloads,” she said.
“This isn’t just a workforce issue. When skilled, experienced staff are forced out, communities lose trusted local voices, particularly in regional Australia where the ABC is often the only local newsroom.”
ABC managing director Hugh Marks believed the rejected offer “appropriately” balanced fairness to staff against the ABC’s ability to continue to invest in content and services that would benefit its audiences.
“The offer was both sustainable and financially responsible,” he said.
Mr Marks pointed out that the average tenure of an ABC staff member was more than 10 years, and more than 90 per cent of staff were ongoing employees.
“Of course, there are individual examples of poor experiences with the ABC, particularly at an entry level but, as a general rule, lack of security of employment at the ABC is not accurate,” he said.
As for job growth opportunities, Mr Marks said staff should be rewarded based on performance, not time with the organisation.
“The ABC wants to move to a system that reflects rewarding staff based on their performance, rather than automatically progressing due to tenure, as demanded by the unions,” he said.
“We are prepared to invest in staff, but doing that solely based on automatic progression ultimately limits individual career options rather than encouraging them.”
Mr Marks acknowledged that cost-of-living issues would affect ABC staff, just as they do with all Australians, but that the sustainability of the ABC business model and its relevance had to be taken into account.
“No one has provided any evidence to me to suggest ABC staff are paid less than industry standards,” he said.
“In addition, the leave provisions ABC staff receive are generally more generous than many other major workplaces. Our revised offer further expands on our current provisions, including benefits such as 20 days of personal leave, three days of disability leave and increased parental leave for secondary carers.
“I believe the pay offer reflects the maximum level the ABC can sustainably provide and is balanced when looking across all the factors that we need to consider.”
The ABC has approached the Fair Work Commission to assist with resolving the bargaining disagreements.
It’s the first time in 20 years that ABC staff will walk off the job.
Original Article published by Claire Fenwicke on Region Canberra.
