By - Press Release
Category - Offshore Staff
Source - http://www.radioaustralia.net.au
Category - Offshore Staff
Source - http://www.radioaustralia.net.au
 |
| Offshore Staff |
Journalists and other staff at the Sydney Morning Herald, The
Age, the Financial Review, The Illawarra Mercury and the Newcastle
Herald voted on Wednesday to take the snap action and strike for 36
hours.
The head of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
(MEAA) Fairfax Sydney House Committee, Marcus Strom, says they want to
send a strong message.
"We want them to know that outsourcing
journalists does not allow us to provide the dynamic journalism that the
digital future requires," he said.
Papers for Thursday and Friday will be produced by a skeleton staff.
Chris Warren from the MEAA says it is likely the content of tomorrow and Friday's papers will be affected.
"Look
the paper will still be produced by management staff but obviously they
will be substantially lesser papers than people will expect," he said.
The
protest follows Fairfax's announcement on Tuesday that it is sending
editorial production jobs from the Newcastle Herald and the Illawarra
Mercury to New Zealand.
That includes several associated community
titles - the Lake Times, Kiama Independent, Newcastle Star, Myall Coast
Nota, Port Stephens Examiner and Lakes Mail.
A total of 66 jobs are expected to be affected, with the possibility of forced redundancy for some staff.
Fairfax
says the changes are part of a "wider company strategy to pursue
operational efficiencies while strengthening the focus on audience
growth and producing quality content".
It says no reporting or photographic positions will be affected.
But the MEAA rejected the proposal.
It believes relocating key editorial staff offshore will only inhibit the newspapers' ability to tell quality local news.
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