Journalists Plan Strike on Day of Olympic Opening Ceremony

The threat of a strike comes amid wider job cuts across Australia’s major media outlets.

Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris on Sept. 14, 2017. Christian Hartmann/Reuters

Editorial staff at one of Australia’s most prominent newspaper groups threatened to strike on July 26 after negotiations for a new enterprise bargaining agreement fell through.

The media union said journalists at Nine Publishing had voted in favour of a five-day strike, including on the opening weekend of the Paris Olympic Games.

The group—formerly of the Fairfax Media group—includes legacy news brands The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times, and WAToday.

“The company’s pay offer fails to acknowledge the cost of living pressures, and management has not dealt with other claims from journalists, including a genuine commitment to better workplace gender and cultural diversity, improvements to grade progression, and protection through consultation in relation to AI,” the union said in a statement.

The Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance (MEAA) also cited the decision to cut 90 newspaper positions, the alleged misbehaviour of senior executives, and Nine’s decision to purchase the broadcast rights to the Olympics.

“The decision to go on strike was not made lightly as an event like the Olympics only comes along once every four years,” the MEAA said.

A spokesperson for Nine Publishing said negotiations would continue in good faith with the union members.

In late June, the company announced it would slash 200 positions amid a slowing advertising market. It was the third major Australian media outlet to take action, following Seven West Media and News Corp. Australia, who have also cut staff.

Nine CEO Mike Sneesby said its move aimed to manage “costs through the cycle.”

“Today, we will announce measures in our publishing business to offset the loss of revenue from the Meta deal and challenges in the advertising market,” Mr. Sneesby said in an email to staff on June 28 obtained by AAP.

“Unfortunately, this will result in some of our colleagues leaving us in the coming months.”

The pay dispute also comes after the MEAA complained to the Senate Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence about the impact of AI on the media landscape.

Voice actor Cooper Mortlock alleged an employer had used AI to replicate his voice without his consent.

“I was doing some work for a client for an animated series on YouTube, so I provided voice work for the character,” he told the Committee.

“When we reached about episode 30 of the promised 52 episodes, our producer cancelled the contract, saying we’ve decided to discontinue making this series.

“A year after the contract had finished, they released another episode of this series using what was obviously AI copies of my voice and the other actors’ voices.”

Alfred Bui contributed to this article.