Staff at the taxpayer-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) have downed tools for the first time in 20 years, fighting for an improved pay offer and better working conditions.
A 24-hour strike began at 11 a.m. AEDT on March 25 as staff protested the widespread use of short-term contracts and limited career progression, along with a pay deal offering a below-inflation increase.
The national broadcaster’s main news channel will lean heavily on BBC World News throughout the day while a re-run of Australian Story will replace the 7 p.m. news bulletin on the broadcaster’s main channel.
Flagship current-affairs program 7.30 will be replaced by a Hard Quiz re-run.
Moments before the strike began, in a shot showing mostly empty desks, ABC24 host Gemma Veness reminded viewers about the strike.
“The ABC is planning to continue delivering some services and emergency broadcasting will not be affected by the strike,” she said.
ABC News Breakfast host James Glenday confirmed on air that his show would not be broadcast the day after on March 26 due to the strike.
Some other radio programming is set to be replaced by BBC content.
On-air presenters, including those set to strike, had begun using their platform to inform viewers about the industrial action a day earlier.
“[Wednesday’s] programming will look a little bit different ... my colleagues and I are going to be on strike,” ABC Canberra radio host Alice Matthews said on air.
“We’re asking ABC management to make sure our pay grows, at the very least, in line with (inflation), among a few other things related to job security and AI.”
Large gatherings were expected outside ABC offices nationwide, including in Melbourne and Sydney.
The Community and Public Sector Union and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance are representing staff.
“We’ve been in bargaining for a long time now with the ABC and what we want to see is a pay off that reflects cost-of-living pressures and actually respects the really important work that the ABC do,” CPSU National Secretary Melissa Donnelly told AAP.
“ABC plays such an important role in our society and in Australian storytelling and it’s really important ABC management come to the table.”
About 60 percent of ABC staff rejected management’s offer that included a 10-percent pay rise across three years.
The unions are also demanding greater night-shift penalty rates, reproductive health leave, and rules relating to artificial intelligence.
“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,” MEAA CEO Erin Madeley said.
It will be the broadcaster’s first major strike since 2006.
ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks said the offered pay deal was financially responsible and competitive for the industry.
“The average tenure of an ABC staff member is more than 10 years, which is three times the economy average ... over 90 percent of ABC staff are ongoing employees,” Marks said.
“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.”
More than 4,400 people work at the ABC, including 2000 in news, the largest division.
