Nine staff say anger is “white hot” as they call for the media giant’s boss to forgo his bonuses while journalists walk off the job over pay disputes. Journalists from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and Watoday walked off the job from 11am on Friday over a pay dispute. Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union members from Nine’s publishing division have demanded a 20 per cent pay rise over three years; however, Nine reportedly offered a raise of 10.
5 per cent, nearly half the staff’s demand. The Age state political reporter Broede Carmody said journalists called on chief executive Mike Sneesby and all other executives to forgo their bonuses from the last two financial years and instead reinvest them back into the company. “Mike Sneesby wants to talk about a sustainable business, let’s talk about sustainable business,” Carmody said outside Nine’s Docklands office in Melbourne on Friday morning.
“How many jobs could have been saved if this company didn’t fly TV people who are unrelated to the Olympics to Paris and put them up in luxury hotels that cost $1000 a night?” he said. Carmody also criticised a reported million-dollar handshake given to former news boss Darren Wick despite sexual harassment allegations against him. An external review was announced into allegations Wick harassed up to a dozen women at the media giant.
NewsWire has contacted Nine for comment. The “pain will really start to .