Hundreds of journalists from nine newspapers are to leave their posts on the eve of the Paris Olympics.
Journalists working for the company’s main media outlets will begin a five-day strike from 11 a.m. on Friday over a long-running pay dispute.
Journalists from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, WAToday and the Brisbane Times will take part in the industrial action.
The strikes began hours before the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday night.
Nine has exclusive broadcast rights to the world’s biggest sporting event as part of a $305 million deal that runs through to the 2032 Games in Brisbane.
Talks over annual pay rates between Nine management and union representatives from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) broke down on Thursday.
Nine offered staff a 3.5 percent annual pay rise in a desperate bid to stop the strikes. news.com.au reports.
Several staff members told the publication that journalists were frustrated that pay increases did not keep pace with the cost of living.
Channel Nine has been dealt another blow, with journalists at its main newspapers going on strike for five days from Friday over a pay dispute (pictured, Karl Stefanovic and Nine Entertainment chief executive Mike Sneesby in Paris this week)
None newspaper and website publishers will be forced to use content from global publishing agencies over the weekend as a result of the outage.
It is understood that the change will be in effect during the following week.
Nine Publishing CEO Tory Maguire called an early meeting on Thursday to discuss the matter.
The revised pay deal comes after editorial staff were granted a two per cent pay rise.
About 90 percent of MEAA member journalists rejected the agreement.
Negotiations to increase salaries had been ongoing for several months before Nine Entertainment chief executive Mike Sneesby announced job cuts last month.
Around 200 jobs are expected to be cut from the company’s 5,000-employee national team as part of a $30 million cost-cutting plan.
The job cuts will also include the loss of 90 positions, which will be eliminated in the company’s publishing division.
The redundancies will affect positions at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
The job cuts will also affect 38 positions in the high-profile news and current affairs broadcast team, which spans Nine News and 60 Minutes.
The industrial action comes as the company prepares to cut around 200 jobs as part of a $30m cost-cutting plan (pictured: Channel Nine Olympics broadcast crew)
A Nine spokesperson said steps have been taken to minimise disruption to its services as a result of the strike.
“Comprehensive plans are in place to ensure that the production and distribution of Nine Publishing’s masts are not affected and that our readers continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympic Games,” the spokesperson said.
‘Nine recognises the right of unions to take industrial action but believes that returning to the negotiating table is the best way forward on the EBA.’
The spokesman said the revised pay deal was a reasonable offer and said the company would like negotiations to resume as soon as possible.
Journalists at Nine’s main newspapers (pictured) are believed to be unhappy that pay rises have not kept pace with the cost of living.
Staff are also understood to be angry at the limited protections in place against the use of AI in newsrooms.
MEAA media director Michelle Rae said staff deserve a substantial pay rise.
“Journalists have called for a modest pay rise in line with CPI after swearing off any pay rise during COVID,” Ms Rae said.
“It is totally unacceptable that the company is asking workers to choose between a modest pay rise and the possibility of further job cuts.”