ABC staff to strike for 40 minutes next Tuesday, in hope for better pay deal

ABC staff say the next week will be crucial after the broadcaster’s media union members voted overwhelmingly to take protected action after management offered no meaningful improvement on pay and conditions. 

On Wednesday, media union members at the ABC voted in support of a 40-minute walkout from 2pm next Tuesday, half an hour before the Reserve Bank of Australia’s board is expected to announce whether or not it will raise the official cash rate for the tenth consecutive month, a significant national news event.

One day earlier, the results of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA)’s protected action ballot, which asked ABC members to vote on nine protected action options, revealed near absolute support for a sweep of options. 

Each option, which included limitations on work for the web and broadcasting and even indefinite strike action, was supported by more than 90% of MEAA members. 

Almost 95% voted in favour of a strike lasting up to four hours, and more than 95% supported strike action lasting up to 24 hours. Support for an indefinite strike secured the support of just over 90%. 

“I mean, that tells you what members think about different actions,” Cassie Derrick, director of MEAA Media, told Crikey. “[But] I think it’s still unclear, and depends on what the ABC [is willing to come back to the table with].”

Members attended meetings in bureaus around the country at noon today to work out a path forward. 

The MEAA ballot results came in just hours after representatives of the union, along with representatives of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) who also represent ABC employees, walked out of a bargaining meeting with ABC leadership yesterday. 

Those in attendance at yesterday’s meeting with ABC management, who have recently been joined by managing director David Anderson in a bid to stave off potential strike action, described a positive mood that showed signs of delivering a better offer over the next week.

“It felt yesterday for the first time as though there were parties there trying to get an agreement,” Derrick said.

The last offer tabled by ABC management, since withdrawn, landed in the inboxes of staffers late on the Friday afternoon of February 10. It offered employees a one-off payment of $1500, and a 10.5% salary increase over three years, which would see a pay increase of 4% in the first year, 3.5% in the second, and 3% in the third.

Instead, the MEAA has been pushing for an annual pay increase of 6% for its members, along with automatic progression through pay bands, and the delivery of a gender and racial pay gap audit. In recent talks, the union has offered some wiggle room around that 6% figure to secure a non-negotiable commitment from ABC management to both pay progression and the audit. 

An ABC spokesperson said the ABC has “consistently” welcomed constructive negotiations to deliver “the best” outcome for “staff and the organisation”.

“The ABC remains committed to providing employees with the benefits of a new agreement as soon as possible,” the spokesperson told Crikey.

Sinddy Ealy, ABC section secretary at the CPSU, said management’s decision to pull the offer tabled earlier this month was a “welcomed move” and that she’s glad to see them back at the negotiating table. “But we’re not there yet,” she said. 

She told Crikey that while the two unions are largely in lockstep, CPSU members still have until March 15 to vote on whether they too would like to take protected action. Both unions, which represent more than 1000 ABC employees between them, filed applications for a protected action ballot in early February.

Ealy said that even with the looming action being taken by MEAA members, the ABC wouldn’t be able to get a deal over the line until at least late March, once the CPSU ballot is closed and she is able to take the offer to members for a vote.

“We will not be doing a deal at the table,” she said.