Last-minute pay rise prevents walkout but some may push through with the industrial action
ABC staff members have called off their planned strike on March 22 after winning a pay rise and reaching an in-principle agreement with their employer.
A new offer providing a pay rise totalling 11% over three years, backdated to October 1 last year, will be granted to employees once the new deal is signed, according to the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA). They will also receive a one-off $1,500 bonus.
"Management has also agreed to conduct a transparent audit of the gender and CALD pay gap, to fix the broken buyout system, and to put in place a new pathway for career progression for early and mid-career journalists," MEAA media director Cassie Derrick said in a statement.
The cancellation of the strike follows the direct participation of ABC Managing Director David Anderson in the negotiations in February, which the MEAA said was a "turning point."
"ABC management now must begin to rebuild trust with its workforce," Derrick said.
Over 1,000 ABC employees were supposed to carry out two one-hour strikes at 7am AEDT and another one at 3PM AEDT on March 22 as negotiations fail to reach an agreement after nine months. This would have been the first strike against the broadcaster for more than a decade.
"Clearly, the threat of industrial action has helped to focus ABC's management's mind, as has the outpouring of support for our members from ABC viewers and listeners," Derrick said.
The strike was cancelled after the ABC also committed to getting unions involved in the drafting of a new enterprise agreement before staff votes on them, according to the MEAA.
This is also the reason why the new offer has yet to be signed by the management, as Anderson said unions "requested additional time to raise drafting issues."
"As a result, we will hold off putting the offer to employees to allow time for this process," he said as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald.
But even with the MEAA calling off their strike, some ABC staff members under the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) will reportedly still carry out the strike action.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that CPSU members will continue the plan to show how employees felt about the negotiation process.
"For the CPSU, tomorrow is about showing management at the ABC that our members are ... angered by the level of disrespect they have been shown throughout it," Sinddy Ealy, CPSU's ABC section secretary, told the Herald.
The report estimated that hundreds will likely continue the strike action but said no number has been confirmed by the CPSU.
