ABC Pay Deal in Jeopardy: Union Strikes Back

0:00It's April 14th. This is Sydney News today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. The ABC's Hard One Pay Deal with its biggest union is teetering on the edge. Just weeks after staff staged their first strike in decades, a full 24 hours that shut down news and broadcasts, the media, entertainment, and… Arts Alliance says management flipped on a key promise for automatic pay bumps. Here this week, the union fired off an urgent email to members, claiming ABC bosses narrowed the rules during final talks. At issue is progression for staff on pay band 5, where workers move up after three top performance ratings from their bosses. That as folks fired up, especially the roughly 560 employees, stuck at the top of that band for years. Union reps say this change makes it tougher for them to climb, even though promotions and across the board raises are still on the table. The in-principle agreement from March 31st offers a 10.5% pay rise over three years, kicking

1:00off with 4% this year. To beat inflation. But members haven't voted yes yet, and that strike already forced reruns in bar or BBC feeds. With an emergency meeting called, and both sides staying quiet for now, more walk-outs loom if they can't hash this out, keeping everyone watching how. This public broadcaster beef plays out.