ABC Staff Strike Over Pay & Conditions

0:00It's March 25th. This is Sydney News today, AI-powered stories from your city. ABC staff are hitting the picket lines today with more than 1,000 journalists and workers walking out for a full 24 hours over pay and conditions. The strike kicks off at 11 a.m., Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday and runs until the same time Thursday. Flagship shows like 7.30 a.m., I.M., P.M., the world today, and Radio National Breakfast will go off air, replaced mostly by VBC content, though. Emergency services stay live. A majority of staff shot down the broadcaster's latest three-year pay deal earlier this week. It offered a 3.5% rise in the first year, 3.25% for the next two, plus a $1,000 bonus for, ongoing and fixed-term employees, around 60% of those who voted said no, clearing the path for this action. Reading director Hugh Marks apologized to listeners on air this morning, calling the

1:00whole thing very unfortunate and saying he felt terrible about it. He stressed they'd keep services running with BBC feeds, but not at the usual quality. Meanwhile, the media, entertainment and arts alliance, representing many strikers, slammed the offer as below inflation in a real pay cut. Union leaders like ABC journalist Michael Slesak highlighted three big sticking points, wages that don't keep up, too many short-term contracts, leaving folks job insecure, installed pay progression, where experienced staff get stuck at the same level. Slesak argued you can't report without fear or favor if you're worried about your next paycheck. Marks acknowledged some contract woes need fixing, and said the deal actually beats inflation for certain workers. He expects strikers to return for major breaking news to serve audiences properly. But a wide gap remains between management and unions.