ABC staff vote against pay rise freeze despite government push
ABC employees have voted against deferring their pay increases this year despite multiple requests from the Communications Paul Fletcher to put them on pause.
Mr Fletcher wrote to the ABC in May asking employees to pause a 2 per cent pay rise that will be enforced on October 1 as part of a new three year enterprise agreement. But Mr Anderson, who took a 5 per cent pay cut from April until the end of September, said at the time he would be unable to force a pay freeze without seeking permission from the Fair Work Commission.
ABC managing director David Anderson said he could not freeze wages without the approval of staff. Staff have since rejected the pay freeze.Credit:Sean Davey
An email seen by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age from the ABC's chief people officer Rebekah Donaldson on Wednesday said that staff had voted against pausing the pay rise.
"Thank you to all eligible employees who voted on the request from the government to defer the 2 per cent pay rise which was agreed upon in last year’s three-year Enterprise Agreement," Ms Donaldson said.
"We now have the result of that process and staff have voted against deferring the 2 per cent increase for all eligible employees, an increase agreed and signed off by the Fair Work Commission last January."
ABC sources said 80 per cent of staff votes were against the deferral.
The Australian Public Service Commissioner advised tax-payer funded agencies in early April that the Morrison government had imposed a six-month pause on wage increases. Mr Anderson argued at the time that the ABC was independent of other APS agencies and it did not have to ability to alter the working conditions of employees.
Mr Fletcher's request to change staffing policies at the ABC is the second by the government in recent years. Former ABC chairman Jim Spigelman lashed out at the Turnbull government in 2014 for attempting to influence the broadcaster's policies.
The Community and Public Sector Union, one of two that represents ABC staff, pushed for staff to reject the pay cut.
Sinddy Ealy, the union’s ABC secretary, said staff deserved a pay rise because of their performance during the bushfire and coronavirus crises.
"They’ve seen 220 of their colleagues lose their jobs because of the government’s funding cuts," Ms Ealy said. "I don’t think anyone could say they haven’t endured share of pain."
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Zoe Samios is a media and telecommunications reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Nick Bonyhady is industrial relations reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based between Sydney and Parliament House in Canberra.