First ABC strike in 20 years to disrupt TV and radio but Bluey OK
Best known as the home of Bluey, national broadcaster the ABC became the news after strike action by thousands of staff, joining Australia’s long list of walkouts – let’s take a look at the timeline
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this story may contain images and voices of deceased people
Thousands of staff at national broadcaster the ABC went on strike on Wednesday.
Those taking part in the industrial action were expected to stop work for 24 hours to 11am on Thursday, after pay rise and job protection talks failed.
The first ABC strike in 20 years impacted live TV and radio shows, which included the cancellation of Wednesday night’s 7pm news bulletin.
After Wednesday morning’s 9am news update on ABC Radio, ABC managing director Hugh Marks joined host Hamish Macdonald live on air to answer questions about the strike.
Mr Marks acknowledged the ABC would be “severely impacted” by the strikes but said the broadcaster would do its best to ensure audiences got continued access to information.
“We will be maintaining services but they won’t be at the standard that I would like to be on air,” Mr Marks said.
“We will be using BBC content where that’s appropriate and available to us.”
Mr Marks also raised the ABC’s broadcasting obligations in an emergency, confirming breaking news of national or international importance could warrant staff breaking the strike action and returning to the office.
“I think you know it is not a great time for our teams to be out. There is a lot of things happening in the world,” Mr Marks said.
“If we are truly in the business of serving our audiences, then I would expect that people would get behind it. If an event was to happen domestically that was a huge tragedy, I would expect and I believe that our staff would go, ‘Yes, that warrants me attending the office and serving the audience’.”
During the segment, Mr Marks apologised to the ABC’s audience on behalf of the organisation and said he was committed to finding the right outcome.
“I feel terrible that we’re in a position where we’re going to pull services from the public … that is our job day-to-day … and I’m sorry to some of those staff that … are in a really difficult position today because I know how difficult this can be for individuals,” he said.
Throughout Wednesday morning, multiple announcements were made, alerting listeners to the looming strike.
The walkout came after months of talks, which left employees at the ABC with below-inflation wages, ongoing job insecurity and increasing workloads.
ABC audiences were expected to find scheduling gaps across the network.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) chief executive Erin Madeley said the strike showed how serious the issues were and how difficult it had become for members to continue to deal with the cost of living pressures.
“They have felt like there is no other choice at this stage,” Ms Madeley said.
She added that members of the union took their work “incredibly seriously” and if anything threatened the public and the interests of public safety, then members would understand their duties in that situation.
“I think the public know how important our ABC is … and I think the public do want to see a sustainable career path for these workers to continue to deliver that,” Ms Madeley said.
“The issues that we’re trying to progress come down to, at the end of the day, there is no ABC without the workforce.”
TEACHERS’ STRIKE IN VICTORIA
The national ABC strike comes just one day after public school teachers in Victoria went on strike for the first time in 13 years due to a wages dispute with the state government.
Victoria Police estimated 35,000 protesters were in attendance at the march through Melbourne’s CBD. The state’s teachers last week rejected a 17 per cent offer from the Allan Government after more than a year of talks.
The union was pushing for a 35 per cent pay rise over four years for its members, arguing Victorian teachers are paid much less than those in other states.
HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL ACTION
So how common are strikes in Australia? And are they always about money? The short answer is that industrial action has been happening in Australia since. convict times. And yes, money usually features, specifically in terms of workers wanting to earn more for doing their job than employers wish to pay for their labours.
Here are just some of the strikes and other significant workers’ events in the nation’s far longer history of industrial action as detailed by the Australian Trade Union Archives.
1791 – The first organised industrial action was recorded, when convicts in Sydney demanded daily instead of weekly rations.
1854 – During the Gold Rush, police and soldiers confronted striking miners in the Eureka Stockade at Ballarat in Victoria. Thirty miners and five soldiers were killed. Leaders were arrested, tried and found not guilty. Within six years, all the miners’ demands were met.
1881 – The New South Wales Trades Union Act passed, providing for union rights and registration.
1920 – Shearers in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia gained the 44-hour week, a NSW Royal Commission recommended the same for building and ironworkers, and the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration followed suit for timber workers.
1930 – The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration approved the forty-four-hour week for workers.
1939 – World War Two saw women replace male workers in a wide range of industries. Work-based childcare facilities were provided and most women received ninety per cent of male rates.
1941 – Annual leave of one week became standard.
1946-49 – The longest strike action in Australia’s history saw Indigenous workers in northwest Western Australia demand better wages and conditions, and independence from the colonial* masters who owned vast pastoral* stations. The Pilbara strikes inspired the campaign for Aboriginal rights across Australia.
1950 – After a long campaign, the female wage rate rose from 54 to 75 per cent of the male wage rate.
1951 – New South Wales legislation for long-service leave was enacted, believed to be a world first. Other states followed.
1965 – The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission awarded equal pay to Indigenous stockmen.
1985-86 – Victorian nurses went on strike for 50 days to demand action on award* conditions. It was the longest strike by women in Australia since the 19th century tailoresses’* strike.
Threatened with dismissal, criminal charges, the use of the Essential Services Act and even police action to disrupt picket lines, the nurses remained resolutely on strike and ultimately achieved “career structure” reforms.
1998 – The Maritime Union of Australia members went on strike after Patrick stevedoring* planned to sack an entire unionised workforce. An agreement was reached after two months. The waterfront dispute was one of the most significant in recent memory, setting the Howard Government and big business against wharfies and trade unions. It had a profound* impact on industrial relations and the Australian trade union movement for years to come.
Timeline source: Australian Trade Union Archives
POLL
GLOSSARY
- award: statutory or legislated minimum pay for a particular group of workers
- tailoress: female tailor, someone who makes clothes
- colonial: refers to the period of British rule when Australia and its ancient Indigenous population was first colonised after the arrival of the First Fleet
- pastoral: the country, farming, characterised by or showing rural life and scenery
- stevedoring: the work of moving goods onto and off ships; the people and companies who perform this work are called “stevedores”
- profound: felt or experienced very strongly or in an extreme way
EXTRA READING
Growing unrest on the goldfields
Labor leads the miners to fight for their rights
Raise the flag and let the battle begin
QUICK QUIZ
- The staff of which national media organisation went on strike on Wednesday?
- What were these employees left with after months of talks?
- There was a different strike in Victoria the day before – which group stopped work and marched on Melbourne?
- Which strike in the historical timeline lasted the longest, who was striking and why?
- What happened at the Eureka Stockade?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What was most important?
Read the list of historical strike actions. Choose one that you think was the most important. Write a list of convincing reasons for your choice.
Use this as a sentence starter for a story.
Time: spend at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History, Civics and Citizenship
2. Extension
Should people in today’s world have the right to strike? Write a list of reasons for and against this question. Use information from the story to help you.
Time: spend at least 25 minutes on this activity.
Curriculum Links: English, Civics and Citizenship
VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Choose one of the strikes in the historical timeline. Imagine you were there during the event described and do some research on what happened.
Create a conversation between two characters – you may need or want to imagine yourself as one of them. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from your research and relevant images from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.
Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.