Allied Press staff picketing outside their offices this morning. Photo: RNZ/ Tim Brown
Journalists from the Otago Daily Times have walked off the job today to demand increased pay.
E tū union members who work as journalists at Allied Press, which publishes the Otago Daily Times and more than a dozen community papers from Timaru to Invercargill, are striking.
Members of the union who work in print distribution at Allied Press also plan to strike from 5pm today for 24 hours.
Their strike action could cause disruption for the company, because some of the striking workers transport the newspapers to delivery staff.
"They will be joining journalism members out on the picket line in Dunedin on Tuesday afternoon," E tū said.
"Like journalism members, they are also pursuing a decent pay rise that will bring their wages into line with industry pay rates."
Allied Press chief executive Grant McKenzie said the strikes would not stop the newspaper coming out as usual.
Otago Daily Times (ODT) delegate and journalist Rebecca Fox said pay rises for members over the past 15 years had not only fallen behind inflation, but behind others in the media industry.
"We recognise how tough the media industry and the ODT has it at the moment, but it can't be an excuse for unliveable wages," she said.
"Other players in the industry are getting five to six percent pay increases - our last one was two percent."
It took about three years for journalists starting out at the ODT to earn even the living wage, while those with many years of experience also felt short changed, Fox said.
"We have people working with 20 plus years of experience, who are barely getting the average salary for Otago, which is around $70,000."
Fox said journalists at Allied Press had been struggling with a lack of training and resources for years, adding to their feeling of being under-appreciated.
Ben Allan, a subeditor at Allied Press, said he understood the company's leaders were under pressure, but so were staff.
"I realise it's tough to run the business at the moment, but you've just got to make your staff more of a priority.
"People are really struggling and we'd just appreciate the staff coming first for a change," Allan said.
This was the first strike action in his five years at the company, he said.
"We've accepted low rises over the course of time that I've been here, with the understanding that it's a tough time to be in the newspaper business.
"But with the rise in the cost of living recently, we just can't sustain another low ball offer."
E tū organiser Ann Galloway said negotiations with Allied Press had always been drawn out, and this round of bargaining was no different.
"Members are fed up with waiting on their employer to give them a decent pay rise," she said.
In comparison to other newspaper outlets, their pay rates were low, Galloway said.
"Members are prepared to keep fighting until they receive an offer that they can accept."
McKenzie disagreed with the journalists' and union's claims about the pay offer.
Staff had been offered pay rises of more than 9 percent, he said in an email to RNZ.
Taking into account the proposed increase, five junior journalists would be earning below the current living wage, McKenzie said.
"I am unsure how the living wage is relevant to the current negotiations, given how the living wage is made up and our staff are living across the South Island," he said.
He did not accept that journalists were undervalued at the company.
"The editorial team are a key part of the Allied Press team and do a great job for us. As a business we are committed to providing appropriate training for our staff," McKenzie said.