Media
Skeleton staff operates ABC during strike
Published Thursday, Sep 21 2006, 17:22 BST | By James Welsh
A skeleton staff that included members of top management operated the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during an unprecedented strike on Thursday.
Unions with members working at the ABC have indicated that further wildcat strikes can be expected in an effort to force the corporation's management to negotiate over pay. The current pay offer, unions claim, is insufficient because at 3.5% it fails to at least match inflation at 4%. The divide between management and the unions is currently very wide, with the unions looking for a 16% rise.
Much of the ABC's radio output was replaced with a feed from the BBC World Service, and live TV programmes were severely affected.
It is understood that around 2,500 staff at the ABC took part in the strike, with pickets present outside the corporation's offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
Programming on the ABC is expected to return to normal at midnight, but it is currently not known when the next strike will occur.
Unions with members working at the ABC have indicated that further wildcat strikes can be expected in an effort to force the corporation's management to negotiate over pay. The current pay offer, unions claim, is insufficient because at 3.5% it fails to at least match inflation at 4%. The divide between management and the unions is currently very wide, with the unions looking for a 16% rise.
Much of the ABC's radio output was replaced with a feed from the BBC World Service, and live TV programmes were severely affected.
It is understood that around 2,500 staff at the ABC took part in the strike, with pickets present outside the corporation's offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
Programming on the ABC is expected to return to normal at midnight, but it is currently not known when the next strike will occur.
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