“Stuff” staff strike over pay disputes, picket outside newsrooms

Staff at media company Stuff have walked off the job this afternoon, staging strike action in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, RNZ reported.

According to a report by RNZ, Union members from E tū, which represents journalists and other staff at the company, are protesting what they describe as low pay offers and attempts to divide the workforce. The strike is taking place from 3 pm to 5 pm outside Stuff’s main newsrooms.

Auckland-based journalist and E tū delegate Sapeer Mayron said the walkout reflected years of frustration at being undervalued, reported RNZ.

RNZ quoted, “Stuff has shown its employees over and over again that it thinks we are replaceable and not worth investing in with decent wages and working conditions. And yet we stay, because we believe in the work and care about the communities we report in,” she said.

“But after years of miserly increases, with our pay going backwards in real terms - some years with no increases at all - we simply can't afford to keep working here unless Stuff pays us properly. That means more than CPI, to catch up on all those years of falling behind,” RNZ quoted.

Wellington-based reporter and E tū delegate Tom Hunt said staff had made sacrifices during tough financial times, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, but were now being offered “insulting” increases.

“Stuff journalists have taken hit after hit to get Sinead Boucher’s company through hard times,” Hunt said. “To now be offered an insulting pay rise, and to see the company trying to split us into different collective agreements, is disgraceful. The hypocrisy is staggering,” quoted RNZ.

In response, a Stuff spokesperson rejected the claims, saying the union’s statement contained “a number of deliberate untruths.”

“Since Covid, we have given our staff pay rises every year, which are in line with the market. There has been no ‘secret payday’ and no one has been ‘screwed,’” the spokesperson said. “It is disappointing to see two journalists mischaracterise the issues in this manner,” RNZ quoted.

It is understood that staff are also concerned about the company’s move to split their collective agreement into two, which they argue would weaken their bargaining power.

Stuff restructured into two separate entities last year: Stuff Digital, which oversees stuff.co.nz, Neighbourly, and its multimedia divisions; and Masthead Publishing, which runs newspaper brands such as The Post, The Press, and The Waikato Times.

This is not the first time Stuff staff have taken strike action, workers also walked out in 2022 during pay negotiations, RNZ reported.