| Article Index |
|---|
| Chapter 3: Our changing jobs |
| Work life balance |
| Pay |
| Quality of work/output |
| Part Two |
| Training |
| Morale |
| All Pages |
3.2 Pay
Very few reported pay rises for working harder, longer or acquiring new skills. Just 13.75 per cent were paid more, while 30.3 per cent took time off in lieu of overtime. Many complained new skills and longer hours were not recognised financially: “Journalists do not get paid enough and so many good journalists have left the company. It is not good enough. We are professionals who are expected to have tertiary qualifications, so the pay needs to reflect this.”
One respondent linked deteriorating conditions to “the workplace becoming more deunionised as new staff members swallow the company line and older staff give up the union fight”.
Another concern was some companies’ push to cull higher-paid journalists in favour of lower-paid newcomers. This was a particular concern at Fairfax after the most recent redundancies lost a generation on Grade 10 (also known as “Super-A Grades”). This, it was felt, put pressure on mid-range journalists to “work up” in senior or demanding roles without adequate compensation. For some years, a common complaint has been promotions without pay rises.
