Beacon on strike

Staff at the Whakatane Beacon have walked off the job this morning in protest over their employer’s refusal to pay decent wages.

Most of the 14 workers are paid at least $2 an hour less than staff on comparable papers, and want a pay rise.

The EPMU’s national newspaper co-ordinator, Paul Tolich, said that the workers had tried negotiating with their employer, but he wasn’t listening.

“These people work hard to produce a quality newspaper,” he said, “they deserve to be properly paid, but many of them would be better off working at McDonalds.”

The Whakatane Beacon is a broadsheet newspaper published three times a week and circulated through the eastern Bay of Plenty. It is owned byt The Beacon Printing and Publishing Co, an independent newspaper publisher.

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