EPMU Media Release

30 January 2007

Oamaru Mail workers vote for industrial action

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union members at the APN-owned newspaper the Oamaru Mail have voted to take strike action if their claim for a fair pay rise is not met during tomorrow’s negotiations.

The negotiations will be the latest in a round that has lasted three months without the company moving any further than 3.2%.

EPMU Lead Organiser John Gardner says that offer is less than the cost of living has increased since members got their last pay rise.

“These workers are not well paid at the moment and to accept the Mail’s offer would just mean they’d fall even further behind.

“APN is a huge Australian multinational that is making a lot of money out of New Zealanders and at the same time offering their Kiwi workers effective pay cuts, frankly the members are sick of it.”

The decision to take industrial action is the first at a New Zealand newspaper for 2007 and follows last year’s actions at nearly a dozen other newspapers.

EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little says the vote is another clear sign of the discontent news-workers are feeling around the country.

“The big Aussie outfits that run most of our media are going to have to wake up to the fact that they can’t expect to push wages down while taking in huge profits. That’s no good for workers or for readers and it’s not going to lead to the quality of news we need for a functioning democracy.”

The EPMU covers the majority of staff at the Oamaru Mail including editorial, administration and distribution workers.

ENDS

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