Steve Vine from the NSW Print Division of the AMWU said the action could affect the production of newspapers. He says, “Unfortunately our members have had to take this action. They couldn’t stand by and watch important protections be taken away, nor did they want to see pay in their industry undermined in the long term.”

Under Fairfax’s latest workplace agreement offer, new printers at daily regional papers will enter the recently created Graphic Arts award at Level 5 or 6.

Vine continues, “Under their proposal, new employees in pre-press production at the Central Western Daily could be classified at Level 5 or 6 instead of the normal Level 8. The difference is around $100 a week. There’s no doubt Fairfax/Rural Press want to lower wages; they want to introduce cheaper labour.”

The award modernisation process-finalised last year-merged a series of awards covering the print industry. Under Fairfax’s proposed agreement the newly established Graphic Arts Award would be applied to existing print operators at all daily printers in regional NSW.

Printers at both daily and non-daily newspapers are fighting to ensure redundancy entitlements are maintained in the new agreement, according to the AMWU.

Louise Brown a Rural Press delegate from The Daily Advertiser in Wagga Wagga said the new award severely reduced longstanding redundancy entitlements at her workplace.

She says, “They want to put a cap on the number of weeks accrued in redundancy entitlements. Some of our workers are eligible for over four times what Fairfax/Rural Press has proposed.

“They’ve worked here for over 30 years and they don’t want to lose something they fought so hard for. We are very determined not to sign off on a substandard agreement. We’re willing to ride it out as long as it takes. We’ve got too much to lose to sign off on something inadequate.”

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