triple j and other ABC stations will be sounding a little different for the next 24 hours, with journalists walking off the job for 24 hours due to a station-wide strike.
As the ABC reports, more than a "thousand journalists and staff" are taking part in the industrial action, with a rejected pay offer on a three-year enterprise bargaining agreement being cited as the reason for the walk-off.
The publication notes that the latest pay offer from management included a 3.5% pay rise for the first year, a 3.25% rise for the following two years. The offer also included a $1,000 bonus “for all ongoing and fixed-term staff covered by the EBA.”
Despite this, more than 60% of staff who participated voted against the new EBA.
As The Guardian notes, ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks remained defiant that the broadcaster will not back down on staff demands despite the strike.
triple j newsreader Jack James provided an update to listeners ahead of the strike at 11am AEDT, explaining where things stood at the present.
“Staff at the two unions that represent the ABC, the MEAA and the CPSU are both walking off the job for 24 hours,” he explained. “So we're walking off, so are staff at bureaus all across the country, including people who are really the engine room of the ABC – they're all tools down.
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“Management have apologised to listeners and audiences for the disruption, but because things are gonna grind to a halt, you'll hear a bit of pre-programmed automated music over the next day on triple j.”
“It will be back on midday tomorrow,” added host Lucy Smith. “But until then, you will be hearing automated messaging.”
Marks also appeared on the ABC that morning, apologising to listeners on behalf of the organisation, and reaffirming his commitment to finding a suitable outcome for all involved.
“I feel terrible that we’re in a position where we’re going to pull services from the public,” Marks said. “And I’m sorry to some of those staff that I feel a really difficult position today because I know how difficult this can be for individuals.”
While emergency broadcasting will still air as normal, ABC TV stations have reverted to reruns and BBC content, while stations such as triple j and sister station Double J have reverted to an all-music format.
Fittingly, both triple j and Double J launched their music programming by airing Express Yourself, the 1989 track by US hip hop outfit N.W.A.
The song holds a strong connection to the ABC’s history, with triple j staff going on strike in 1990 in response to the suspension of then-News Director Nick Franklin, who went against station management and broadcast N.W.A.’s Fuck Tha Police in a discussion of censorship on the radio.
That strike lasted 24 hours, with the station broadcasting Express Yourself in protest the entire time. triple j held their second Hottest 100 countdown (then called the Hot 100) that month, with Fuck Tha Police being voted into a very respectable No. 33.
In 2014, when Double J launched as a digital radio station, the airwaves were filled with various renditions of Express Yourself in homage to this past strike.
As it stands, listeners tuning into stations such as triple j and Double J are hearing an all-music format, interspersed with a pre-recorded message which notes that, “Due to industrial action, we can't bring you your usual program. We apologise for the interruption.”
The message concluded by asserting that regular programming “will resume as soon as possible.”
