‘Neighbours’ Crew To Strike Over Pay Rise and Working Conditions
The crew members of “Neighbours” are set to take industrial action to protest the working conditions in the long-running Australian soap opera.
More than 90 per cent of the votes casted by MEAA (Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance) crew members working for the show’s production were in favour of protected industrial action after almost 12 months of stalled negotiations between MEAA and FreemantleMedia Australia.
MEAA’s Victorian branch secretary Louise Connor explained to MailOnline how the tension started.
According to her, the “Neighbours” crew was paid a little below market rate even before, but they had the benefit of relatively good job security. They could have four weeks of annual leave after shooting five episodes a week for 48 weeks a year.
However, in 2011, “Neighbours increased the intensity of the work to six episodes a week, cutting their filming from 48 weeks to 40 weeks.”
Despite the increase of working hours per week, the crew members experienced no pay increase. They were also given shorter contracts and only three weeks of annual leave.
“There are people coming back year after year after year,” Connor continued to the UK paper, “but everyone has to wait nervously before Christmas to know that they’ll get a contract for the next year.”
MEAA members want a “modest pay rise” of about three per cent on paid rates for each year of the new agreement, as well as improvement of the crew’s job security. However, the producers are offering only 3 per cent increase on the minimum wages.
The crew members are also objecting to a move by the FMA to cut the sick pay.
“A small group of people now have the potential to disrupt the production of Neighbours,” FreemantleMedia Australia said.
“FMA is committed to a fair and reasonable Enterprise Agreement that provides pay and conditions that are significantly better than the Award and provides for the sustainable future of Neighbours. FMA will not agree to the further pay and conditions demanded by the MEAA that would be an unprecedented departure from industry convention and practice.”
The MEAA represents 46 of over a hundred crew members who work on the show. The members were expected to decide on a course of action on Friday, with their options being a stop-work for a duration to be determined or refusing to work overtime.
Whatever their decision will be, they need to inform FMA on three days’ notice.
