NSW: About 180 Fairfax journalists to be made redundant

AAP General News (Australia)
08-26-2008
NSW: About 180 Fairfax journalists to be made redundant

SYDNEY, Aug 26 AAP - About 180 Fairfax journalists will be made redundant after the
company decided to cut about 550 jobs as part of a cost saving strategy, the media union
says.

Fairfax Media Ltd has announced it will cut five per cent of its workforce under a
new business improvement program.

The cuts will affect editorial, printing, maintenance, paper and fitting staff in Australia
and New Zealand.

Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) federal secretary Chris Warren said the
union would meet Fairfax management at lunchtime today and organise a meeting with staff
later today or tomorrow to decide what to do.

The standard redundancy payout formula for editorial staff was four weeks pay for every
year of service, Mr Warren said.

"We estimate that about 550 staff across Australia and New Zealand will lose their
jobs," Mr Warren told AAP.

"About a third will be editorial and about two thirds will be other parts of the company
not specified.

"It's one of the most significant job losses in Australia this year and it's obviously
going to have a serious impact on the ongoing quality of the company's papers, magazines
and websites in Australia and New Zealand."

Fairfax had been talking about a general cost-cutting approach for some time, he said.

The company says it will book a one-off charge of about $50 million for redundancy
and associated costs, but about $25 million in savings from the job cuts will flow into
its 2008/09 annual result.

AAP krc/wjf/nf

KEYWORD: FAIRFAX MEAA

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