Fairfax staff on strike after job slash annoucement

Reports are flowing in that staff at Fairfax’s The Age in Melbourne and The Sydney Morning Herald in Sydney are on a 24 hour strike in response to the job cuts announced earlier today through an internal staff email.

The email stated that around 70 jobs would be slashed, 30 from the photographers, 15 from Life Media and 35 from editorial (where ten of those jobs would be reallocated to other areas of Fairfax).

Workplace editor at Fairfax’s The Sydney Morning Herald tweeted that Fairfax Sydney journos were going on strike.

Photos have emerged on Twitter on the strike, with a #savetheage hashtag attached to many of the tweets.

Senior reporter on social affairs at The Age, Miki Perkins, tweeted a photo of staff leaving the building.

According to the ABC, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA)’s federal secretary Christopher Warren has called the cuts “an assault on the quality of journalism”.

"It strips a massive loss in skills, experience and knowledge from the group," he said.

"Fairfax seems incapable of deciding on new production arrangements and sticking with them. The only decision the company seems capable of making is to keep cutting staff."

More to come.