Journalists at Nine Publishing are set to begin a five-day strike following the rejection of a revised enterprise bargaining offer from management.

The strike, involving members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAtoday, is scheduled to start on Friday morning at 11am AEST. The union members voted to reject a new offer from management in stopwork meetings held in newsrooms.

Negotiations have been ongoing for several months, but union members argue the latest offer still does not include a fair pay rise that keeps ahead of the cost of living. During the negotiations, Nine announced 70-90 redundancies in its publishing division. In recent newsroom meetings, management failed to guarantee that there would not be more redundancies in the future.

"Journalists at Nine Publishing are being asked to do more for less," said Acting Director of MEAA Media, Michelle Rae. "It’s totally unacceptable that the company is asking workers to make a choice between a modest pay rise and the possibility of more job cuts after already announcing up to 90 redundancies in its publishing division which it has blamed on the end of its funding deal with Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code."

The journalists are demanding newsrooms that reflect the diversity of the communities they report for, ethical and transparent use of Artificial Intelligence, and better wages. They have asked for a wage increase in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) after foregoing any pay rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The strike comes as the media company kicks of its coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics, having sold integrated packages to advertisers across its television, radio and publishing assets. Nine insists that the industrial action will not impact Olympics coverage in its mastheads.

"While it is disappointing the union has elected to proceed with industrial action, we can confirm comprehensive plans are in place to ensure the production and distribution of Nine Publishing mastheads will not be impacted and our readers will continue to have access to unrivalled coverage of the Paris Olympics," said a spokesperson,

"Nine recognises the rights of unions to take industrial action but believe that a return to the negotiating table is the best way to progress the EBA. With our new and improved proposal representing a fair and reasonable offer for our people, we remain open to resuming good faith negotiations at the earliest opportunity."

In the negotiations on Wednesday, it's understood Nine came back with an offer to increase pay by 3.5 per cent for the for first year, 4 per cent for the second year and 3 per cent for the third. It is understood that Nine journalists were asking for at least 4 per cent this year, and across the three-year period.

"The reality is that profits to shareholders for the past few years have been bloated by the Meta deal," said Rae. "The company always knew that golden goose would not last forever, and now the Meta deal is over it is the profit bottom line that should be cut, not the frontline editorial staff upon whom Nine’s reputation for independent quality journalism depends.

“The Australian public relies on these journalists to keep them informed, to hold power to account and to shine a light on corruption and wrongdoing but they cannot do it without safe and secure jobs."

The company's managing director, Mike Sneesby, is currently in France participating in the Olympic torch relay. "Our members have a simple message to Mr Sneesby: get your priorities right and don’t torch journalism," said Rae.