The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has notified the Australian Industrial Relations Commission of a dispute between the Alliance and The Examiner and has sought an order from the Commission to prevent the company sacking Wes Young – a cadet journalist employed at the paper.
The company is claiming that Wes has resigned his position, but Wes denies tendering his resignation and asserts that he was simply investigating the possibility of obtaining a transfer from The Examiner to another newspaper.
Shortly after making inquiries with The Examiner acting editor Martin Gilmour about the possibility of obtaining a transfer, Wes was surprised to find that the offer of employment with the other newspaper had been withdrawn.
The Examiner’s acting editor subsequently told him that his “verbal resignation” had been accepted and that he would finish working for The Examiner this Friday — September 9th.
Examiner management have rejected efforts by the Alliance to resolve the matter through negotiation, and have failed to respond to a letter signed by some 20 senior editorial staff employed at The Examiner calling on the company to continue to employ Wes.
The Alliance is particularly concerned at the way in which the company has treated someone employed as a cadet. There seem to be no valid reason why Wes should not continue to be employed with The Examiner and it is not clear at this stage what is motivating The Examiner to treat this young cadet so shoddily.
The hearing is scheduled for 2pm Friday 9th September at the Launceston Supreme Court, Cameron Street.
Examiner staff should be very concerned — and very angry —at the way in which a powerful company like Rural Press chooses to treat its workers. Staff are urged to attend in support of their colleague.
Andrew Muthy is MEAA Tasmania Branch Secretary/Industrial Officer (03 62341622)
