Union puts in Fair Work application for journalists to be paid overtime

Journalist union the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance is pushing for journalists to be paid overtime for the extra hours they work, claiming increasing pressures put on them means they are not taking the lieu time owed to them.

The MEAA has submitted an application to the Fair Work Commission asking for new clauses to be put into the Journalists Print Media Award (JPMA) and the Broadcast and Recorded Entertainment Award (BREA) to get them the extra pay instead of time off in lieu (TOIL).

In a statement the director of MEAA’s Media section, Katelin McInerney, said a survey of 209 journalists by the MEAA showed 65% claiming to have worked four or more hours of overtime a week.