RTÉ journalists vehemently oppose planned wage cuts

JOURNALISTS AT RTÉ have expressed “vehement opposition” to plans by management to implement wage cuts across the board.

RTÉ management is seeking the cuts to address a projected €68 million deficit this year because of a collapse in advertising revenues.

The cuts would range from 5 per cent for the first €50,000 earned by employees; a further 7.5 per cent for earnings between €50,000 and €100,000; 10 per cent between €100,000 and €150,000; 12.5 per cent between €150,000 and €250,000; and 17.5 per cent for the highest- earning employees at RTÉ.

In an e-mail sent to staff last week, RTÉ director-general Cathal Goan said €10 million in cuts were needed in “personnel-related operating costs” to address the “serious financial position”. RTÉ has already identified €27 million in cuts and needed to find another €40 million, he explained.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which represents about 600 of RTÉ’s 2,300 staff, have said the cuts, as currently proposed, are not fair.

Many believe that the top earners in the organisation, including RTÉ’s highest-paid broadcasters and management, are not being asked to take sufficient pain.

At a lunchtime meeting yesterday, the Dublin Broadcasting Branch passed a motion condemning the “bad faith displayed by management” in dealing with travel and subsistence allowances and increments, which were changed without consultation with staff.

The NUJ, along with the other unions in RTÉ, have requested unfettered access to the books of the organisation, including an examination of the perks and pension provisions of top management.

“The unions in RTÉ and their members have not been given full disclosure of RTÉ’s books by management. We demand full and frank disclosure as a way of ascertaining how best to proceed,” the motion stated.

NUJ Dublin Broadcasting Branch chair Emma O’Kelly said members were aware of the financial situation facing RTÉ, but there was “deep unease and deep unhappiness” among members of the way the cuts, as proposed, are being structured.

“We fully accept there is a massive drop of revenue coming into the organisation. The bottom line with NUJ members is that cuts have to be commensurate. It has to be distributed in an egalitarian way and there is a feeling that is not happening at present.”

An RTÉ spokesman said it was “not appropriate” for management to comment while negotiations are taking place.