TV glamour life exposed

Tuesday, 21 March, 2000 - 21:00
THOSE who thought the television industry was glamorous, think again.

Despite working in a profitable industry, many behind the scenes staff work for relatively long hours and surprisingly low rates of pay.

According to the Community and Public Sector Union, the Television Industry Award, which should be updated annually, has not been amended to take account of CPI adjustments and staff upskilling for new technologies since 1991.

The CPSU is pushing for changes to the Award including pay rises of 8.5 per cent, removal of lower pay rates for regional TV staff and the introduction of award-based career path structures.

It is currently undergoing a minimum rates adjustment and is considering undertaking an equivalency with the Metal Trades Award.

The CPSU’s Better Deal campaign recently achieved an industry first with paid maternity leave for Channel Ten staff.

Other breakthroughs include the introduction of a thirty-eight hour week at Channel Ten and Southern Cross TV, and redundancy improvements at the Nine Network.

CPSU communications section secretary Adrian O’Connell said the main priority for the union was to “help more commercial TV staff win decent collective agreements”.