Australia’s two newsprint behemoths, Fairfax and News Corp, will be sharing their print sites, with Fairfax to close both its Beresfield, Newcastle facility, along with Ormiston in Brisbane.
Fairfax estimates it will save $15m in the full-year from the print sharing deal, which has caught the AMWU off guard, as it says it only learnt of the decision the morning of its announcement.
Fairfax says around 120 permanent and casual staff will be impacted at the closing sites, with 70 at Beresfield to be affected. It remains unclear how many employees from Beresfield and Ormiston will be kept.
Lorraine Cassin, national secretary, AMWU Print Division, says, “We were blindsided by the announcement this morning. Our members will be angry about this decision, many having had years of loyal service.”
The AMWU says Fairfax has indicated that the closure of its printing plants) will result in all staff at those plants being made redundant unless suitable redeployment opportunities are identified.
Cassin says, “The AMWU has massive concerns for these workers’ futures and it was a source of distress that a major publisher like Fairfax Media was making printers redundant.
“Fairfax Media has indicated all affected employees will be paid their full entitlements but we know that these closures will hit hard and we will be working with the company to identify redeployment opportunities.
“While Fairfax Media has stated that the rationalisation is designed to effect ‘efficiencies,’ we urge the company to recognise that its highly skilled printers have given loyal service to the newspaper industry over many years.”
“The AMWU will be consulting with Fairfax Media on any further changes to the operation of its North Richmond plant as the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review transition to printing on News Corp’s Chullora presses.”
The move, both organisations say, is one which makes commercial sense, as the market has more capacity than is currently needed. The two were already sharing printing and distribution in North Queensland.
Fairfax says all print produced for its Australian Community Media (ACM) division at Beresfield is being moved to Tamworth and North Richmond sites in NSW, with metro work transferred to News at its Chullora facility.
Fairfax print work produced at Ormiston will be transferred to News plants in Murrarie, Yandina, Warwick and Townsville in Qld, with some being moved over to Fairfax’s site in Tamworth.
Fairfax’s Metro papers currently produced at North Richmond – The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review – will be now be printed by News at its Chullora print site. News Corp will also be moving some of its printing to the Fairfax North Richmond site.
Greg Hywood, CEO and managing director of Fairfax says, “The printing arrangements make the production of newspapers more efficient for both publishers. These are landmark initiatives. They demonstrate a rational approach to the complex issues facing the industry.
“Better utilisation of existing print assets makes sense and will deliver economic benefits to Fairfax Media.
“Our decision to rationalist some printing assets reduces capital intensity. We expect the combination of the new arrangements and the changes to Fairfax’s printing network to result in an annualised full-year benefit of approximately $15m. The financial benefits are expected to begin towards the end of FY19 H1.
“The agreements deliver greater cost variabilisation, enabling us to produce newspapers well into the future.
“From today we are consulting with staff at our printing centres affected by the new arrangements. Fairfax is committed to providing comprehensive assistance and support and will meet our employment obligations.”
Fairfax says there will be no change to the availability of its newspapers. The company says publishing will not be affected by the deal, with there being be no material changes to newspapers or scheduling.
Fairfax’s shares increased by 3.9 per cent to 79.5 cents following the announcement, its highest point of the year, and its second highest point since 2010, beaten only by the period following its announcement to float property arm Domain as a separate entity.
Fairfax says both companies will continue to explore further opportunities.
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