The Australian Newsagents’ Federation (ANF) issued a bulletin last night about the meeting in Adelaide on Friday organised by two proactive newsagents to discuss the new News Limited contracts. Click here to see a copy.
The ANF bulletin does not reasonably represent the debate around the representation of newsagents on the new contracts. The state ANF representative talked with pride about the good relationship between the ANF and News Limited. He said that the increase in delivery fees for country newsagents was a good outcome negotiated by the ANF.
Several newsagents challenged the ANF view of the increased delivery fees. They asked if the ANF had put various scenarios in the negotiations – including what happens when someone moves from a two day delivery to a heavily discounted seven day delivery. The ANF acknowledged that it had not explored this in the negotiations. The anger in the room was palpable.
While around two thirds of newsagents indicated they were ANF members, the vote which should have been taken is whether the newsagents at the meeting were happy with the ANF handling of the negotiations. I am told that a close to unanimous vote of NO would have been delivered.
This is a problem for the ANF. SA newsagents are most unhappy and demonstrated this by organising their own meeting and attending in unprecedented numbers. This unhappiness goes back to early ANF endorsement of the home delivery customer migration project – a News Limited initiative which seeks to shift management of home delivery accounts from newsagents to News Limited – risking traffic in retail newsagencies and driving a reduction in home delivery penetration. The ANF endorsed migration without consultation with the newsagents set to be affected.
The ANF bulletin reiterates that they have authorisation to negotiate on behalf of newsagents. Any properly consitiuted body can achieve authorisation. The key for newsagents is that they are represented by people who listen to their situation and negotiate robustly on their behalf.
Click here to see my report of the meeting of SA newsagents last Friday.
The ANF email which was sent out yesterday misrepresents what was agreed at the meeting. They make it sound like they are in control of the process. SA newsagents are in control having taken over after the ANF failed to represent us. We asked them for a meeting of newsagents and they would not do it. We had to organise it for ourselves. They flew their people in saw how we felt and now are trying to make out that they are on top of the issue. Too late guys.
We need to vote on whether the ANF should represent us. My vote is no.
Newsagents should not believe the rubbish in the ANF email.
SA, I was surprised by the ANF bulletin as well. The meeting appointed a small group of newsagents to represent their interests not the ANF.
The ANF does not represent newsagents and the publishers know this.
What are SA newsagents doing? I got the email from the anf which makes it sound like they are in charge but methinks this may be only words.