Vale Mark Ryan

Date: 11 December 2011

Mark Ryan

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance is very sad to announce the death, after a two-year battle with cancer, of assistant federal secretary Mark Ryan.

A lawyer by training, Ryan was one of the most influential trade union officials in shaping wages and working conditions for journalists and workers in the entertainment industries over the past 25 years.

After graduating in law from Sydney University, Ryan joined the staff of the Australian Journalists' Association in 1987. After the union merged with other entertainment unions in 1993 to become the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Ryan became assistant federal secretary, a role he maintained until his death.

He was the prime mover in the copyright campaign of the 1980s and 1990s which, uniquely in the English-speaking world, won journalists the right to receive payments for secondary uses of their work.

Ryan also played a key role in restructuring journalists' awards, including the establishment of starting rates for journalists that, by recognising journalists' professional status, led the way to significant pay rises across the board.

Despite being diagnosed with bone cancer in June 2009, Ryan continued to work and was instrumental in the process of award modernisation following the introduction of the Fair Work Act in 2009.

"Mark was in many ways the heart and soul of the journalists' union," Warren said. "He was a tough and shrewd negotiator whose passion for the rights of journalists coupled with an infectious sense of humour earned him the respect of all those who worked with him - and in this I include media bosses who sat across the table from him during negotiations.

"All Australian journalists should reflect on their pay and conditions, for which they can thank Mark Ryan. He will be mourned by his colleagues and friends at the Alliance as well as by all those many members he was able to help."

Alliance president, Patricia Amphlett said that Ryan's selflessness had been one of the main drivers of the union over more than two decades.

"He was one of the most unselfish people I have ever known," she said. "He had this ability to empathise with other people that ran through his personal and professional life - even when he was really sick, Mark was more concerned about the welfare of other people. I can't put into words how deeply he'll be missed, not only by his family, his colleagues and friends, but by those people who might see themselves as professional adversaries but who liked and respected Mark nonetheless."

Alliance media section president, Peter Lewis said the industry owed a huge debt of gratitude to Ryan: "I salute his wit, his wisdom and his commitment to a fair go for media workers," Lewis said. "If you ever pause to consider your decent pay and conditions, then thank Mark Ryan - and his family for lending him to us."

Mark Ryan is survived by his wife, Kristine Neill, and his two daughters Caroline and Georgina. A funeral service will be held at 11am on Wednesday in Sydney.

For further information

Contact:	Peter Ross
Union:	MEAA
Phone:	9333 0974
Email:	peter.ross@alliance.org.au
WWW:	http://www.alliance.org.au/vale-mark-ryan

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed
by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW
[Credits] [Site Matters]