ABC union meets after threatening walkout over sacking of journalist Antoinette Lattouf

ABC union members are set to meet at lunchtime on Wednesday following revelations of a targeted letter-writing campaign from pro-Israel lobbyists prior to the firing of journalist Antoinette Lattouf.

The national online meeting at 1.30pm AEDT comes after 80 staff members in the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney yesterday demanded a meeting with the managing director, David Anderson, who is currently on leave.

Staff expressed concern over the handling of the termination of Lattouf from a radio hosting role in December over a social media post related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

On Tuesday the Age published WhatsApp messages showing a letter-writing campaign from pro-Israel lobbyists targeted Anderson and the ABC chair, Ita Buttrose.

A spokesperson for the union representing journalists, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, told Guardian Australia Wednesday’s meeting would focus on issues of cultural safety and the alleged failure of management to support staff when they come under external attack.

“At this stage, the priority is for David Anderson to come out of his office and engage directly with members about how the ABC deals with external criticism and supports its staff in these situations,” the spokesperson said.

The union has said it has not issued a direct ultimatum to management over a potential walkout, but was aware many MEAA members “feel passionately about the lack of support for journalists of colour”, and individual staff may walk off the job at some point in the future if the matter is not resolved satisfactorily.

Lattouf has filed an unlawful termination claim to the ABC on the grounds of “political opinion or a reason that included political opinion”, and later expanded the claim to include race due to her Lebanese heritage.

The ABC confirmed in a submission to the Fair Work Commission, seen by Guardian Australia on Tuesday, Lattouf was in December terminated from hosting Sydney Mornings on ABC radio two days before her contract ended after she reposted a Human Rights Watch video on Instagram to her personal account.

Lattouf has said in her submission she was told by management it was acceptable to post factual-based content, while the ABC has claimed in its submission Lattouf was told “it’s probably better that you don’t post anything while you’re with us because of the risk of the perception that you are biased and not balanced”.

HRW’s Asia director, Elaine Pearson, said it was disturbing to learn the ABC’s justification for terminating Lattouf’s contract was due to sharing HRW material.

“Human Rights Watch reporting is used by the media, government officials and courts the world over – including the ABC. Journalists should be encouraged to amplify human rights reporting not penalised for doing so,” she said.

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“This could have a chilling effect on the ability of Australian journalists to share human rights content from reputable organisations which is deeply troubling.”

One ABC house committee member, who spoke to Guardian Australia on the condition of anonymity, said the meeting may not result in staff walking out but could result in other actions, including a vote of no confidence.

The member said staff had yet to hear from Anderson, on what they said was an “emerging crisis” at the national broadcaster. They said staff felt like they were not being backed from external attacks, citing Indigenous broadcaster Stan Grant leaving the ABC, among other examples.

“It’s not like it’s just about Antoinette. It’s just that it is a trigger point. It is an extreme example of what staff are feeling,” they said.

A former head of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, told ABC’s RN Breakfast on Wednesday that Lattouf’s repost of the HRW video was a “completely factual, uncontroversial report”, and the ABC’s response “seems to be a capitulation to pressure to not criticise Israel”.

“I can’t say for sure what ABC executives had going on in their mind, but this idea that it is somehow controversial to report what Israel is doing, unquestionably is crazy,” he said. “That’s just not how a news organisation should operate. And it worries me because censoring what Israel is doing doesn’t stop what Israel is doing.”

He said it was not serving the Australian public if the ABC was not willing to stand up to pressure not to criticise Israel, and called on ABC management to admit its response was a mistake.