Neighbours facing dispute over redundancy payments after show axing

"It's a bit frustrating and disappointing."

Neighbours production crew members have claimed that production company Fremantle have refused to pay them redundancy.

Speaking to Guardian, Paul Stanley, an organiser of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance union, said: "They've had Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan come over to shoot scenes recently.

"That's cool, but you've got people working here that took eight weeks off last year to 'save the show'. You're saying you can't pay us redundancies and yet you are sinking money into the talent."

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The Aussie soap that helped launch Kylie, Jason, Guy Pearce and Margot Robbie's international careers was cancelled earlier this year after Channel 5 announced it would no longer buy the program.

Union delegates have allegedly met with executives from the production company numerous times over the pasts few months about the "devastating impact on the show's cancellation on long-serving crew", which includes roughly 100 staff.

The union has said Fremantle maintained that the workers are not employees but contractors, so they're not entitled to the usual employee standards, despite having their contracts rolling over yearly.

"Fremantle is trying to avoid payment to crew who have been loyal to the production, in some cases for decades, under cover of rolling 'fixed-term contracts," the union told members in a bulletin following the show's cancellation.

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A crew member, who worked on and off for Neighbours over the three decades, expressed his disappointment: "Some of us have been here for 30-odd years, and they're just saying that they're not recognising the service.

"They always make out that at Neighbours, we're all part of the family, but then it's come to the end of the show, which is sad obviously, and they just turn around and say, 'well, you're not entitled to any benefits,' so it's a bit frustrating and disappointing."

Greg Woods, Fremantle Australia chief executive, has stated the company has complied with its legal obligations.

"To safeguard the wellbeing of our cast and crew of whom are our primary concern, and with just over one week left of production, we will not be providing a detailed comment at this time," states Woods. "Additionally, as part of company policy, we also do not provide comment on HR-related matters."

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He continued: "However, I can confirm that we've sought external counsel to ensure that we provide the necessary support and that we meet everyone's legal entitlements and fully comply with our obligations.

"Our priority is and will continue to be to support the wellbeing of our cast and crew as the production draws next Friday."

Fremantle responded with: "We don't comment publicly on on-going HR matters" when Digital Spy reached out for comment.

Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 6pm on Channel 5 and streams on My5. In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 6.30pm on