Fairfax Media will move sub-editing and production at regional papers to New Zealand after rejecting an alternative plan presented by the union.
Fairfax says the changes are part of a strategy to "gain operational efficiencies in newsrooms" and focus the efforts of local journalists on local content.
"There has been uninformed speculation that this move will somehow undermine the quality of (the papers) ... this is totally untrue," Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood said in a statement.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) condemned the decision to outsource to New Zealand jobs at the regional community newspapers, including the Newcastle Herald and the Illawarra Mercury.
"Fairfax has ignored its readers and instead has taken the axe to two great newspapers with proud histories of more than 150 years of service to their communities," Media Alliance acting federal secretary Paul Murphy said in a statement.