/ 12 May 2005

Staff to strike at world’s biggest broadcaster

Journalists and broadcasting workers at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will strike for three days starting later this month over plans to cut 3 780 jobs across the organisation, union officials said on Thursday.

Workers from three trade unions will walk out on May 23, May 31 and June 1, threatening disruption to radio and television programmes at the world’s biggest public broadcaster.

A fourth strike day is set to be named later, a spokesperson for the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) confirmed.

News of the stoppages came after thousands of journalists and other employees at the BBC voted on Wednesday to go on strike over the dispute.

”We will aim to cause the greatest amount of disruption possible to highlight our anger at the scale of job cuts and our concern about the effect these will have on the future of the BBC,” Gerry Morrissey, assistant secretary general of broadcasting union Bectu, said on Thursday.

”We expect overwhelming support for the strikes and we hope the BBC will return to the negotiating table to discuss these unacceptable job cuts with us.”

Union members backed industrial action in protest at plans by BBC director general Mark Thompson to cut 3 780 jobs under plans to make savings of £355-million (R4,1-billion).

Members of Bectu, the NUJ and Amicus union voted heavily in favour of industrial action, with a majority of more than 80%.

”We have absolutely no doubt that BBC staff will act with their feet and walk out in huge numbers, causing major disruption to programme output,” NUJ secretary general Jeremy Dear said.

”Mark Thompson’s savage cuts package is heavy-handed, rash and unnecessary. A staggering one in five jobs is under threat.

”Quality and standards cannot possibly survive such an onslaught. He has provoked deep-felt anger and disbelief among BBC staff,” Dear added.

All the strikes will be held on weekdays, thus not affecting coverage of the FA Cup final, England’s premier knockout football tournament, on Saturday May 21.

The BBC, which employs more than 27 000 people in Britain and around the world, said in March it would slash a further 2 050 posts in the wake of 1 730 other job losses confirmed earlier the same month.

It is part of a massive reorganisation and modernisation overhaul.

Among redundancies announced in March were 420 posts in the news division; 66 in sport; 150 in drama, entertainment and children’s programmes; 735 in the regions; 58 in new media and 424 in factual and learning. — Sapa-AFP