The Stage

BBC and unions make deal to stop strike over job losses

Published Thursday 24 January 2008 at 12:05 by Matthew Hemley

Strike action at the BBC has been averted after the Corporation reached an agreement with broadcasting unions in the dispute over plans to make 1,800 redundant.

Unions Bectu, the National Union of Journalists and Unite were in the process of balloting their BBC membership over strike action at the BBC because of the redundancy plans, and had been due to reveal the results of the ballot yesterday.

But the unions instead announced they had reached an agreement in principle with the Corporation, meaning strike action has been avoided.

The agreement - details of which have not been made public - is now subject to acceptance by a consultative ballot of the joint unions’ membership.

Director of BBC People Stephen Kelly said the negotiations with the trade unions had been “very constructive given the complexity of the issues”.

He added: “We are hopeful that the proposed agreement will settle the dispute and enable the BBC to make the necessary changes required for the benefit of our audiences.”

Bectu general secretary Gerry Morrissey said: “This set of negotiations with the BBC has been particularly difficult given the financial constraints on the BBC and the number of areas targeted for cuts, all of which impact significantly on many staff. After extensive talks overnight, we have an agreement in principle which we hope will pave the way for a final settlement of the dispute.”

As well as dealing with redundancies, the agreement reached is understood to cover pensions and unpredictable working hours.