View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

Joint unions vote for strike action across the BBC

By Oliver Luft

Members of the National Union of Journalists, the broadcasting union Bectu and Unite at the BBC have voted in favour of strike action in protest at planned changes to the corporation’s pension scheme.

The ballot came to an end at noon today and was followed by a series of meetings between union officials over the likely course of industrial action.

Precise details of the result are not yet known, however a joint statement from the unions this afternoon said ballots on industrial action had drawn ‘overwhelming backing’as more than 90 per cent of those taking part voted for strike action over the planned reforms to the pension scheme.

According to BBC News, the vote in favour of strike action was followed by the corporation’s director general, Mark Thompson, emailing staff saying that a new pension proposal would be outlined later in the month.

The joint unions said a final decision on what possible strike action could be taken would not be taken for a fortnight to accomodate talks with management on the new proposals.

Despite the emergence of the new plans, Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of Bectu, said the size of the ballot result gave the unions a ‘resounding mandate for strike action”.

Jeremy Dear, NUJ general secretary, said: ‘The massive scale of this vote is unprecedented – it is a reflection of the wave of anger and sense of betrayal which has greeted the BBC’s attempted pensions robbery.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

‘BBC management have an opportunity to avoid deeply damaging strike action by guaranteeing the value of pensions already earned and withdrawing their punitive and draconian proposals.’

The strike ballot came about after BBC managers revealed plans in June to tackle a £2bn deficit in the corporation’s pension fund by closing the staff defined benefit pension scheme to new joiners and capping contributions of existing members to just a one per cent increase per year from next April.

Staff, who at a meeting last month urged bosses to scrap the planned changes to the pension scheme, have also been upset by a below-inflation flat pay increase of £475 for staff paid up to £37,726 a year and pay-freeze for those earning more.

Unrest intensified after it was revealed in July that deputy director general Mark Byford had already amassed a pension pot worth £3.4 million.

Thompson attempted to curtail anger last month by proposing to scrap pension top-up payments made to senior executives, totalling around £1m each year.

The move is likely to see Thompson’s annual remuneration of £838,000 reduced by £163,000 annually – a drop of just below 20 per cent.

The BBC Trust previously indicated that senior staff had agreed to lose a month’s salary for each of the next two years. Thompson’s total remuneration next year would fall to around £600,000.

Thompson used his James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV festival last weekend to reveal how the corporation’s top brass would not be exempt from budgetary cutbacks.

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network