BBC strike suspended
Next week’s 48-hour strike at the BBC has been suspended.
The decision by the unions to suspend the strike comes after 20 hours of face-to-face talks with BBC management at industrial conciliation service Acas.
The Bectu, Amicus and NUJ unions stressed that they have not accepted director general Mark Thompson’s plans to cut 4,000 jobs and privatise parts of the corporation.
But following talks mediated by conciliation service Acas, they have agreed to call off the strikes planned for May 31 and June 1 “as a gesture of goodwill”.
The talks followed Monday’s 24-hour strike in which flagship programmes such as Today and Newsnight were taken off air when about 6,500 staff took action, according to BBC figures.
“The joint unions are not recommending acceptance of these proposals, however in order to allow for proper consideration, and as a gesture of goodwill, the planned strikes on May 31 and June 1 have been suspended,” a statement from the unions read.
“Management has made significant concessions regarding privatisation, but has failed adequately to address concerns over job losses.”
It said the unions reserved the right to take further strike action if the BBC’s latest proposals, which will be put to members on Tuesday, are rejected.
The job cuts are intended to save £355 million a year to reinvest in new programmes and help the corporation adapt to the digital era. However, the unions are concerned that the redundancies will put too much pressure on remaining staff.
BBC People director Stephen Dando welcomed the decision to suspend industrial action and said the corporation hoped it marked the first step in ending the dispute.
“The BBC believes an opportunity to resolve this dispute is now in sight,” he said.
He added: “The BBC has tried to be flexible in meeting the unions’ concerns and we very much hope that is the first step in what will be a productive relationship with the unions in the coming months.”
