Strike against job losses at BBC

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in BBC news struck on Friday 15 July against compulsory redundancies. One hundred posts are due to go in the BBC World Service and BBC Monitoring.

The strike was well supported with picket lines mounted at offices around the country, and flagship programmes including "Newsnight", "Any Questions" and "The World at One" off air.

The union says that compulsory redundancies can be avoided; 387 posts are to go in all. NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, said in a press release: "The massive vote for strike action by journalists across the BBC reflected their fear for the future as well as their solidarity with colleagues already being targeted and singled out for the sack."

The redundancies result from the BBC's agreement to freeze the television licence fee for six years and absorb the costs of running the World Service, previously paid for by the Foreign Office. 20% cuts are being implemented across the Corporation.

The union is calling for the deal struck with the government last October to be reviewed in the light of the News International scandal. Stanistreet said: "This was a shabby deal done by BBC management and the government behind closed doors last autumn, with no democratic scrutiny or transparent discussion. We know Rupert Murdoch and News International executives were exerting huge influence on key government figures."

Another one-day strike is due to take place on Friday 29 July.

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BBC job cuts strike date change to 1 August

A note from someone in the NUJ:

The strike date's been changed to Monday 1st August. The strike committee decided to make the change because a number of members would be hit with a double whammy financially because both strike days were originally scheduled for Fridays.