BBC workers ballot for mass strike

Submitted by Anon on 16 July, 2006 - 11:27

Ten thousand NUJ, BECTU and Musicians' Union members in the BBC are due to be balloted on strike action over the Corporation's plans for pay, pensions and job cuts.

The corporation's management has refused to give in to union pressure to increase its 2.6% pay rise offer (as against a 3% inflation rate), or change its plans to increase the retirement age from 60 to 65. It also plans to force workers to contribute more to the pension fund and to stop offering a final-salary pension scheme to new staff.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 workers have already been made redundant, with plans to lay off a further 2,000 out of the corporation's 23,500 workers in the next two years.

The bosses claim that they have been forced to cut pension rights because of a big pension fund deficit - in fact, in contrast to a 2005 shortfall of £422 million, this year has seen a £170 million surplus. Furthermore, a different accountants' report which was expected to show an even larger surplus was suppressed in case it undermined the bosses' case for cuts.

In any case, it is a question of what money is spent on - decent pay and pensions for staff, or bureaucracy and bloated "remuneration" for executives. The recent period of job cuts has seen big pay rises for execs, with BBC Direct General Mark Thompson "earning" £619,000 last year. Vote yes!

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