Stage, Screen & Radio - December/January 2015 - 11

Broadcasting

ITV members' strike ballot

nion members at ITV will be ballotting for
strike action in January after officials rejected
a 2% pay offer on 4 December. They will be
recommending a vote in favour of strike action.
Last September the unions - BECTU, the NUJ and
Unite - tabled a pay claim of 4% plus RPI based on
data gathered during last year's pay
negotiations. The claim was designed
to address the company's acceptance
12 months ago that pay rates at ITV had
fallen 4% below inflation in the preceding decade. This time ITV's first
response was to offer an insulting
1.25% which the unions rejected on the
spot. On 21 November the company
increased the offer to a below-inflation
2% which again was rejected.
BECTU assistant General Secretary Spencer MacDonald said: "We requested that they improve the
offer to 2.75%. This was based on last year's negotiations on a three-year deal: we did a one-year deal but
they had allowed 2.75% in their budget so that's what
they must have been intending." However, ITV
decided to implement the 2% increase from 1 January.
ITV's recovery has been largely achieved through
job losses and increased workloads for the remaining staff. The company's half yearly results, to June

2014, forecast an 11% growth in profits; the forecast
for 2015 is another year of double-digit growth. In
addition the company has committed to a 20%
increase in the shareholder dividend each year for
the next three years. Last year it was revealed that
chief executive Adam Crozier's bonus was £8.4-million, more than double the amount paid
to all staff who are in the company's allstaff bonus scheme. A quarter of the
company's shareholders voted against
the bonus at the AGM yet the board
agreed to proposals which could see that
bonus substantially increased in future.
BECTU senior representative Keith
Stokes said: "It cannot be right that a tiny
handful reaps the rewards whilst the vast
majority sees their real earnings fall."
MacDonald added: "ITV's turnaround plan continues to succeed but this growth is not matched by an
increase in senior management's respect for their
staff. Quite the opposite. ITV's workforce, up and
down the country, has worked to secure the company's future. It's time to reward staff properly for
their contribution. The company's current stance isn't
about affordability, rather it's a cynical approach by
senior execs designed to see what they can get away
with. Our members can see through that."
l

GUY LEVY - © BBC

Talks about competition plans
BECTU officials and representatives led by
BECTU General Secretary Gerry Morrissey
had a second formal meeting on 10
December regarding plans to open up all
of BBC production to competition. They met
BBC Director of Television Danny Cohen,
managing director BBC finance and
operations Ann Bulford and other members
of production management.
The key issue was the timeline for decision
making and how consultation between
BECTU and the BBC would be undertaken.
The BBC explained that at this stage nothing
is ruled in or out and despite previous mixed
messages no department is excluded from
scope.
They reaffirmed that they did not want
to become a publisher broadcaster and they
were committed to in-house production and
retaining the intellectual property rights
that went with creating their own content.
They said they would not do anything to
jeopardise either of these principles.
BECTU reaffirmed its views that BBC
in-house production was strong and needed
more support from management. The union
was concerned that they had received
reports since July that the ratio between
continuing contracts and fixed-term
contracts had moved in favour of more of

December/January 2015 Stage Screen & Radio

the latter. As 50% of production is
guaranteed to be made in-house then no
less than 50% of jobs should be on continuing
contracts.
The BBC said no edict had been issued to
change the way contracts are offered and
they committed to responding to this
request in the new year.
On the timeline, discussions would take
place at executive board level until the
end of January and in March they hoped a
preferred option would be agreed. At this
stage the BBC trust would be consulted and
BECTU would expect a decision of this
magnitude to be subject to a public
consultation. l

Worldclass programmes:
Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1

BBC News
Division
redundancies
A series of meetings with
management has taken place
to look at the impact of job
losses on those who remain.
They will be assessed to
ensure that the proposals are
viable given operational
demands in BBC News and
assess predicted workloads
following the planned
reorganisation.
The £48-million cuts, part
of £800-milion efficiency
savings announced in 2010,
will directly affect hundreds
of BECTU members who
work in News, both in
London and in Salford and
also have an impact on World
Service and BBC Monitoring.
The BBC are also creating 195
new roles giving a net
reduction of 225 but the BBC
proposed to postpone filling
the new jobs until after the
redundancies have taken effect.
Following a vote for industrial
action an agreement was
reached in September. BBC
News agreed to a moratorium
on compulsory redundancies in
BBC News and World Service.
This means that any cuts in
staffing will be achieved by
voluntary means until at least
31 March and redeployment
opportunities will be maximised
where jobs are at risk.
From 1 January all members
working at the BBC and
BBC S&PP Ltd will receive
an additional consolidated
payment of £150 and all
allowances, including the
floors and ceilings of the
grades, will go up by an
additional 1.7%. This
follows the earlier pay
increases in August. BECTU
supervisory official Helen
Ryan said: "I would like to
thank all the union
members who stood firm
and were prepared to strike
for a decent pay settlement.
They and their colleagues
will see the result in their
pay packets in January."

Stage, Screen & Radio - December/January 2015

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