BBC strike to take place next week

Journalists at the BBC have announced they will take strike action next week in a dispute over compulsory redundancies.

Members of the National Union of Journalists voted in favour of strike action earlier this week, with 72 per cent of those who voted saying they would be prepared to strike.

According to the NUJ, more than 100 people are at risk of compulsory redundancy at the BBC World Service.

Union members are also said to be at risk in divisions including BBC Monitoring, BBC Scotland and potentially at BBC Wales, BBC 4, BBC Sport and TV Current Affairs.

Today the union confirmed a one-day walk out will take place on 15 July.

It warned action will go ahead unless the BBC enters into "urgent talks" to resolve the threat of compulsory redundancies and for the reinstatement of a member dismissed in the BBC World Service.

"Despite the NUJ offering up viable solutions, management rejected our proposals yesterday and two NUJ members at BBC Monitoring will be forced to leave their jobs next week and the week after," the statement adds.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said the union believes that the BBC's resources should be spent on "protecting core journalism and programming for audiences".

"This means prioritising its staff. It is wasteful and unfair to force people to leave the BBC when there are viable redeployment alternatives and volunteers who are not being allowed to go.

"It is not right that people are being forced into compulsory redundancy in the BBC World Service in the UK when an extra £2.2 million has been granted by the Foreign Office for the next three years to mitigate the cuts."

Staff at the BBC also held a strike last year in a dispute over changes to the pension scheme.

In an email to staff Lucy Adams, director of business operations, warned the action has the capacity to affect news output across the BBC.

"We will continue with our efforts to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies, however, the number of posts that we are having to close means that unfortunately it is likely to be impossible for us to avoid some compulsory redundancies.

"Our financial position means that we are unable to agree to the NUJ's demands for no compulsory redundancies and delaying taking action now means that we will be required to find even more money in the future, potentially affecting more jobs.

"We are therefore disappointed that this industrial action, triggered by just 5 per cent of BBC staff who voted for it, has the potential to affect services to our audiences."

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).