Strike plans at BBC Arabic condemned by broadcaster

The BBC has called strike action due to take place tomorrow at the broadcaster's Arabic Service "unjustified".

Members of the National Union of Journalists who work for the BBC service are due to strike for 48 hours from tomorrow, according to the union. The union represents 160 journalists in the Arabic service covered by the strike action.

Members have already begun a work to rule.

The dispute arises from changes to work rotas which the NUJ claims have been "imposed by management".

"The NUJ has repeated consistently its willingness to sit down with management to try to resolve this issue sensibly and reasonably," NUJ organiser Laura Davison said in a release.

"We have again stressed we are prepared to take the problem to the conciliation service ACAS, but the BBC has not taken us up on the offer."

The BBC said today it was "disappointed" with the results of the NUJ strike ballot and insists it is open to further discussion.

"The BBC considers this strike action to be unjustified. BBC Arabic staff are being treated no differently to other parts of the BBC, and these changes to shift patterns are in line with current practice across other areas of the organisation.
 
"We know the high esteem that audiences have for BBC Arabic across the Middle East and will take measures to ensure that all BBC Arabic programming and online services continue uninterrupted. The BBC is committed to finding a constructive way forward in dialogue with staff and is open to further meaningful discussions."

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