Summer in White City
NUJ MEMBERS at BBC Worldwide took part in a summer picnic protest to show their displeasure at a below-inflation pay offer — and to make the point that they have to work so hard that they often cannot take a lunch break.
The journalists work for the commercial publishing arm of the BBC, which includes magazines such as Radio Times and Top Gear. They believe their work is taken for granted and that a pay offer of 2.5 per cent fails to recognise their hard work.
Last year BBC Worldwide increased its profit before tax by 17 per cent to £118 million.
Staff say they have to put in hours beyond their contracts, so they walked out together to take a full hour for lunch. They made their way to the lawn outside the BBC’s White City buildings where they shared homemade cakes and spoke to passing colleagues about their anger over the pay offer.
The Father of the NUJ Chapel, Jeremy Aspinall, said: “While Worldwide is making fat profits, management is expecting staff to settle for a slim pay rise.
“We wanted to send a message that we can’t be taken for granted in this way, and thought people might take a proper lunch break for a change.
“We hope our managers will begin to treat staff with a little more respect.”
Strike poll at Arabic service
A STRIKE BALLOT is under way at the BBC Arabic Service over management’s failure to address members’ concerns about resources, workloads and staffing levels. The ballot was called after management failed to guarantee sufficient staffing levels across the TV, radio and online services.
NUJ members at the service are being asked to produce more without sufficient extra staff. The union fears that quality could be compromised.
The Arabic TV service was launched last year with funding from the British Foreign Office and broadcasting is now being extended to 24 hours a day.
NUJ Broadcasting Organiser Paul McLaughlin said: “Our members haven’t entered into this strike ballot lightly. They feel this is the only option left to ensure that management listens to their concerns.”
Production staff vote for action
NUJ members working for Red Bee Media have voted by 67 per cent to take strike action over a below-inflation pay offer.
Red Bee Media is a production company that was called BBC Broadcast before it was sold off three years ago.
It has contracts with the BBC and other broadcasters.
Members on the BBC World Service’s South Asian services, fighting to stop the offshoring of most of their work, have launched an online petition and are asking supporters to sign: www.ipetitions.com/petition/worldservice