Sunday, July 10, 2011

BBC journalists due to strike next Friday

Journalists at the BBC are due to walk out on 15 July in a 24-hour strike over compulsory redundancies, Britain's National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said.

Last month, NUJ members voted to take industrial action after bosses dismissed a World Service journalist on the grounds of compulsory redundancy.

The NUJ urged the BBC to carry out the redundancy process in "a humane way".

The BBC said it was "disappointed" by the action which could affect news on radio, television and the website.

In the ballot, just under 40 percent of union members voted, with 72 percent saying they would be prepared to strike.

A small number of people working in the World Service and BBC Monitoring were facing compulsory redundancy this summer, the NUJ said.

The BBC's director of operations Lucy Adams said the number of posts had to be reduced by 387 following significant cuts to central government grants supporting the World Service and BBC Monitoring.

Both the BBC and the NUJ said they hoped to avert action through talks.

BBC journalists went on strike last November over planned changes to their pensions.

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union/Media Network Weblog)

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