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BBC faces news strike

09/02/2007

BBC News workers are to hold a 24-hour strike on February 26th.

Members of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (Bectu), which has over 7,000 workers within the BBC, are striking over the compulsory redundancies of ten workers.

Objecting to the redundancies after the completion of a 4,000-job-cut drive by BBC managers, Bectu supervisory official Luke Crawley said that the BBC's decision "seems perverse".

"Bectu members are united in taking action to stop their fellow members being made redundant," he said.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) union is also supporting the strike. Its general secretary, Jeremy Dear, said that "BBC managers have absolutely nobody to blame but themselves for this strike.

"They have dug their heels in over an issue that could easily be resolved. Hundreds of BBC staff have volunteered for redundancy and dozens of vacancies are currently being advertised, but BBC managers have refused to redeploy threatened staff and instead are seeking to force staff out the door."

The BBC has said that it hopes to resolve the dispute without the need for industrial action.

"The BBC remains committed to trying to achieve these savings without the need for compulsory redundancies and we are still in discussions with Bectu and the NUJ about how this might be achieved," a statement from the broadcaster said.

A separate, smaller strike is due to take place for three days after the main industrial action in protest against "enforced rota changes".

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