ITV talks must resume says BECTU

BECTU is urging ITV plc and fellow union, the NUJ, to resolve their differences over the company’s current proposals for redundancy pay.

Yesterday (27 October 2008), the NUJ registered a dispute with ITV over the redundancy package currently on offer to staff in the company’s news division.

ITV announced plans last month to axe 429 jobs in regional news in response to Ofcom’s controversial PSB review.

Speaking today, BECTU Supervisory Offical, David Beevers, said: “Whilst BECTU respects the NUJ’s right to register a dispute, and we will not continue talks with ITV plc on this issue whilst the dispute remains in place, BECTU believes that valuable time will be lost, and opportunities missed, if the redundancy talks do not resume at the earliest point.

“BECTU members are every bit as affected by ITV’s pitiful commitment to regional news as their NUJ colleagues. However, our members want us to keep talking to the company to see what further improvements can be secured.

“We need to know, for example, how many staff have volunteered for redundancy and where the problems are greatest so that we can respond to our members’ needs.” David Beevers explained.

“The NUJ’s decision to register a dispute yesterday, means that key information will be withheld and members of staff kept in limbo as a result. We look to the NUJ to ensure that their strategy does not exacerbate the uncertainty for all staff affected by these critical changes.” concluded David Beevers.