NEC Report to BECTU 2002 Conference paragraphs 71-138
Affiliations
71 BECTU has remained affiliated to the following organisations since last year's conference:
| General Fund | £ |
| Federation of Entertainment Unions | 2,500 |
| Irish Congress of Trade Unions | 613 |
| Scottish Trades Union Congress | 1,539 |
| Trades Union Congress | 43,026 |
| Media Entertainment International (50%) | 14,867 |
| Political Fund | £ |
| Action for Southern Africa | 150 |
| Amnesty International | 127 |
| Arts for Labour | 150 |
| British Copyright Council | 770 |
| British Film Institute | 176 |
| British Screen Advisory Council | 4,100 |
| British Standards Institution | 176 |
| Campaign for Freedom of Information | (variable) |
| Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom | 225 |
| Cuba Solidarity Campaign | 75 |
| Institute of Employment Rights | 200 |
| International Centre for Trade Union Rights | 100 |
| Labour Party | 24,000 |
| Labour Research Department | 601 |
| Mechanics Institute | 50 |
| Media Entertainment International (50%) | 14,867 |
| Metier | 100 |
| National Abortion Campaign | 100 |
| National Assembly Against Racism | (variable) |
| National Campaign for the Arts | 235 |
| Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign | 200 |
| Scottish Labour Party | 250 |
| Skillset | 1,175 |
| Southern and Eastern Regional TUC | 250 |
| Theatres Advisory Council | 420 |
| Trade Union CND | 200 |
| Trade Union Disability Alliance | 100 |
| Wales Labour Party | 200 |
72 Since the union's 2001 conference the National Executive Committee has decided to affiliate to the Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers (£100), the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (£100), War on Want (£200), the Lobby to End Age Discrimination (£200) and the General Federation of Trade Unions (£6,000 in 2002).
Copyright
73 BECTU has been instrumental in establishing the Alliance for the Protection of Copyright. APC is a umbrella organisation which includes BECTU, the Writers Guild, the Directors Guild, NUJ, the Society of Authors, Women in Film and Television, the MU and PACT. In 1998 agreement was reached with the major broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) on a Code of Practice that dealt with submission of programme proposals. That agreement was reviewed in 1999 and as part of that review the BBC has extended the Code of Practice to BBC Radio. The revised Code of Practice was launched in August at the Edinburgh Film and TV Festival.
Training
74 The National Executive Committee at its meeting on the 26 August 2001 considered a recommendation from the Training Committee regarding BECTU policy on Lifelong Learning in the Workplace. The policy recommended by the Training Committee was adopted by the National Executive Committee and circulated to branches in Branch Circular 616. It is also attached to this report as Appendix D.
Legal
75 Changes introduced by the Lord Chancellor, which affect the manner in which personal injury claims are handled, caused the National Executive Committee at its meeting on the 18 November 2001 to consider the policy in respect of granting a member legal assistance in respect of personal injury cases. Up to that time the union's formal position was not to grant legal assistance where the injury had occurred prior to the date of membership. The changes introduced by the Lord Chancellor meant that BECTU, subject to the normal criterion that there being a reasonable prospect of success, could without financial risk offer legal assistance to members pursuing personal injury cases, even though the injury had occurred prior to the date of membership.
Credit Unions
76 The National Executive Committee has been engaged in discussions with Unity Trust Bank about the possibility of BECTU establishing its own credit union. Views have been sought from the divisional committees of the union and there appears to be a wide degree of support, at least in principle, for the establishment of the credit union. The General Secretary is asking Unity Trust Bank to write an appropriate article to be carried in the union's journal and it is the intention of the National Executive Committee to seek the views of individual members at the same time. In order to establish a successful credit union there needs to be at least 300 or 400 people firmly committed to the idea, and an effective community of interest needs to be established between those individuals.
Mapping the membership
77 There has been considerable discussion throughout the year by the National Executive Committee on mapping the membership. The National Executive Committee has found itself in some degree of disagreement with the Disabled Members Network committee. That committee believes that any exercise to map disability among BECTU's members should be conducted in a way that is totally divorced from the BECTU membership database. The General Equality Committee has not, at the time of writing, taken an overall view on this, but the Black Members Committee believes that data on ethnicity should be held on the database. (Gender data is already on the database.) The National Executive Committee has sought advice from the TUC, the Equal Opportunities Commission and other bodies. The National Executive Committee's view is that an exercise to map the membership that is divorced from the database becomes redundant within a very short time of the exercise having taken place. All other unions who conduct such exercises do, to the best of the NEC's knowledge, associate such an exercise with their database. No final decision has been taken on this matter but a decision will need to be taken before the end of 2002.
skillsformedia
78 skillsformedia (the preferred all-lower-case format) has evolved from the Skillsbase service that was operated by BECTU. The Audio Visual Industries Training Group considered, amongst other matters, the need for a careers advice and guidance service for the whole of the audio/visual industry. As a result of those considerations BECTU and Skillset formally launched the jointly managed service in September 2001. Although it is still in its infancy the skillsformedia service is proving to be very popular across the whole of the audio/visual industry, and has won funding from various Government bodies as well as backing from almost all industry employers.
Directors Guilds
79 The Directors Guild of Great Britain has maintained a good relationship with BECTU during the last year. Little progress has been made in discussions with the Guild in pursuing the objective of persuading the Guild to merge its membership with BECTU. The lack of progress is not due to any opposition by the Guild or BECTU members but it has been a victim of the other priorities that have had to be dealt with during the last year.
80 Acting AGS Martin Spence represented BECTU at a meeting of the English-speaking Directors Guilds which was held in Los Angeles in October 2001. Plans are being made for a further meeting of this body before the end of 2002.
Latin American Committee
81 Since conference last year the Latin American Committee has met three times. It has given financial assistance to the Director of Radio Zinica on the Bluefield coast of Nicaragua on a visit to the UK and made a donation to Radio Zinica towards the purchase of two computers to assist them in their operations. It has also made use of the union's journal to publicise the political situation in Latin America. A social at this year's conference is being organised by the Latin American Committee.
History Project
82 The History Project has now completed its 500th oral history interview, the subject of which was Lord Attenborough. An event to commemorate this milestone in the project's development is being planned later in this the centenary year of Anthony Asquith.
83 The project has progressed discussions to extend use of the archive with several academic partners. The NEC is currently considering a proposed contract with the British Cinema History Research Project at the University of East Anglia.
Industrial overview
84 Since the 2001 conference, all the divisions of the union have been involved in a significant amount of collective bargaining, recognition and personal cases. The union has been successful in improving terms and conditions for members as well as reducing the number of redundancies proposed by employers across most divisions of the union.
85 Independent Broadcasting suffered the worst redundancies throughout 2001, mainly because of the fall in advertising revenue and the concentration of ownership in ITV, as well as the well documented financial problems suffered by the cable operator, NTL.
86 Redundancies continued in the BBC, but to a lesser extent than in previous years. The BBC's Factual & Learning department saw significant redundancies in London, with smaller numbers going in Birmingham and Manchester.
87 The number of theatres closing for refurbishment has reduced, and some of the theatres which had closed have now reopened.
88 The Laboratories section of the union suffered with job losses at Technicolor. In the film industry, after a busy first quarter the remaining three quarters of the year was pretty disastrous. Investment dried up, predominantly because of the threat of a dispute in the US between the employers and the Screen Writers' Guild. At the time of writing this report we are beginning to see the first signs of a recovery.
89 We have attempted, with some success, to improve BECTU's profile in the media. The most notable successes were the European Court judgement on holiday pay, the disputes at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House, and issues around pay at Granada and Carlton TV. It continues to be extremely difficult to get the interest of the media in the work of the union when it does not involve an industrial dispute.
90 BECTU has continued to play an active part in the Federation of Entertainment Unions, and during this year we have had liaison meetings at the highest level with the BBC, the Independent Television Commission, the Radio Authority and dates are diaried with the London Film Commission.
Arts & Entertainment division
91 Across regional theatres, through our agreement with the Theatrical Managers' Association, and in the West End of London through our agreement with the Society of London Theatres, the union's major campaign has been one to eradicate low pay. In January 2002 members employed in TMA theatres voted to accept a 3% pay increase and a working party on the issue of low pay. At the time of writing this report our members employed in London's West End theatres have rejected an offer of 1.6% and were due to ballot for strike action. SOLT have agreed to talks under the auspices of ACAS. An update report will be given at conference.
Proposition 10/02 (AP17) Poverty pay in the entertainment industry
That this conference [calls on the NEC to] campaign against the shamefully low rates of pay prevalent in our industry. Conference calls for a minimum rate of pay to be established that allows BECTU members a decent rate of pay without reliance on overtime and get-out payments to make ends meet.92 We have had a very high profile dispute at the Royal Opera House since last conference, where management attempted to discipline and threatened dismissal of a senior activist of the union for little more than undertaking his trade union duties. Following an overwhelming ballot in favour of strike action in support of their colleague by members of the Royal Opera House branch, management agreed that the disciplinary allegations that they wished the individual to answer would now be put to an independent panel. Our member's actions were vindicated and he returned to work by the end of 2001.
93 The union signed new recognition agreements with Sovereign Leisure and Oasis Cinemas.
94 Rationalisation of the cinema section continued and the union was active in negotiating above cost of living wage increases for members, as well as merging the agreements between Odeon Cinemas and ABC, which were taken over by Odeon the previous year.
Independent Broadcasting division
95 The most significant thing that happened in Independent Broadcasting in 2001 from a union point of view was the creation of ITV Unions. This brought together for the first time into a single committee the union representatives from BECTU, the NUJ and the AEEU (now part of Amicus), from all sites across ITV. The committee meets four times a year in different regions of the UK in order to discuss industrial business across ITV and ownership/regulatory issues. By the time conference meets the committee will have met four times, and so far it has been an extremely successful way of pulling together the views of all representatives and unions in ITV. Following each meeting a newsletter is published and distributed at ITV sites.
96 We reported to the last conference that Granada Media Group had successfully acquired the franchises for Anglia and Meridian TV, whilst Carlton Group acquired the franchises for HTV West, HTV Cardiff and West Country. The government's Communications Paper confirmed that it had been persuaded to relax the ownership rules further, and this has now paved the way for one company to own all the ITV licences.
Proposition 11/02 (AP14) Regional broadcasting
That this annual conference urges BECTU to lobby at all levels to preserve the regional nature of ITV and to strengthen the commitment to regional programming in terms of programme spend.
97 Both Carlton TV and Granada TV announced in 2001 their intention to freeze pay for a year. This was predominantly due to the slump in advertising revenue and the continuing losses both companies were suffering due to their digital operation ITV Digital, which lost £1 million per day during 2001. The joint unions agreed to defer any pay award until July 2002, but at that stage we would expect both companies to review their financial position and make a pay award.
98 Significant progress was made in moving staff from fixed term contracts to staff contracts. At Carlton Nottingham and Birmingham alone over 100 individuals were moved onto staff contracts. This continues to be a major priority for BECTU.
99 As was highlighted earlier, redundancies happened across Carlton and Granada, mainly in their digital channels, in which we saw the closure of such channels as Wellbeing and Men and Motors. There were also redundancies at Anglia, Border and Meridian.
100 In 2001 ITN successfully regained the contract to provide Channel 3 News. This was done at a high price to ITN, with the new contract being worth £11 million a year less than the previous contract. The company then announced that as a result of having to put in such a low bid to get the contract they would need to lose up to 200 jobs. This was later reduced to 90, and after some hard negotiations the management were prepared to accept 76 volunteers, with the union resisting management's attempts to make compulsory redundancies. BECTU remains concerned about the quality of the news service that can be provided for the reduced monies and have had meetings with the ITC to discuss this issue. However it does not seem the ITC has the authority to do anything about this situation.
101 Statutory claims have been submitted to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for union recognition at the music channel MTV and the sub-titling company ITFC. On the 19 March 2002 the CAC awarded recognition at MTV after 72% of employees voted in favour.
BBC division
102 Our major concern in 2001 remains the BBC's wish to break parts of its operation up into wholly-owned companies. Prior to 2002 we had Worldwide Ltd, Resources Ltd and Technology Ltd. At the time of writing this report the BBC were awaiting approval from the DCMS for Broadcast/Presentation Ltd. Even though we have been able successfully to defend members' jobs, terms and conditions and pension scheme during these transfers, we remain concerned that the BBC is making it easier for its opponents to privatise it at a later date. Our views have been communicated to the government.
103 In 2001 the BBC unions accepted a pay offer of 3%. We believe the 2002 pay claim is a watershed for the unions. As well as asking for an above inflation pay award there are two other major aspects to our claim:
(a) We need to agree with the BBC a rate for the job for each category, as over the past ten years individuals have not known what salary they can hope to achieve once they are fully competent in their position. Neither do they know how long it will take them to achieve the fully competent level. We are determined to agree with the BBC a time period and a salary that each individual will know they can achieve on the day they are employed.A verbal update report on these negotiations will be given at conference.(b) We have demanded from the BBC that no member of staff should receive less than £11,00 per annum (full time position) outside London. We believe that this claim is fully achievable and that it is morally wrong for the BBC to be employing people on salaries as low as £9,000 and £10,000 per annum.
104 In April 2001 the unions welcomed the BBC's decision to bring back into the BBC staff who had previously been put into Resources Ltd in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and in the majority of the English regions. This was followed in April 2002 with staff in Radio OBs and Radio Production Resources returning to the BBC from Resources Ltd.
105 Merlin Communications, which had been previously owned by the BBC prior to privatisation, was sold to Vosper Thorneycroft, better known for shipbuilding, in November 2001. The union's terms and conditions, pensions and collective bargaining agreements have transferred. Amongst its roles Merlin Communications provide transmission services for the BBC World Service.
London Production/Regional Production divisions
106 2001 was a bad year for the film and television industry.
107 In the film industry, the prospect of strikes by both the Actors' and Writers' Guilds in the USA led the big US studios to fast-track, postpone or cancel large numbers of film projects, many of which would otherwise have come to the UK. In the end the strikes did not materialise, but by then many productions had already been lost for the year. US-financed films typically account for over 70% of the value of films made in Britain, so their absence was painfully felt. The studios were quieter than they have been for years, with production spend overall down by 10%. We hope that 2002 will see an upturn, and two large productions - the latest Bond film and Harry Potter II - were already getting under way in late 2001.
108 A slowdown in UK advertising spending was evident long before September 11, and took a further knock afterwards. In addition, within this reduced overall spending, there has been a trend away from film and TV, and towards other media. All of this had a dramatic effect on our members' jobs, pay and conditions in ITV, which is dealt with elsewhere. On the freelance side, it expressed itself as a slowdown in commercials production - by as much as 25% according to some industry sources.
Film/TV production : PACT agreement
109 Our current Agreement with PACT runs to 1 July 2002. Our industrial work in film and television has focused on individual and collective advice and representation to members on individual productions.
110 Our victory on freelance holiday entitlement at the European Court was probably the high point of the year, but on individual contracts this continues to be a major problem area. Some employers still contest the fundamental right of freelance workers to receive paid holidays and/or holiday pay; and others who accept the principle will still collapse holiday pay into basic rates if they can get away with it. Our Officials have taken up numerous cases during the year, with a fair number ending up at Employment Tribunals.
111 One major employer whose understanding of the law differs from ours is the BBC. At the time of writing Employment Tribunal applications have been lodged on behalf of a number of freelance members throughout the country who have been employed by the BBC but denied holiday entitlement. We still hope that an agreement may be reached with the BBC which will allow us to settle these claims without going before the Tribunal.
112 More generally, the slowdown in film production and financial problems in television have led to a number of company closures. We have advised and represented members affected by the closure of "niche" television channels (Medical Channel, Money Channel, Whereitsat, Taste TV, TWI/NOW), and facilities companies (VFG, Mike Fraser).
Commercials production : APA agreement
113 Our current agreement with the Advertising Producers' Association also runs to 1 July 2002.
114 The slowdown in commercials production has made this a difficult year. Reduced advertising spend means not only that the overall number of productions has declined, but also that where productions do go ahead they often seek to cut costs by shooting abroad - South Africa and Central/Eastern Europe are favourites - and/or by seeking "deals" which undercut our Agreement.
115 During the year a difference of interpretation emerged with the APA on the question of payment for travel time after long working days. We failed to resolve this at regular liaison meetings, and in the summer went to ACAS for conciliation, also without success.
116 Our European victory on holiday entitlement meant that as from 25 October 2001 holiday pay was due on all commercials contracts, which typically run for one or two days. This was a completely new issue for this sector, and employers have tried to deal with it by collapsing holiday pay into existing agreed rates.
117 The Negotiating Committee intends to resolve this, and the travel time question in our 2002 negotiations with the APA.
Welsh language production: TAC agreement
118 Our agreement with TAC (Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru - Welsh Independent Producers) is currently under renegotiation.
119 Over the past year we have focused on making sure that the principles we have agreed on holiday entitlement - which mirror those agreed with PACT - are put into practice. This has largely been achieved.
Background artistes: FAA agreement
120 The PACT/FAA Agreement still works very well with the majority of productions observing all its terms; however, PACT has resisted all claim for an increase in the daily rate. Meanwhile the FAA Committee has opened up a useful dialogue with the artiste agents, which is continuing to develop.
Individual companies/workplaces
121 The union has been in negotiation at Barcud Derwen regarding contracts of employment and working time.
122 At CTVC discussions are under way regarding the scope of our collective agreement. Unfortunately a round of redundancies was announced in late 2001, but the union has succeeded in reducing the number affected, and improving the redundancy terms on offer.
123 For the last two years BECTU has been engaged in protracted discussions at Mersey TV towards a new agreement which reflects current realities and working arrangements in the company. The process has been a difficult one. However at the time of writing we are running a ballot to bring this to a conclusion, in the hope of consolidating our position in the aftermath of that ballot.
124 During the past year at the National Film and Television School BECTU has negotiated a pay award, agreed to amended redundancy terms, and clarified the status of contract staff and freelances.
125 Pinewood Studios were badly hit by the downturn in feature film production, and management rejected members' 2001 pay claim. We intend to submit an adjusted claim in 2002 as conditions improve.
126 During the year at Racetech we negotiated various new arrangements covering specific groups of members, and achieved a 2.5% pay increase effective from January 2002. We also concluded our first negotiating round for staff based at the head office of Racetech, for whom we won recognition in 2001. We initiated a major review of job definitions and pay rates, including market-testing and external comparisons, and achieved adjusted pay rates of over 20% for some members, in addition to the 2002 2.5% award.
127 During the year we have been seeking recognition on behalf of members at Technicolor Film and Imaging, which is the post-production company of the Technicolor Group. At the time of writing the situation is unresolved.
TV directors
128 In August 2001, in co-operation with our colleagues in the Directors Guild and DPRS collecting society, we formally concluded an agreement with the UK TV broadcasters on behalf of freelance TV Directors. The Agreement provides for a rising annual block payment by the broadcasters in respect of Directors' secondary rights (i.e. UK repeats including cable/satellite/digital, foreign sales, video/DVD release); and for the establishment of a Directors Forum. Within the Forum we are now seeking to negotiate an agreed model contract, and a Code of Practice on Directors' professional and creative status.
New media
129 A cross-divisional New Media Task Force of officials from the BBC, Independent Broadcasting, and the London and Regional Production divisions was established during the year, in recognition of the fact that employment in this fast growing area cuts across familiar boundaries.
130 The Task Force's starting point was to clarify where and how online/new media work is carried on within the terrestrial broadcasters with whom we have recognition agreements. Most progress has been made in the BBC, where it has become evident that online/new media workers are scattered across many departments, and as a result, there is no consistency in their pay and conditions. Management are now starting to address this inconsistency, but the scattered nature of the work itself will continue.
131 The Task Force set out to test the notion that BBC and ITV act as "bottlenecks", with freelance web designers, programmers etc. passing through for short periods and then moving on to work for other employers. This happens to some degree, but many individuals are also seeking to stay for longer periods, usually on renewed fixed term contracts.
132 The "culture" of this sector makes it difficult to recruit. Many workers are young and do not identify with trade unions. However there have been some successes - significantly where workers are worried about impending traditional trade union issues, i.e. workers worried about impending restructuring in their department, or possible redundancies. In other words, despite the image of the new media sector, BECTU may be most likely to succeed by doing here what we do elsewhere - make ourselves available and maintain a high profile as a source of reassurance, practical support and representation.
Laboratories
133 The downturn in feature film and commercials production obviously had a knock-on effect on the film processing laboratories. The larger laboratories are competing in an international market, so they are also affected by factors such as sterling's exchange rate against the Euro.
134 Members at the BFI National Film & TV Archive have been engaged in a protracted battle over their 2001 pay claim. The claim was submitted in March, but numerous meetings with management failed to reach agreement. In a ballot held over the Christmas/New Year period BECTU members voted to take industrial action short of a strike in pursuit of their claim. At the time of writing discussions are still under way on any action to be taken.
135 A ballot was also necessary at Colour Film Services, where in mid-2001 members voted for an overtime ban in support of their claim for a pay rise above RPI. This led to the employer agreeing to a 3% pay award.
136 Members at DeLuxe Denham labs were also successful in their 2001 pay claim, achieving 7% over 18 months, from mid-2001 to the end of 2002.
137 Meanwhile at DeLuxe Video much of the year's work has focused on the relocation of the company's warehouse from Park Royal to Enfield, as a direct result of the boom in DVD sales. A relocation package was agreed for staff, and several recruitment meetings have been held at the new Enfield site.
138 It has been a painful year at Technicolor, where the submission of our pay claim was quickly followed by management's announcement of a major round of redundancies. Members agreed to defer their pay claim in order to maximise the benefits to the 45 colleagues who lost their jobs. Subsequently a significant restructuring was negotiated. A management-union forum is now meeting regularly and the company's position in the immediate future looks more stable than for some time.