News headlines 2005

Training body Skillset has launched an initiative to give women the chance of job-sharing in the film industry.

Unions at ITN have placed the proposed closure of the ITV News Channel into dispute.

Channel 4 have said there is an error in the calculation of their holiday payments and have proposed to remedy the situation.

Security staff at ITV sites across the UK are waiting to hear if their jobs are being handed to a new employer.

BECTU has welcomed announcements by the government on the future of the British film industry.

ITV representatives from BECTU, NUJ, and Amicus will meet in London on December 9 to decide their reply to this year's pay offer.

John Wild has been elected uncontested in the BECTU NEC Laboratories by-election.

ITV plc's long promised review of technical operator terms and conditions has at last produced proposals from the company.

Talks over proposed new terms and conditions at The London Studios have broken down.

New names are being added to the list of companies taking part in Move on Up North.

The union's banner will be joining a Reclaim the Night march on Friday November 25.

BECTU has welcomed announcements by Chancellor Gordon Brown, and Film Minister James Purnell, on the future of the British film industry.

A panel of experts is being brought together by BECTU to discuss changes in film regulations.

Talks on BBC plans for more than 3,000 job cuts now look set to continue into the New Year.

Sixty-five executives from television and film will attend the second Move on Up diversity event in Manchester next February.

More than 40 films on subjects relating to disability are due to be shown during a five-day festival in London.

Organisers hope that a conference this weekend will encourage more women to take active roles within BECTU.

National "Ban Bullying" day has been marked by the start of an academic study of the problem in the media industry.

A NEC by-election is being held to elect a representative from BECTU's Laboratories Division.

BECTU is asking its members to urge their MPs to lobby for improvements in a new tax regime for film-makers.

Plans to axe 10 BBC foreign language services at BBC World Service have been criticised by BECTU.

In a major breakthrough BECTU has been recognised for freelance staff working at BBC Scotland.

An issue first flagged up on the BECTU members' web forum has provoked GCap and aroused interest in the national press.

Following a recent BBC decision to pay holiday back pay BECTU are looking at similar claims across broadcasting.

BECTU members are being offered a 20% discount on subscriptions to a new website from trade magazine Broadcast.

The updated BECTU recognition agreement has been signed on the day the ntl: and Telewest merger is finally announced.

83% of regional theatre members in a ballot have voted to accept a 3.5% pay increase.

BECTU wildlife camera freelancers have voted to accept a pay offer from BBC Bristol's Natural History Unit.

BECTU's next Annual Conference will be held in Eastbourne during May 2006.

Staff in ntl:'s Field Operations Division have voted by a margin of almost 9:1 for BECTU recognition to continue.

Unions have condemned the BBC for taking sides in an industrial dispute at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Staff in ntl:'s Field Operations Division are currently voting in a ballot on BECTU recognition.

Culture Minister Tessa Jowell has approved the privatisation of BBC Broadcast to Australian bankers.

The BBC pay offer of 3.5% has been accepted by BECTU following a ballot of members.

Trade unionists across London are being urged to observe a two-minute silence today in memory of the London bombings.

BECTU is asking all freelance members who work in the TV sector to complete this year's questionnaire on working conditions.

BECTU has condemned fat-cat bonuses to top executives revealed in the BBC's Annual Report, published today July 12.

A multi-cultural event supported by trade unions is being held as planned in London this weekend.

A vote on union recognition for the crew of ITV's police drama has been held up by talks between BECTU and producers Freemantle.

BECTU members across the BBC have voted to accept a formula for negotiations on job cuts tabled by the Corporation after a strike.

BECTU, NUJ, and Amicus are advising BBC members to accept this year's pay offer in postal ballots.

BECTU has urged ITV to invest a £135 million windfall in original programming to lure viewers back to the channel.

BECTU has joined most other UK unions by asking members to support the Make Poverty History campaign.

BECTU has called for urgent talks with government after a shock announcement that the sale of BBC Broadcast has been agreed.

London-based freelancers are being offered discounts of 80% on selected training courses by Skillset.

Thousands of BECTU members in the BBC have begun voting on a proposal to end a dispute over job cuts and privatisation.

BECTU officials are saying 'Ello 'Ello 'Ello to the crew of the ITV show before a vote begins on union recognition.

BECTU plans to run a consultative ballot of BBC members on a package tabled at ACAS after the May 23 strike.

Delegates to BECTU's annual conference have voted unanimously against a proposal for the union to seek a merger partner.

Unions have called on BBC Director-General Mark Thompson to convene a further meeting with officials on an ACAS peace plan.

BECTU and telecoms giant ntl: have agreed to explore ways of verifying support for union recognition at the company.

BECTU is planning a significant presence at the Broadcast Production show which starts tomorrow, June 1.

A planned 48-hour stoppage at the BBC has been called off while unions consult members on a new peace offer.

Government conciliator ACAS has stepped into the BBC industrial dispute by inviting unions and management to talks at their offices.

After a one-day strike hailed at the most successful for many years, the unions are poised for the BBC's response.

Members of BECTU, NUJ, and Amicus have walked out of BBC buildings at the start of a 24-hour stoppage.

BECTU has called for urgent talks with the BBC and Land Securities Trillium over the sudden collapse of a joint property contract.

Unions have named May 23 as the first in four days of strike action against cuts and privatisation at the BBC.

BECTU's members in the BBC have voted for industrial action against plans for cuts and privatisation.

Staff at Manchester United's own TV channel have voted for BECTU to organise and represent them at work.

Union representatives across the BBC are reminding members that their industrial action ballot closes on May 11.

BECTU is balloting members in the King's and Festival theatres over job cuts that could undermine health and safety.

BECTU and NUJ members in Scottish Media Group are due to ballot on an improved three-year pay offer from the company.

BECTU members have voted to accept an improved pay offer from ITV by a narrow majority.

At meetings across the UK, BBC members have supported a union decision to launch a strike ballot.

Members working in the audio-visual sector have been urged to complete a questionnaire issued by the industry training body.

BECTU has confirmed that members will have union support if they refuse to service a planned right-wing election broadcast.

Industrial action ballot papers are due to be mailed to BBC union members from April 22 onwards.

Ballot papers have been sent to BECTU and Amicus members in ITV, who will decide on an improved pay offer from the company.

BBC Technology members who were outsourced to Siemens last year have voted in favour of this year's increase.

BECTU has won a 100% vote in favour of union recognition for catering staff working at ITV's Manchester base.

BECTU members in English National Opera are due to vote on a flat-rate pay offer of £1,000 each.

Strike action this weekend at ITV has been suspended while members vote on a revised pay package tabled after a stoppage.

BECTU, NUJ, and Amicus, are poised to begin a vote for industrial action after BBC redundancy talks reached deadlock.

BECTU and Amicus have been invited to meet ITV managers on Monday April 11, after a 36-hour strike by members.

BECTU members in London's theatreland have voted to accept an improved pay and conditions offer in a postal ballot.

Initial reports from picket lines outside ITV studios indicate that efforts to carry on with production have been abandoned.

Mark Thompson, BBC Director-General, has invited unions to a crisis meeting in a bid to head off a strike ballot.

BECTU and Amicus have announced dates for industrial action in ITV companies after members rejected a 3.3% pay rise.

BECTU has vacancies for two Learning Project Workers to recruit and support union learning reps across the union's membership.

BECTU members in BBC Resources have voted in a ballot to accept a 3.5% pay offer.

Staff at ITV sites across the country are to take industrial action over pay after Easter.

BECTU, NUJ, and Amicus plan to ballot BBC members for industrial action if the management press ahead with redundancies.

Another 1626 redundancies have been announced at the BBC, bringing the Director-General's target for job cuts to 3780.

More than 70 would-be buyers have expressed an interest in BBC Broadcast, according to the company's management.

Members working in Scottish and Grampian TV could take industrial action in support of a pay claim.

Gordon Brown's budget plan to extend tax relief on low-budget films for another year has been welcomed by BECTU.

Many BBC employees who escape redundancy in the current round of cuts will have to pick up the work of others who leave.

BECTU has agreed to a 3.86% increase in recommended minimum rates for film and TV freelance workers.

BBC chief Mark Thompson has used a video cassette message to announce the Corporation's biggest-ever jobs cull.

BECTU is trying to contact freelance members who have worked on one of ITV's most popular programmes.

BECTU has tabled demands for protection of staff in BBC Broadcast Ltd, a wholly-owned BBC subsidiary threatened with privatisation.

BECTU members in the BBC's TV facilities subsidiary are being balloted on a 3.5% pay offer from the company.

BECTU members at several ITV sites across the country are being balloted for industrial action over a 3.3% pay increase.

Thousands of BBC staff today showed their opposition to cuts planned by Director-General Mark Thompson.

Unions are asking BBC staff to show their opposition to plans for cuts and privatisation this week.

Workers across the UK are being asked to participate in a TUC day of action over long hours.

Proposals for BECTU's 2005 Rules Revision and Annual Conference in Liverpool have been issued.

A survey of freelance television working hours is being carried out on 25 February 2005.

Trade unions affiliated to the Labour party have opened a website in anticipation of a General Election in May.

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has been lambasted by BECTU for approving cuts in ITV regional programming.

Members working for the BBC's TV facilities subsidiary have been offered an inflation-linked pay rise for 2005.

Members of BECTU's Hair and Make-up branch will be turning into trainers at a major trade show this weekend.

Concerns about Mark Thompson's cuts and changes at the BBC have been sent directly to the Corporation's Governors.

BECTU officials have rejected anonymous claims that the union is responsible for London theatres being sold.

Members of BECTU's freelance sections have been urged to contribute to an online petition about excessive working hours.

The BBC's TV playout company could be privatised some time this summer, according to managers at a negotiating meeting with BECTU.

BECTU members affected by the BBC's move out of London have been advised not to complete management questionnaires.

Postal problems have forced the union to abandon a vote on the 5.5% pay offer to theatre workers in London's West End.

Union officials hope to start pay talks with cinema chain Odeon later in January.

A series of meetings has been set up to discuss staff pensions and other rights after communications company Ntl: is sold.