Strikes planned at National Opera

BECTU members at London English National Opera House are planning industrial action from Wednesday 30 June.

Short duration stoppages will be called by the union, following a ballot of members in which 98% rejected a management plan to introduce a new pay and scheduling structure.

ENO wants to change technical staff from traditional schedules of five days a week, to a system in which their working hours are calculated over an entire year, raising the prospect of rotas containing up to 90 hours a week, without any extra payments.

Although the management have offered an increase in basic pay for the staff affected, the union believes that ENO's electricians could still lose up to £4,000 a year, while stage and sound staff could suffer a cut of £3,000

A meeting of members on 21 June was told by union negotiators that the management had made their final offer, and there was no alternative to industrial action.

Performances at ENO could be affected by the stoppages - the start and finish times will be announced at short notice on days of action.