New deal done at Dome

BECTU has struck a new agreement over pay rates and TV bonuses for members in the Greenwich Millennium Dome.

The agreement came after a threat of industrial action by BECTU members who provide the technical backup for the Dome's centrepiece theatre performance which includes stunning effects created by complex flying wires and hoists.

BECTU members on the two lowest pay grades at the Dome can now expect pay rises worth up to £60 a week, and all BECTU grades will now receive extra payments for working on a full-length video recording of the performance which is due to go on sale later in the year.

Plans for industrial action, which could have grounded the high-flying perfomers, have now been dropped while further talks take place on grading of staff in the bottom pay brackets.

The union has argued that the responsibilities of staff earning the new rate of £350 a week are often difficult to distinguish from other staff on the next rate up the scale, £370 a week. Both grades will now go through a job evaluation process.

To win the new agreement BECTU had to compromise on the issue of extra payments for performances that are recorded for video and TV broadcast use.

Originally, the union had called for staff to be paid bonuses for all recorded shows. Under the terms of the new agreement, no extra payments will be made for video recordings that are intended to be used as excerpts for marketing purposes, but the planned full-length video of the high-wire show will result in BECTU staff receiving bonuses which are still under negotiation.

Differences over the application of the European Working Time Directive, which limits average working hours, should be resolved in the near future. Management are planning to engage extra staff to reduce the hours that BECTU members are expected to work, and have agreed to give paid time off to compensate for infringements of the statutory breaks between duties laid down by the Directive.