BBC's 4% pay offer rejected
The BBC's joint unions have flatly rejected a 4% pay offer, and BECTU plans to run a consultative postal ballot.
The ballot will ask members if they are willing to take industrial action in an effort to win an increase closer to the original 9% claim. A round of BECTU meetings has already been set up across the country.
A management proposal for a minimum payment of £ 500 also fell short of the union claim for a figure of £ 900.
The unions' 9% claim was intended to give staff a cost of living increase - May's inflation figure was 4.2% - as well as closing the gap that has opened up between BBC pay and general increases in the UK. By March this year BBC rates had fallen by 5.5% over five years, compared to rises elsewhere in industry, and average pay increases in the UK are currently running at 5.2%
In support of the 9% claim, the unions pointed out that this year's BBC licence increase was well over inflation at 6.6%, and the Corporation has saved millions of pounds over the last year through increased productivity from staff. Management were also reminded about John Birt's hefty pay increase, rumoured to be 9% this year.
According to management, the extra licence income this year had already been earmarked for digital broadcasting, and licence increases over the next two years will be below inflation. However, the unions believe that the BBC's digital war-chest is already so large that a decent pay increase can easily be afforded.