Pay offer delay at BBC

Unions at the BBC now expect that this year's pay offer will be tabled by management on 11 May.

This follows the cancellation of a planned negotiating meeting on Friday 7 May. The BBC said that it was still considering the claim from BECTU, NUJ, and AEEU for a "substantial increase", and would not be able to respond until Tuesday 11 May.

The pay claim was last discussed on 22 April, when the unions reminded management that staff were still angry about the generous 9.2% increase paid last year to Director-General John Birt - more than twice the increase given to staff.

Negotiators believe that the management delay in tabling an offer for 1999 is partly due to internal wrangling within BBC directorates over the claim for a £1,000 minimum increase for every member of staff, and a demand that hundreds of short-contract staff should be given permanent posts.

These parts of the union pay claim were intended to ensure that there would be tangible benefits for BBC staff this year, even if the Corporation dug its heels in over the headline percentage increase - a position that the BBC could well adopt in a year when the licence fee is being reviewed by government.

Union representatives from across the BBC are now planning to meet in London on 17 May to weigh up the pay offer that management are expected to table in the next few days.