Bush contracts condemned

BECTU has again condemned the "fresh blood" policy in operation at the BBC World Service.

Employees on the many foreign language services which operate at Bush House in Central London are engaged on three-year contracts with no right to renewals when they expire.

This leaves staff who have often uprooted their home abroad to work for the BBC in the UK open to deportation by the Home Office.

Residency rights for foreign nationals in this situation take effect after a minimum of four years' continuous employment. Currently the Home Office refuses to grant work permits to Bush House staff for longer than three years, and their right to remain in the UK depends on the BBC's willingness to renew their contracts.

Non renewal of their contracts can lead to them being returned to their own countries, where for some their short BBC careers may have turned them into targets of repressive regimes.

For the second year BECTU delegates to the union's BBC Divisional Conference in May condemned the Corporation's so-called "fresh blood" policy in the World Service.

Union negotiators from both BECTU and the NUJ hope the BBC will solve the problem by accepting a demand in this year's pay claim for permanent jobs to be offered to all staff with three years service on fixed contracts.