BBC pay 2001 claim

Unions have tabled the BBC pay claim for 2001 which includes a salary increase of inflation plus £1000.

The unions are also preparing to carry out an industrial action ballot to oppose performance related pay and to open discussions on a number of work-life balance issues.

The main claim covers the BBC, including Resources and Technology, and focuses on two main elements: salary and night working.

Salary

The claim is for an increase in basic salary and all pay related allowances of inflation plus £1000 - the current inflation rate of 2% is applicable.

Amongst the factors backing this claim is the BBC Licence fee increase of 4.8% introduced in September 2000, along with the overall UK rise in earnings, which was 5.9% to February 2001.

This proposal would effectively lead to sliding scale of percentage salary increase, with those earning less gaining a greater percentage.

An increase of 4.8% is applicable to all flat rate figures e.g. UPA payments for Days Conditions staff, Christmas and New Year Day payments, the floors and roofs of the salary bands.

Night Working

Currently the night hours are deemed to be those between 0000 and 0600 with different rates payable depending on the hours worked. The unions propose that the window should be extended and the amounts paid should be increased.

Specifically, night pay should be paid for every hour or part of an hour worked between 2300 and 0300 at the rate of £7.00 per hour (currently 0000 to 0400 at £6.00 per hour) and between 0300 and 0600 at the rate of £14.00 per hour (currently 0400 and 0600 at £13.00 per hour). It is also proposed that all turns of duty starting at or before 0400 should be paid at the higher rate of £14.00 per hour between 0600 and 1000 hours.

The arguments about the rigours of night working are well known but night working is now more arduous and stressful and the hours in the early morning the most damaging and difficult to cope with - this has shaped this element of the claim.

Other Items

1. Pensions - the present arrangement of the favourable discounting of pensions for those taking premature retirement or facing redundancy has eased the problems facing those affected. It has also made it easier to avoid compulsory redundancies. The unions therefore believe this arrangement should be extended for a further period up to 31 December 2002.
2. Resettlement/redeployment - the unions believe the agreement on five months resettlement/redeployment for those facing redundancy, reached at ACAS in 1998, has proved its worth and it should now be made a permanent arrangement.
3. Work-life balance - the unions are proposing a series of meetings are set up to discuss the following issues with BBC management:
   • Anti-social working, particularly Saturday/Sunday/Bank holiday working and working outside the hours of 0900 and 1730.
   • Grading, with reference to a transparent rate for the job and progression through the salary bands.
   • Night working and its impact upon the health of staff in the short, medium and long term.
4. Performance related pay - this subject has been a source of profound disagreement between the unions and management over the past year. The unions have repeatedly stated their opposition to performance related pay as a system that is seen as divisive and, because of its lack of transparency, potentially discriminatory. Discussions at a joint union/management working group on this subject and a number of pay related issues, instigated as part of last year's pay negotiations, did not lead to an agreed way forward. Therefore the unions will be holding industrial action ballots against the process of appraisal and its links with performance related pay.

Worldwide

The unions have tabled a similar claim for a salary increase of inflation plus £1000 in BBC Worldwide.

The unions also propose that the Merit Pay system in operation in Worldwide is abandoned, with the 1% of salary this represents being consolidated into basic pay.

Increasing Dependants Leave into line with the rest of the BBC to 10 days paid time off is also claimed, along with an agreed policy on the Working Time Regulations in Worldwide, particularly covering Daily Rest, Weekly Rest and Compensatory Rest.

Following discussions Worldwide management have responded on salary by proposing a 2% increase with no one receiving less than £500.