BBC underplays production job cuts

Union officials have warned that redundancies among TV Factual programme-makers could be much higher than announced.

BECTU has revealed that the 25 production job cuts, announced yesterday in BBC London Specialist Factual Programmes, represent almost 40% of all producers in the area.

This figure far exceeds press reports which, in one case, put the level of cuts at only 4%, and the redundancy toll could be even higher than 40% in Bristol, where 10 production jobs face the axe.

The union is also worried that the initial wave of cuts is only the tip of the iceberg, and will be followed by further redundancy proposals aimed at assistant producers and researchers.

BECTU members in the Factual section today voted to challenge the cuts, which management had blamed on a 12% reduction in programme-making in the Specialist genre.

At a well-attended meeting in Television Centre, union members spoke out against the BBC's decision to cut back in an area that makes high-value public service programmes, just as the debate about a new BBC Charter gathers momentum.

Management, who had spoken about making "bigger, better, but fewer" factual programmes, were criticised for undermining the output of the department that produces Timewatch and Horizon, and also produced blockbusters like Pompeii and Coliseum.

In discussions with the BBC about the cuts this week, unions failed to win a promise that the redundancies would all be voluntary, and in response have blocked a "preference exercise" in which staff would be invited to express an interest in redundancy.

A motion passed unanimously by union members at the meeting calls for the exercise to be suspended until management have made a convincing business case for the job cuts, and have ruled out compulsory redundancies.

Permanently-employed staff also gave their backing to colleagues on fixed term temporary contracts, by demanding that their employment should not be terminated as a back-door route to achieving job reductions.

Unions are planning to raise the public profile of the redundancies, and expect a further meeting with BBC Factual managers later this month.