Fresh pay offer halts BBC ballot

A strike ballot among BBC union members has been suspended after a 2.7% pay offer was improved.

On the eve of ballot papers being sent to members of BECTU, NUJ, and Amicus, BBC management today increased their 2004 pay offer to 2.9%.

The concession was conditional on the unions putting the new offer to a vote of members with a "positive, or at least a neutral, recommendation" on how to vote.

Branch and chapel representatives from BECTU and the NUJ are now due to attend a joint union-side meeting on July 7 to consider the revised offer, and the planned strike ballot has been suspended.

Prior to the BBC's last-minute move, the unions had intended to campaign against an earlier 2.7% offer on the grounds that the increase was less than the current inflation rate. The new offer is 0.1% above RPI this month.

During pay negotiations over the unions' 5% claim, management argued that with the BBC under close public scrutiny as debate grows about renewal of its Charter, any pay settlement would have to be realistic.

New Director-General Mark Thompson later told staff that an over-generous pay offer would be "suicidal" in the current political climate.

The BBC's pay anniversary date is August 1, which will put pressure on the unions to organise any vote of members after July 7 as quickly as possible.

Staff working for BBC Worldwide, BBC Technology, and BBC Resources bargain separately from the central BBC, and are not covered by the 2.9% offer. However, members in another subsidiary, BBC Broadcast Ltd, are, for this year at least, due to receive the same pay increase as colleagues directly employed by the Corporation.