BBC pay offer rejected

Unions have rejected a below inflation pay offer from the BBC at a meeting with Corporation management.

The BBC has put forward a two-year offer consisting of 3.5% or £700, whichever is the greater, in year one, and 2% for 2008.

This is in response to the unions claim of RPI plus 3% with a minimum rise of £1,000 for 2007.

Supervisory Official Luke Crawley commented: "Union members at the BBC will be angered by this offer which, due to the current rate of inflation, assumes a cut in pay in real terms for the next two years.

"In light of last year's settlement, this will mean members being given a pay cut for three years in row.

"The joint unions will be meeting on 6 June to decide their next course of action and how best to put pressure on the BBC to improve the offer".

He said that this could involve balloting for strike action.

As well as calling for the RPI plus 3% rise, the unions are also demanding an extra week of annual leave, bringing the BBC in line with a number of employers who are more generous.

Improved entitlement to paid sickness absence is part of the claim, in a new climate where BBC managers are consistently refusing to continue sick pay beyond the discretionary thresholds laid out in conditions of service.

The unions also want the accrued pension pots of new staff who have joined the Career Average pension scheme since last November to be in line with the pay rise - assuming it is better than RPI - rather than RPI itself, which is the default figure for the so-called "Smart Pensions" scheme.

The talks do not cover members in BBC subsidiaries - however the BBC Resources claim contains the main points detailed above, along with a few local issues.

Discussions with Resources management are still continuing two months after the local pay anniversary in April - as opposed to August in the Corporation. Negotiators see these talks more closely related to the overall talks than usual because of the impact of the Licence fee increase.

In BBC Worldwide the claim is for an across-the-board increase of RPI plus 2%, with a minimum increase of £1,000.

At a meeting today management tabled what they claimed was the final offer - 3.5% on pay with a minimum increase of £750 in London and £500 outside London.

Management rejected the claim for more annual leave or for more long service leave.

Last year the Worldwide pay settlement was 2.6% at a time when the RPI was 3.3%.

In Siemens, formerly BBC Technology, the claim is for RPI plus £1000 flat-rate consolidated payment.

A consultative ballot in the IT Solutions and Services section closes tomorrow (24 May 2007) and is likely to overwhelmingly reject the offer from management of 2.5% on pay and 3% on other payments.

Members in Siemens SECL (formerly Siemens Communications), which took over EBX services, have already rejected the offer of 3% across the board.

In VTC, the company that acquired World Service transmitters once owned by Merlin, members are in year 2 of a two year deal based on a 4.6% rise in Year 1, with a minimum of £750. Depending on company performance, Year 2 is likely to yield an RPI rise for most staff.