140 Granada post cuts proposed

Granada Media Group are proposing up to 140 post cuts affecting staff at Granada TV, Yorkshire/Tynes Tees TV and London Weekend TV.

The proposals are a consequence of the Granada Group's takeover of Yorkshire/Tyne Tees Television, and include a number of departments relocating to Leeds and London.

Granada Group management have not ruled out compulsory redundancies.

At the same time the Group have responded to the union's pay claim for 1998 by offering 3% - a figure below the cost of living - and have not responded to the unions' claim for improvements in working conditions.

Granada Media Group now owns four of the UK Independent Television franchises. BECTU national official Freda Chapman said that the union "will remind management that all the Granada Media Group staff have worked hard to make the companies as successful as they are. They deserve better treatment."