Lynam walks into trouble at LWT
Industrial action at LWT, home of ITV football, could be stepped up just as new commentator Des Lynam arrives.
Managers at London Weekend Television (LWT) have been given a one-week ultimatum by BECTU - either refer a long-running pay dispute to independent arbitration, or face more industrial action.
Since March this year, union members at LWT have been insisting on 12 hour breaks between turns of duty, in protest at company's pay offer of 3.6% in 1999, and RPI plus 0.5% next year.
After months of stalemate, members have voted to step up the action by increasing the breaks to 14 hours duration, a move which the union expects will hit a wide range of programmes, including the football shows that Lynam is due to present.
The union is confident that it could persuade an independent arbitrator to order improvements to the pay offer - average pay at LWT has dropped by 28% in the last ten years compared with inflation. Part of the drop is due to the scrapping of a profit related pay scheme when LWT was bought by Granada in 1994.
LWT is the only ITV company owned by Granada which has failed to reach agreement on pay this year. Deals in Granada TV and Yorkshire and Tyne Tees Television have all been accepted, or put to ballots of members with a union recommendation to vote yes.
Unless LWT management accept the union's proposal for binding arbitration on the pay dispute, industrial action will be intensified from August 12 onwards.
Text of press release issued by BECTU on August 4 1999
NEWS RELEASE
Des Lynam arrives at ITV as industrial dispute hots up
Members of the largest broadcasting union, BECTU, at London Weekend Television today voted to reject an offer from Granada Media Group of 3.6% for 1999 and RPI plus 0.5% for the year 2000. Staff at LWT have lost 28% in pay in the last 10 years. A large part of this loss resulted from Granada Media Group, who purchased LWT in 1994, withdrawing the Profit Related Pay Scheme and replacing it with a Tax Efficiency Scheme.
For the past five months industrial action has been taking place at LWT, with staff insisting upon a 12-hour break between shifts. Today the members decided to invite management to binding arbitration in a final attempt to resolve the dispute. They have given management seven days to accept or reject the offer. If they reject the offer the industrial action will be escalated to staff imposing a minimum 14-hour break between shifts.
BECTU Supervisory Official Sharon Elliottf said: "If our members are forced to implement this sanction it will have a significant effect on programmes at the London studios. The company is now entering into its busiest period and the majority of football for the ITV network is broadcast from the London studios."
BECTU Assistant General Secretary Gerry Morrissey said: "Directors of LWT such as Christopher Bland, Greg Dyke and Melvyn Bragg have made lots of money from the sale of LWT to Granada Media Group. However, our members have suffered nothing but job losses and a significant decrease in earnings since the Granada takeover. We are confident that our case would be accepted by an arbitrator because we have lost 28% in pay over 10 years while the company has continued to make significant profits year on year.
"The profits do not trickle down to staff. It is only the senior management in Granada who benefit from the prosperity of the company. I will not, therefore, be surprised if Granada Media Group refuse arbitration because they know their case is indefensible."
ENDS
Issued by BECTU Press Office. For further information contact Sharon Elliott or Gerry Morrissey on the following numbers:
Gerry Morrissey 0171 437 8506 (Office) or 0850 317 866 (Mobile)
Sharon Elliott 0171 437 8506 (Office) or 0370 971 427 (Mobile)