ITV pay dispute settled

BECTU members have voted to accept an improved pay offer from ITV by a narrow majority.

In a consultative ballot which closed today (Friday April 29) 54.2% of those participating voted in favour of the new pay offer, tabled by ITV management after a 36-hour strike. Of members eligible to vote, 64% returned ballot papers.

All ITV staff with more than 3 months' service on January 1 this year will now receive an extra £430 on top of the company's original 3.3% offer.

The new deal, made up of £330 worth of ITV shares, and a £100 cash payment, will also be given to any staff who have left since New Year on grounds of redundancy.

In addition to the cash offer, ITV managers have also agreed to open talks about the re-introduction of a profit-related bonus scheme in January 2006.

"The closeness of BECTU's ballot result shows that a significant minority of our membership wanted to press on with the dispute. This clearly points to a high level of dissatisfaction with management's offer." commented BECTU official Sharon Elliott.

"However it must also demonstrate how successful the dispute was in providing ITV staff with a channel to air their long-held concerns about the company's attitude to staff pay. There is no question that management have been shocked by the success of the action and have promised to listen more to their staff.

"The task now for BECTU is to build on the progress we have made in the past few weeks so that the union continues to be in a better position to represent the interests of our membership" Sharon Elliott concluded.