BBC News workers are set to stage a 24-hour strike on Monday 26 February in a bid to stop compulsory redundancies at the BBC News network.
Thousands of workers, members of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (Bectu) and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), are opposing up to 10 redundancies among journalists and broadcasting staff.
Bectu supervisory official Luke Crawley said: “Bectu members are united in taking action to stop their fellow members being made redundant. The BBC has achieved nearly 4,000 job cuts by calling for volunteers and it seems perverse of BBC News to try and force through less than 10 post closures.”
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NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: “BBC managers have absolutely nobody to blame but themselves for this strike – they have dug their heels in over an issue that could easily be resolved. Hundreds of BBC staff have volunteered for redundancy and dozens of vacancies are currently being advertised, but BBC managers have refused to redeploy threatened staff and instead are seeking to force staff out the door.”
The unions have warned it may disrupt TV news programmes.
