Members of broadcasting union Bectu working at the BBC have voted to accept a 2.8% pay increase and watered-down changes to pension benefits. In a postal ballot 61% of its members at the BBC voted in favour of the package, which was tabled by management last month in the face of a strike threat. Members in BBC Worldwide accepted the deal with an 89% majority in favour, while 82% of those working for BBC Resources, voting only on the pension changes, accepted. Results in a parallel ballot of the NUJ‘s journalist members produced an opposite result with 59% voting to reject the pay and pensions offer. Neither union made any recommendation on which way members should vote – a condition imposed by the BBC when it tabled the compromise package. The union expects that the BBC will implement the 2.8% increase in time for the rise to appear in August pay packets. Although Bectu’s membership has accepted the increase and the pension changes Ð which will particularly affect new recruits joining the corporation after September this year Ð the union warned the BBC that the modest majority in favour of the package demonstrates deep unhappiness among staff. The union said members remain angry at the below-inflation pay offer in a year when top BBC executives were given bumper increases. Representatives from Bectu, NUJ, and Amicus (which has yet to declare the result of its ballot) plan to meet on 1 September to discuss their joint response to the BBC, given the disparate ballot results.
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