BBC Technology members who were outsourced to Siemens last year have voted to accept a pay offer.
More than nine out of 10 members participating in a postal ballot, which closed yesterday, accepted the 3.5% pay increase from Siemens.
The rise, negotiated by broadcasting union Bectu, was offered in response to a union claim for 5%, and will be backdated to 1 April, the normal pay anniversary.
The offer includes an increase in all floors and ceilings of grade bands. It also extends the BBC’s 1998 Acas agreement, which offers redundant staff either five or six months’ notice of dismissal, and was one of the contractual rights which transferred when the division was sold.
Siemens transferred almost 1,300 ex-BBC staff into its UK operation in January, after buying BBC Technology last October for £150m.
Meanwhile, talks are underway about the closure of the London-based IT telephone helpdesk that handles queries raised by BBC staff about their computer systems. Its work is due to transfer to another BBC helpdesk based in Bristol, and to a Siemens call centre in Durham.
