Up to 700 staff at ITV’s main production centres are set to strike over pay on 7-8 April.
Members of the Amicus and Bectu unions at centres in London, Manchester and Leeds will walk out for 36 hours, with the unions claiming it will disrupt the filming of programmes such as Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
ITV has said it is unlikely viewers will notice any difference.
The strike follows member’s rejection of a 3.3% pay offer in a ballot that closed last week. The unions claim that in the past five years ITV pay has fallen short of average earnings by 10%.
Mike Smallwood, Amicus’s national officer for the broadcast industry, said: “Staff living standards are being eroded year-on-year and they deserve a far better deal given their contribution to the company’s continuing success.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
“Staff have been told the company needs to keep pay in line with inflation yet ITV’s senior management and directors are being awarded excessive amounts,” he said. “We want a substantial increase for our members.”
ITV said that it thought pay was fair.
