This is taken from The Guardian:

Unions give BBC ultimatum on pensions

by Leigh Holmwood
Thursday May 4, 2006

Broadcasting unions have given the BBC until tomorrow to agree to further negotiations over planned changes to its pension scheme or face the prospect of renewed strike action.

Bectu, the National Union of Journalists and Amicus wrote to the BBC at the end of last week setting the new deadline.

The unions are angry the corporation is refusing to negotiate over its plan to make major changes to its final pension scheme, including closing the scheme to new members, raising the retirement age of 16,000 current staff from 60 to 65 and increasing contributions.

If the BBC refuses to budge, the unions have said they will ballot their members for strike action, which could affect the corporation's coverage of major summer events, including the World Cup and Wimbledon.

The BBC is already facing strike action over its programme of compulsory redundancies, and Bectu official Luke Crawley said the union planned to put the two strike options to their members in one go.

He added the corporation's current two-month consultation exercise with its 25,000 staff and the unions on the pensions issue was not enough.

"The BBC's pension fund is not in deficit and there is no need to make changes," he said.

A BBC spokeswoman defended the corporation's plans.

"The BBC's range of proposals seek to sustain the BBC's currently healthy pension scheme well into the future," she said.

"The BBC is actively canvassing for views on its proposals and we are awaiting the unions' formal response as part of the consultation process. The BBC has made it clear that doing nothing is not an option."