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BBC prepares pensions deals to head off strike (Read 2777 times)
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BBC prepares pensions deals to head off strike
Aug 6th, 2010, 5:47pm
 
From "The Guardian":-

The BBC is preparing to make significant concessions to controversial plans to overhaul its final salary pension scheme in a bid to head off the threat of industrial action that could hit its Proms coverage.

Staff reacted furiously when the BBC's management announced plans in late June to cap final salary pension benefits for existing members from April 2011, as well as closing the scheme to new employees. The corporation said the changes were necessary to tackle a £2bn pension deficit.

However, generous pension provision has long been regarded by BBC staff as compensation for the fact that salaries at the corporation are generally lower than those at its commercial rivals. In the week after the pension proposals were unveiled, the letters page of BBC in-house magazine Ariel was filled with messages from staff expressing outrage.

Broadcasting unions Bectu and the National Union of Journalists are balloting their BBC members over the pension proposals and the annual pay offer, with Thursday 9 September earmarked as the potential first day for strike action. Industrial action next month could hit BBC programming including its coverage of the climax of the 2010 Proms season.

The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, and other senior executives are understood to be are dismayed at the outrage that has greeted the pension proposals.

Executives are said to be looking at other ways of dealing with the pension deficit including using the proceeds from the sale of a stake in BBC Magazines, which publishes titles including the Radio Times, and the disposal of property including BBC Television Centre in west London.

The BBC Magazines deal could be finalised in the next few months, but the sale of land and property is not likely to be finalised for several years. Any move to tackle the pension deficit will also have to be cleared by regulators.

Thompson will attempt to defuse the pensions row by listening to staff concerns at a pensions forum on Monday, where attendees will include BBC journalists. The meeting will be televised internally by the BBC.

The most contentious issue that BBC management is understood to be seeking to address is the proposal to cap pensionable salaries. From April 2011 the BBC had proposed that pensionable salaries would grow at a maximum of 1% a year, whatever salary increases an employee received. Other options expected to be discussed at the pension forum on Monday include staff paying in more and changing retirement ages.

However, Thompson is also expected to stress that changes will have to be made to the BBC pension scheme. The life expectancy of members is rising and there is a limit to the proportion of licence fee income that can be allocated to tackling the deficit. The BBC is also gearing up for tough negotiations with the coalition government over a new licence fee deal.

The BBC's management aims to draw up revised pension proposals by mid-August, long before the end of the formal 90-day consultation, which can then be costed by the end of the month, ahead of talks with the unions planned for 2 September.


By Maggie Brown:-

Source:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/06/bbc-pensions
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