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UNI affiliate BECTU, the media and entertainment union and the BBC’s biggest union is warning today that the “Delivery Quality First” Programme will fail to deliver on its promise unless the proposals are overhauled.

Today, BECTU has reacted angrily to the BBC’s decision to axe 2000 jobs and to make significant changes to staff terms and conditions including redundancy rights and payments for unsociable working.

The union believes that rather than delivering quality, the policy as it stands will destroy quality at the BBC through its combination of attacks on jobs, attacks on pay and conditions and cutbacks across a broad sweep of programming areas.

Commenting on today’s announcements, Gerry Morrissey, BECTU General Secretary said:

“The proposed salami-slicing cuts to services will destroy quality, destroy jobs and ultimately destroy the BBC.

“BBC staff have been working harder for several years to maintain the BBC’s reputation against a background of a minimum of 3 per cent efficiency savings every year. BECTU does not believe that today’s level of output can be maintained, at the same quality and to the satisfaction of the audience with the level of proposed cuts.”

BECTU does not accept that these proposals are a fait accompli and unless the BBC changes its stance, I believe we will see strike action at the BBC before Christmas.”

Watch BBC Interview with Gerry Morrissey by clicking here

UNI MEI Global joins BECTU in condemning the BBC plans. “This is bad news for workers, quality and sustainability of the BBC, it is the wrong choice. By starving the BBC’s creativity potential its future is put at risk. It is the wrong choice that will not allow shaping the future of public service broadcasting in the digital age to the advantage of citizens in the UK and Europe, said UNI MEI’s Johannes Studinger.

“The BBC has always been the model for public service broadcasting beyond the UK adapting its public service mission to the needs of society in an ever changing environment and the evolution of the media landscape” Studinger added.

UNI MEI and its affiliates will stand by BECTU and workers of the BBC to fight against this bad plan and support all actions BECTU will be driving in the coming weeks and months to bring back vision and action in favour of quality public service broadcasting.