BECTU CHALLENGE BBC PENSION CUTS

BECTU are to challenge BBC plans to cut the pension rights of redundant staff.
The union has been given notice that the Corporation is to end a special formula which enhances pensions of staff who end employment early because of redundancy.
Staff over 50 years old who are compulsorily retired currently receive a 20 per cent uplift in pension, while redundant staff aged between 40 and 44 are also given special treatment.
Management have said that the formula, which is subject to periodic review, will not be continued beyond March 2002. Staff made redundant after that date will qualify for normal pension treatment, leaving them significantly worse off in retirement.
For staff retiring over the age of 50, the change takes effect on April 1 2002. Staff aged from 40-44 with more than ten years' service who are given notice of redundancy on or before March 30 2002 will have pensions calculated on the special formula, even if their actual leaving date is later.
According to the BBC the change was "not made lightly", and is thought by the union to be a consequence of a fall in share prices cutting the value of the BBC Pension Fund.
The special formula was introduced in the mid-80s as a means to soften the blow of redundancy for staff caught up in the massive job cuts pushed through by then DG John Birt.
His successor, Greg Dyke, has claimed to have changed the culture of redundancy at the BBC, by insisting that job cuts do not go ahead without approval of senior management.
However, his "One BBC" reorganisation, which is intended to cut overheads from 24 per cent to 16 per cent over three years, has led to as many as 1,000 post closures in the last year. Most recently, the BBC's Factual and Learning Division announced 126 job cuts, many of them among documentary programme-makers.
Renewal of the special pensions formula was part of the joint union pay claim for 2002, which was submitted last month.
BECTU has called for a meeting with BBC management to discuss the planned changes, which are likely to stiffen resistance to redundancies in future rounds of job cuts. (CD)