Union recognition at ITV Southern Transmission Centre

BECTU members at ITV's Southern Transmission Centre, formerly part of London News Network, have won collective bargaining rights.
Management voluntarily agreed to recognise BECTU, after the government conciliation service ACAS facilitated an independent check on the union's membership levels among transmission employees at London's South Bank.
Since being taken over by ITV, staff in the 70-strong department have been the focus of an unsettling post-merger reorganisation, although employment is now stable and work is expanding to deliver new channels such as the imminent ITV3.
BECTU official Sharon Elliott said: "Wary of what their new parent company might have in store for them, BECTU members got themselves organised in March to press for formal union recognition. I am pleased to say that we have achieved this thanks to some very able members of staff and to a constructive management team."
Staff in the Transmission bargaining unit will now rely on the voluntary recognition agreement, which confers full negotiating rights, to help them to resolve problems as the new ITV continues to take shape.
(GB)