UNION ACCUSE CARLTON OF SCARE TACTICS

Carlton TV have been accused of intimidation as Midlands union members vote on action.
In a letter circulated to members BECTU say Ian Squires, Carlton’s Midlands Region Managing Director, has threatened to move production away from Birmingham, Nottingham, and Abingdon, if members vote for industrial action over a pay claim.
Ballot papers were sent to BECTU and NUJ members this week on March 14 after talks on a 2.5 per cent pay offer collapsed at ACAS. As the ballot started, staff at the three Carlton sites in the Midlands received a letter from Squires in which he warned that the company would respond to industrial action by moving programmes to "other locations".
He went on to say that: "Any programmes we do move will be unlikely to return."
Union negotiators have condemned the threat as a crude attempt to influence the outcome of the industrial action ballot, and in a letter sent to members, said that they were "well used to this tactic, and have seen it regularly employed by managers whenever they are faced with strong and determined opposition to their cost-cutting plans".
According to BECTU, the move demonstrated that Carlton's commitment to the Midlands region was “skin deep”, and any retreat from regional programme production would be resisted industrially and politically.
The company had claimed that the 2.5 per cent pay offer was reasonable because staff received an exceptional bonus at the end of 2000 equivalent to almost 17 per cent of their basic salary. The unions emphasised that one-off bonuses should not be a replacement for proper pay rates, and pointed out that terms and conditions at for Midlands staff had worsened since Central TV was taken over by London-based Carlton.
Members taking part in the ballot, which closes on March 28, have been encouraged to ignore what have been described as the “bullying tactics” of Carlton management by voting strongly in favour of industrial action over pay. (CD)