February BBC Strike Action Suspended

Bectu and the NUJ have agreed to suspend industrial action which was set to take place on February 28.
Management made a last-minute offer to postpone a number of compulsory redundancies, and agreed to refer a separate dispute over new rotas to government conciliator ACAS.
The BBC had been facing an all-out stoppage of union members in BBC TV News on February 26, followed by three days of action by 100 staff in a technical department affected by the rota changes.
Formal notice of the strikes was given to the BBC over a week ago, since when managers have redoubled efforts to find redeployment opportunities for fewer than 10 staff who were threatened with compulsory redundancy under Mark Thompson's value-for-money savings programme.
As of February 22, the BBC confirmed that most of the compulsory redundancies had now been avoided, and that notice of dismissal would be lifted from other staff who had not secured resettlement positions elsewhere in News.
Those without replacement posts now have until May 1 to find jobs, however the unions have warned that strike action could be revived if notice of redundancy is issued to them at any stage.
For Bectu members in News Production Facilities (NPF), whose rota dispute has now been referred to ACAS, the same warning has been given, and industrial action remains likely if the conciliation talks fail to produce an agreed settlement.
The dispute over redundancies in News stretches back to May 2005, when BBC unions took strike action against plans for up to 4,000 job cuts at the Corporation.
In News unions have since agreed more than 400 post reductions, all of which were achieved by voluntary means, or natural wastage, leaving fewer than a dozen staff facing compulsory cuts.
Bectu will now stand down from the arrangements that were in place for four days of action, and will be alerting thousands of freelance members who expressed support for the stoppages that they are in no danger of crossing picket lines if they accept engagements from the BBC next week.
(DS)