The BBC has welcomed the news that BECTU and the NUJ trade union members have voted in favour of the proposed changes to employment Terms and Conditions.
The BBC said that it is a significant moment in helping make the BBC simpler, fairer and more consistent.
77% of BECTU members and 58% of NUJ members voted in favour of the deal which has been developed in collaboration with all the BBC’s unions. All of the BBC’s unions endorsed the proposals to their members.
The three-year pay deal, backdated from August 2017 and running until the end of July 2020, is for 2 per cent in 2017/18, 2 per cent in 2018/19 and 2.5 per cent (or the licence fee settlement percentage if higher) in 2019/20.
The new deal forms the cornerstone of changes to ways of working across the BBC. It will modernise terms and conditions, reforms old allowances and simplify our structures. It will:
> Introduce a simplified approach to contracts
> Offer a new approach to balancing organisational flexibility and work/life balance
> Agree a three year pay award and simplified pay and grading structure
> Simplify policies
Anne Bulford, BBC Deputy Director-General says: “We welcome this ballot result and the news that members of the NUJ and BECTU have voted in favour of simple, fair and consistent proposals which are an essential part of modernising the BBC. Throughout the past 18 months we have been engaged in a collaborative process with the unions and these changes will benefit staff, the BBC, and most importantly the audiences we serve.”
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “There is still a lot of work to be done on terms and conditions, particularly on night working and on weekend working – which we plan to ensure will deliver further improvements to working patterns and conditions for NUJ members at the BBC, particularly those who routinely work unsocial hours. It’s now time for the BBC’s commitments to better working conditions and greater work-life balance to be put into action. The new pay structure still requires collective effort to make it work, but it is a structure that will provide greater transparency and assist in holding the BBC to account on pay parity now and in the future.”
BECTU’s assistant national secretary Noel McClean added: “There were a number of big and significant issues that needed to be addressed in this deal. Our members engaged with us on an unprecedented level to make sure that we were negotiating the best possible deal for them. Without that level of engagement we would not have been able to get this result.”