BECTU has expressed ‘disappointment’ at the progress of talks with STV following the announcement of the closure of STV2.
BECTU negotiators have expressed their disappointment at STV’s decision to move to a ‘selection for retention’ process to fill six posts in the Craft and Technical areas which support the news operation.
The move is just one aspect of the fallout from the company’s decision to close the STV2 channel after a year and to link this to a cost-cutting exercise in the main channel.
In the last few weeks BECTU has succeeded in securing reductions in the post closures proposed originally by STV and the union remains committed to opposing any compulsory redundancies by all means at its disposal.
The closure of STV2 announced in May meant that around 25 staff faced the prospect of losing their jobs with the post closures phased over three tranches at the end of June, the end of August and the end of December. Almost daily negotiations between BECTU and senior STV managers mean that solutions have and are being arrived at for BECTU members at STV2.
While the closure of STV2 is regrettable it is perhaps more understandable given the six figure annual losses it has suffered; however the rationale for cuts within Craft and Technical areas doesn’t stand up, says BECTU, given the company’s intention to replace high end craft roles with less specialist, multi-skilled roles on lower salaries. As this story was posted it was confirmed that three people were at risk of redundancy in Craft and Technical areas.
Looking ahead, Paul McManus, Scottish officer said: “BECTU is continuing to work with affected members to secure alternative employment or to reach outcomes acceptable to the individuals, indeed since STV announced the selection processes we have now managed to reduce the number of affected posts from six to three.”
Management has made it clear from the outset that, outside of the STV2 roles, any post closures would not be expected to take effect until the end of the year.
Management has agreed to consider any applications for voluntary redundancy from the wider staff group to see if opportunities for alternative employment may be available to staff who may be being identified as at risk of redundancy.