NUJ members at the BBC have voted by 70% to reject the latest offer from the management on pension changes and are intending to take action by striking for 48 hours on 5 and 6 November and again on 15 and 16 November with further dates to be named in the coming days. Here is the text of an appeal now being circulated:
Support NUJ members fighting for fair pensions at BBC
Can you afford to simply give away £100,000, £25,000 or even ‘just’ £10,000? Of course not.
But those are the kinds of sums every journalist faces losing under the BBC’s latest pension proposal.
It’s
unfair and unacceptable. For all BBC staff it means paying more,
working longer or getting significantly lower pensions. In some cases,
all three!
BBC journalists are not asking for higher pensions. They
are not even saying they wouldn’t consider paying more or working longer
for a fair pension settlement.
That means a deal based on the real deficit in the scheme, not speculative and questionable figures.
It
means a pension which does not lose a significant part of its value
every single year for the rest of their lives – which is what will
happen under the current proposals.
And it should be a deal that means what has been promised to them – which they have already paid for – is protected.
The current offer fails those tests and it fails BBC staff.
That’s
why they’ve been left with no choice but to take industrial action on 5
and 6 November and 15 and 16 November. They can’t afford not to.and
they need YOUR support
Jeremy Dear, General Secretary
How you can help:
- Make a donation. Make cheques payable to NUJ (marked on back BBC Strike
hardship fund) and send to General Secretary, NUJ, Headland House, 308
Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP. - Send messages of support. Messages should be sent to campaigns@nuj.org.uk
- Join the picket lines – visit your local BBC centre to join the picket
on 5 and 6 November. For further details of picket times/places contact campaigns@nuj.org.uk - Invite a speaker – contact your local BBC rep or campaigns@nuj.org.uk to arrange a speaker for your next meeting
- Keep up to date on developments – see www.nuj.org.uk for the latest news of meetings and action.
