BBC VoTeS FoR sTrIke

BBC news production staff have voted by an overwhelming majority of 95% for strike action in a dispute over rota changes.

Broadcasting union Bectu, which called the ballot, which closed at lunchtime, said it would meet on Monday to decide when a first 12-hour strike will take place.

The union has a seven-day window for action from when it informs the corporation and previously said it wanted to cause as "much disruption as possible".

The BBC's main news bulletins as well as News 24 could be affected as news production staff deal with live news feeds and give technical support.

The strike action comes after rota changes were forced on BBC news production staff.

The BBC has told employees it is cutting back shifts from 12 hours to between eight and 10 hours, but not reducing total working hours. The result is that staff will have to work more shifts.

In the ballot, in which 67 members of staff took part, 95% voted for strike action while a second question asking if they would take part in non-strike industrial action was also supported by 95%.

Bectu supervisory official Luke Crawley said the huge vote in support of strike action showed the depth of feeling among staff.

"The size of the yes vote will let BBC news know how angry people are about these enforced changes," he said. "The strikes when they come will be well supported."

A BBC spokesman said: "We have contingency plans and we will work towards zero disruption for our audiences."

My views on this are that the BBC should not have changed the rota schedules because it worked well beforehand, and now resulting in people wanting to strike. The managers of BBC should recongise that this is not working and so talk to the employees and ask what best suits them. Less employes equals a slower workforce and results into targets not being met.