NUJ strike at the BBC over pensions

Cheryl Pidgeon, left,
and Chris Morley addressing
striking NUJ members outside
The Mailbox in Birmingham

NUJ members have been out in force today protesting about the attack on their pension scheme by the BBC.
They are being asked to take pension cuts of between £100,000 and £10,000.
These are the kinds of sums every BBC employee faces losing under plans to impose changes on their pensions.
"It’s unfair and unacceptable", said NUJ Northern Organiser Chris Morley, " NUJ members have paid their contributions every month to save for a decent retirement – now the BBC is seeking to unilaterally alter the terms of the pension scheme and devalue the pension entitlement they have already built up. For all BBC staff it means paying more, working longer or getting significantly lower pensions. In some cases, all three!"

The BBC does not yet even know the size of any pension scheme deficit – the valuation is not due until next year.

Cheryl Pidgeon, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary added, "I spoke to a number of NUJ members on the picket line today and it is clear they wouldn’t feel so angry if BBC staff really were all in this together – but senior BBC executives are still enjoying their £1m pay-offs and pensions of up to £230,000 a year."

The NUJ is not asking for higher pensions. It is not even saying it wouldn’t consider paying more or working longer for a fair pension settlement.

"What we don't want" said Chris Morley, "is a pension which will lose a significant part of its value every single year for the rest of our lives – which is what will happen under the BBC’s current proposals. It also means a pension where what has been promised to us - which we have already paid for - is protected."