Technology offers 2.5% plus bonus

BECTU representatives are consulting with members on a 2.5% pay offer from BBC Technology.

At a pay meeting on March 25 the company, whose pay anniversary date is April 1. tabled an offer of a 2.5% increase, and a bonus of £800 to be paid in December 2004.

This package, in response to a three-year pay claim from BECTU beginning with a 5% rise, was put forward after an earlier offer of 2.3% was rejected as "insulting" by union representatives.

The opening 2.3% offer included a £1,000 bonus to be paid four months after the sale of BBCT - a proposal which is being vigorously contested by the union.

BECTU's demand for a three-year deal, to protect staff in the event of BBCT finally being sold off, was rejected by management. The company also turned down a union demand for guarantees that terms and conditions remain unchanged, and there should be no compulsory redundancies, for three years after the sale.

Negotiators described this as the "minimum that members should expect given the uncertainty facing the company if it is sold".

Despite refusing to offer employment guarantees and protection of pensions if BBCT were sold, the company's management continued to insist that the £2bn sale would be good for staff.

Negotiators will be communicating directly with BBCT members about the pay offer within the next week. BBC Technology has promised that any pay rise will be back-dated if talks continue beyond the April 1 anniversary date.