Worldwide 2.5% offer

BECTU and the NUJ have called on BBC Worldwide to increase its initial 2.5% pay offer for 2004.

The offer, tabled at a meeting in early April, was the company's response to a 5% pay claim submitted by the unions.

Management argued that they could not justify a pay rise over inflation, which was running at 2.5% when the meeting took place.

In spite of celebrating year-end figures which revealed a 16% increase in the contribution Worldwide makes to the BBC, now £123m a year, managers said that the current financial year was turning into "the worst yet".

The pay offer is underpinned by a minimum payment of £450, meaning that any staff on a basic salary of less than £18,000, will receive more than 2.5%.

Worldwide's pay anniversary date is July 1, one month ahead of the BBC, and union officials are hoping that there will be further talks about the offer long before the deadline.