BBCT ballot

Letter to all BECTU members in BBC Technology

29 September 2004

Dear Colleague

BBC Technology Ltd

As you know, the Secretary of State has given the go–ahead for the sale of BBC Technology Limited to Siemens, which is expected to go through by October 1st. This news is not welcomed by BECTU as we have consistently opposed the sale as bad for the BBC, the staff and the licence payer. Since the proposed sell–off was announced in November 2003 we have campaigned to prevent it going ahead, including lobbying MPs and, two weeks ago, putting our case to Tessa Jowell, the Minister at the DCMS. However we have also been fighting to ensure that, in the event of the sale going ahead, the terms and conditions of the staff employed by BBCT would be preserved in the new company, and that battle has been more successful. You should take heart from the fact that as a result of your willingness to threaten industrial action we have achieved the best deal for staff of any sale or transfer from the BBC.

This letter will try and explain some of the details of the offer which protects your terms, conditions and, crucially, your pension. It also contains a ballot paper which asks two questions; the first on the final offer and the second on the sale itself. The negotiating team are neutral on the final offer, and I will explain the legal minefield we have been trying to walk through, but we are asking you to vote NO to the principle of the sale because we still believe that it is wrong to sell BBCT.

The final offer

• No compulsory redundancies for twelve months. This is unprecedented in the BBC;
• Three years’ protection on all Agreed Statements, including the redundancy agreement. This is also the longest period of protection we have ever achieved;
• Three years’ protection of the Final Salary Pension scheme, and a guarantee of six months notice of any substantial changes;
• Final salary pension based on the salary earned in the last year of employment, not the original offer of a pension based on your average pay over the last three years of employment;
• In the event of redundancies, an immediate unreduced pension for those over 50;
• Higher pensionable salary to include UPA allowances as well as any bonus and acting pay.

You will automatically become a member of the Siemens pension scheme from the date of sale. If you choose to transfer your pension from the BBC scheme to the Siemens scheme, if you have no increase in pensionable salary you will be credited with year for year of BBC scheme membership. If you have a higher pensionable salary in Siemens, then your pensionable service will be scaled back to give you the same level of pension as you would have had in the BBC scheme. For future service, you will earn pension on the higher figure. You should take independent advice before you take any decision about transferring your BBC pension. There is a table attached [46K pdf] which gives further details of the pension on offer from Siemens.

All of your other terms and conditions carry across from BBCT into Siemens, including season ticket loans and existing nursery arrangements but excluding BBC Expenses and IT policy. BECTU expects to meet Siemens in the near future to discuss those. The BBC Expenses scheme is partly the result of a dispensation from the Inland Revenue and can only be applied to BBC or associated employees. The new IT policy is very similar to the BBC’s existing document.

Siemens have confirmed that no one will be required to work outside the city where they are currently employed. When staff leave the Service Desk in London the post will be filled in Bristol, and the long–term goal is to have two locations, in Bristol and Durham, but there are no proposals to close White City. In addition, over the next three years Siemens are looking to locate all of their London staff at one location, but any such proposal would be subject to negotiation with BECTU in the usual way.

Legal action

The whole campaign over the sale of BBC Technology has been hobbled by the fact that the law concerning industrial disputes and strikes is very narrowly drawn making it illegal to take strike action against a company sale. It is also illegal to take industrial action unless there is “a significant detriment”, and because the company has kept improving the offer, it has made it impossible to take industrial action over the terms and conditions on offer, and our lawyers have advised us that we risked a challenge in the High Court if we continued with industrial action. This has been very frustrating, not least because many members wished to go on strike to demonstrate their anger at how they have been treated by the BBC. Nonetheless, Siemens can be under no illusion about the willingness of BECTU members to defend their position, and that will be very important in the future.

What next?

The next twelve months are likely to be a crucial period. Although Siemens have guaranteed no compulsory redundancies for 12 months it is clear that in order to achieve the savings required by the BBC there will need to be a significant re–structuring at the end of that period, and despite the reassurances about re–deployment, that will inevitably result in job losses. Your membership of BECTU will be essential in protecting your interests when that happens.

Do vote

There is a ballot paper included with this letter, and it is essential that you vote. As I have already said, BECTU is neutral on Question 1 because in our view the final offer is the best that can be achieved through negotiation. I should be clear with you that it is also the case that we cannot take industrial action to improve it because the law of the land will not allow it. We are urging you to vote NO to question two because we believe that a large NO vote will send a clear message to the BBC and to Siemens that the members in BBCT are still angry about what has happened. Please return your ballot paper in the envelope provided to Luke Crawley at BECTU Head Office 373-377, Clapham Road, London SW9 9BT no later than 12 noon Friday 15th October 2004.

You have been sent this letter because according to our records you are an employee of BBC Technology Ltd. If this is not the case can you please email lmiles@bectu.org.uk and let us know which part of the BBC you work for.

Yours sincerely

Luke Crawley
Supervisory Official
BBC Division