More talks halts BBC pensions strike
A planned strike by BBC journalists which would have disrupted TV and radio programmes next week has been called off to allow fresh talks in a row over pensions.
Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) staged a 48-hour walkout last Friday and Saturday and were due to strike again next Monday and Tuesday. But it said last night the corporation had agreed to hold fresh talks about planned changes to the pension scheme and had also dropped disciplinary action taken against a handful of employees who took part in last week's strike.
BBC director general Mark Thompson warned that the BBC had not changed its pension reform package drawn up in the face of a 1.5bn deficit. It could not afford to revisit the terms of an agreement it had reached with unions representing other staff but was willing to give "greater clarity" about how the pension reform package will work.