BBC programmes cancelled as staff strike

LONDON- BBC journalists and other employees began a 24-hour strike over job cuts on Monday which seriously disrupted live programming on television and radio.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and two other unions representing technical workers were striking to protest plans by BBC Director General Mark Thompson to cut about 20 per cent of its workforce, or about 4000 jobs.

BBC One's Breakfast programme was running with a basic service and one presenter.

Its flagship Today programme on Radio 4 was replaced by a pre-recorded programme on music and BBC 2's Newsnight was expected to be cancelled later on Monday.

BBC News 24 and BBC World switched to recorded news bulletins after midnight although they later resumed some live news broadcasting.

The NUJ said staff for the foreign language service of the World Service had also joined the picket line.

The broadcaster said it regretted the strike action and would do everything it could to produce the best possible service.

"Industrial action will not remove the need for further consultation or the need for the BBC to implement changes which will enable us to put more money into improved programmes and services," it said in a statement.

The NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear called on the BBC to "understand and respond to the anger and concern at job cuts which will undermine quality, threaten the working conditions of staff and devalue the BBC for viewers and listeners".

The NUJ along with the Bectu and AMICUS unions voted on May 12 to authorise four strike days: 24 hours on May 23, 48 hours over May 31 and June 1, and a fourth day without a set date.

They chose to avoid big events like the Wimbledon tennis tournament, televised on the BBC.

The unions had said they would call off the strike if the BBC granted a 90-day moratorium to the planned staff cuts, guaranteed that any redundancies be voluntary and protected conditions of jobs set to be outsourced.

- REUTERS