A reminder to all list subscribers who have regular contact with the BBC,
press officers etc.
Please do not co-operate with the BBC even in terms of sending press
releases etc on the days of the strikes, starting tomorrow (Monday).
Eddie

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Eddie Truman
Press Officer
Scottish Socialist Party
07919 868463
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BBC chief under fire for warning over strike action
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=559912005

ARTHUR MACMILLAN AND GUY DIXON


THE head of BBC Scotland has been severely criticised by his own journalists
after an e-mail was sent warning them about the implications of going on
strike tomorrow.
Much of BBC Scotland's live TV and radio news output will be affected as up
to 1,000 staff - two-thirds of the workforce - take part in a 24-hour strike
over job cuts.
Some staff said station controller Ken MacQuarrie effectively accused them
of using industrial action as an excuse to take time off sick.
In an e-mail to staff about industrial action, MacQuarrie said: "As the BBC
does not necessarily know which individuals are members of a union, anyone
who is absent from work on Monday will be deemed to be on strike and pay
will be deducted for the hours lost. The same approach applies to
freelancers, casuals and contractors."
Although MacQuarrie said the e-mail was being issued by the BBC's human
resources department as guidance, it was signed 'Kenny'. Scottish staff said
his intervention has done nothing but anger journalists already worried
about losing their jobs.
One insider said: "The tone of the letter was out of order and threatening.
It was way over the score. And he's got a bit of a cheek talking about
people 'having the right to work'. That's the very thing he's trying to take
away from us. We are the ones who want to build a BBC with a future, they're
trying to take the BBC away from us."
In the e-mail sent last week, MacQuarrie said that all working from home,
medical appointments and annual leave on a strike day must be agreed in
advance or pay deductions would be made as the BBC would assume that any
unapproved non-attendance was in support of the strike.
"Everyone has the right to cross a picket line," he said. "A picket does not
have the right to require people to stop, to compel them to listen or to
insist they take any literature."
In a personal note to staff, MacQuarrie added: "Whether or not we agree or
disagree on points of the dispute, we are all colleagues and our
professionalism to one another and our respect for one another should remain
unchanged."
But the e-mail triggered a furious response from unions. Pete Murray, deputy
leader of the National Union of Journalists chapel at BBC Scotland, said:
"For the most part people think Ken's letter was pathetic. We are not going
to intimidate anybody. If he wants to pretend that people will be taking the
day off sick he can, but journalists will be off because they're against
massive cuts to BBC programmes, not because they want to be."
BBC Scotland plans to cut 195 jobs in the next three years to make savings
which will be reinvested in new programmes. Unions claim that quality will
suffer.
Across Britain up to half of the BBC's 25,000 employees are expected to stay
away from work tomorrow. More industrial action is planned on 31 May and 1
June.
News and current affairs programmes are considered likely to be worst hit.
The Good Morning Scotland radio show is expected to be the first casualty,
when only a skeleton staff arrives for work at 6am.
BBC1's Reporting Scotland evening programme at 6.30pm is likely to be cut
from its normal length of half an hour to as little as five minutes. BBC2's
Newsnight Scotland is also expected to be shortened.
A BBC Scotland spokesman added: "The e-mail was sent out by every manager in
the BBC in direct response to requests from a large number of staff, many of
whom have not been involved in industrial action before, for information
about what was happening on Monday. The BBC has an excellent track record of
conducting previous industrial disputes in a spirit of mutual respect. We
expect that to be the case here."


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