BBC engineers and technicians strike

Unite engineers and technicians working for a company contracted by the BBC began strike action Tuesday (August 19) in sites across London over forced redundancies.

The Unite members almost unanimously voted for strike action, with 93 per cent of the 160 workers supporting the strike, which is set to end on Thursday morning (August 21).

Interserve, the contractor that supplies the BBC with facilities management services for over 150 of its buildings, took over the new contract in April, and has since given notice to make over half of its engineers redundant. Originally, Interserve had intended to make three-quarters of them redundant.

The threat of redundancies are thought to be a result of Interserve agreeing a price for the BBC contract that was much lower than other contract bidders, leaving the company struggling to achieve any profit.

Unite has repeatedly asked Interserve for risk assessments of its new manning plans, but the contractor has only come back with generic assessments that are not based on site and task specifics.

Unite demands that Interserve halt its dismissal process immediately and that it provide answers to key health and safety concerns.

Unite industrial officer Mike Eatwell said, “Interserve is seeking to displace experienced engineers and run its operation on a shoestring. Not surprisingly for the BBC, as the client, there are also attractions for a cheaper service. But our members who know the BBC sites and the requirements of the client over many years argue that this will lead to higher costs to the BBC when the reduced service cannot cope.”