BBC staff could strike by February

BBC staff will hold a strike ballot by January 9 and could walk out in January or February, the National Union of Journalists has confirmed.

Its national broadcasting organiser Paul McLaughlin said leaders of the NUJ, BECTU and Amicus/Unite had agreed on action. He added that the strike would happen between a week and a month after the ballot.

It follows the announcement that the corporation will be making compulsory redundancies because of budget cuts. McLaughlin said the unions had been clear they would not accept it and blamed a weak search for voluntary redundancies.

"The unions have told them in words of one syllable that there is no need for them to force people out of their jobs," he explained. "They did such a narrow trawl for volunteers that they've not produced the results."

The corporation wants to cut up to 2,000 jobs over a period of years.