Ed Miliband urges BBC staff not to strike in Cameron's speech.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

Ed Miliband urges BBC staff not to strike during David Cameron's speech

Labour leader says in the 'interests of impartiality and fairness' Tory party conference should be aired on TV and radio

Ed Miliband: called on BBC staff not to black out David Cameron's party conference speech. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA The Labour (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/labour) party leader, Ed Miliband (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/edmiliband), today called on BBC (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/bbc) staff not to black out David Cameron (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron)'s party conference speech by going on strike next week.
Miliband said in the "interests of impartiality and fairness" the prime minister's speech should be broadcast on television and radio.
The BBC's coverage of Cameron's speech next week could be hit by a 48-hour strike due to begin on Tuesday, 5 October. A second 48-hour strike is planned for 19 October, which would hit BBC coverage of chancellor George Osborne's spending review announcement.
"Whatever the rights and wrongs of the dispute between [the broadcasting unions] and the BBC, they should not be blacking out the prime minister's speech," he added.
"My speech was seen and heard on the BBC and in the interests of impartiality and fairness, so the prime minister's should be."
Miliband's call comes after it emerged yesterday that a potential rebellion is brewing against the strike among the BBC's senior news presenters and political journalists, who wrote to the National Union of Journalists expressing "serious concerns" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/30/jeremy-paxman-bbc-strike-tory-conference) about the plan for a stoppage during the Tory conference.
The letter, signed by 36 BBC journalists including Huw Edwards, Jeremy Paxman, Martha Kearney and Nick Robinson, said that taking strike action during the conference "risks looking unduly partisan – particularly when none of the other party conferences have been targeted".
Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, also yesterday urged staff to "reflect" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/30/mark-thompson-bbc-pension) on whether the dates chosen by officials for the industrial action were the right ones.
Thompson said he had stood on picket lines in the past, but "everyone at the BBC should put the public first". "The public should get undisrupted high quality services," he added.
Gerry Morrissey, the general secretary of Bectu, expressed the union's "dissatisfaction" with Miliband's intervention.
"As a Labour party affiliate, Bectu places on record its dissatisfaction with Ed Miliband's statement today. The leader's intervention is not helpful and is dismissive of our actions as a responsible trade union which has been negotiating with the employer on this issue for three long months," Morrissey said.
Miliband this week sought to allay fears that he would reward affiliated trade unions for backing him in the leadership race in his first keynote speech since being elected Labour leader,
Miliband's victory at the hands of his older brother David came after he won the union section of the three way selectoral college, despite winning fewer votes among MPs and party members, prompting the Conservatives (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives) to accuse the party of lurching to the left.
The Labour leader, who was endorsed by the leaders of the three biggest unions – Unite, Unison and the GMB told delegates, which included leaders of affiliated unions, that he would have "no truck" with overblown rhetoric about waves of irresponsible strikes.
"The public won't support them. I won't support them and you shouldn't support them either," he said, prompting trade unionists to point out that the lengthy process that brings members to the brink of industrial action is never taken lightly or irresponsibly.
The broadcasting unions – the NUJ, Bectu and Unite – are holding a final joint meeting today to decide whether next week's strike will go ahead.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/01/ed-miliband-bbc-strike

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

And now this:


NUJ suspends planned BBC strike

The NUJ's Jeremy Dear: "We have achieved a great deal in terms of making the BBC move...to something we think is fairer"



A BBC strike planned for next week has been suspended, the National Union of Journalists has announced.
The NUJ said the corporation has made an improved offer in an ongoing dispute over proposed cuts to the BBC's pension scheme.
General secretary Jeremy Dear said a "significant new offer" had been made and members would be consulted.
Two further dates on 19 and 20 October are still scheduled to take place.

"We have received in the past few hours what we consider to be a significant new offer from the BBC," Mr Dear said.
"There are still some issues to be clarified around it, so we're going to consult with our members and see what they think of it. But we have achieved a great deal in terms of making the BBC move from their original, extremely punitive proposals to something we think is fairer."
The strike call came after a BBC announcement of plans to cap pensionable pay at 1% from next April and revalue pensions at a lower level.
Mr Dear added: "We're not saying it's a done deal yet - we're going to consult with members and therefore in order for that to happen we've called off the first two strike dates, but we've left two strike days on the 19 and 20 October and been given the authority by our members to call further strike dates should that be necessary."
'Impartiality and fairness'
Union members had been planning to strike on 5 and 6 October, dates which clash with the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband urged BBC staff not go ahead with the industrial action, saying it was only fair that Prime Minister David Cameron's speech was covered by the BBC.
"My speech was seen and heard on the BBC and in the interests of impartiality and fairness, so the prime minister's should be," he said.
Mr Miliband's call comes a day after several BBC news presenters and journalists wrote a letter to the NUJ, saying they had "serious concerns" about the industrial action.
Newsnight presenters Jeremy Paxman and Emily Maitlis were among the 36 signatories who claimed that the strike risked "looking unduly partisan".
A second 48-hour strike is planned for 19 October, which would hit BBC coverage of chancellor George Osborne's spending review announcement.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11455116

Sorry about formatting.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Whilst i'd dearly love to see the lights turned off for the Tory conference, and whilst the NUJ should use the most militant means available to them, it'd be a political own goal to strike just the Tory conference.

They should have planned to hit the last day of the Labour conference and then go on until and including the day of David Camerons speech in the Tory conference. That way nobody could really have accused them of partisanship.:)

[brigadista]

so much for "Red Ed"