Bectu call for urgent talks with government following 'shock' sale of BBC Broadcast

One of the main unions representing staff at BBC Broadcast has called for urgent talks with government after the "shock announcement" that a sale has been agreed with Australian-backed consortium Creative Broadcast Services.
The consortium led by Australian banking group Macquarie was revealed as the winning bidder for the BBC subsidiary company with an agreed sale price of £166 million. The announcement at around 2am was timed to coincide with the opening of stock exchanges in Australia, but Bectu said that most staff employed by BBC Broadcast only learned of the news when they reported for work on Monday morning.
The union has claimed that in the BBC's original timetable, the final bidder to buy the company was not due to be named until early July, and Bectu had been expecting the have a round of meetings with other possible buyers to discuss the terms and benefits on offer to BBC Broadcast's 900-plus staff as negotiations continued.
While the sale has yet to be approved by government, the early announcement of Macquarie as the buyer makes it likely that the BBC will meet its own target of an August completion of the deal.
The union said that at a recent meeting with all four shortlisted bidders, managers from the Macquarie consortium had confirmed that demands for staff guarantees would be met if they bought BBC Broadcast. Although Macquarie has promised to meet union demands for protection of terms and conditions, including access to a final-salary pension scheme, union sources anticipate that members in BBC Broadcast will reject the sale in a separate ballot that does not close until July 4.
Bectu has asked to meet the Minister for Culture, Media, and Sport, as soon as possible to voice concerns about the sell-off.
(SP)