ITV staff close to strike vote

Staff at ITV have rejected the UK commercial broadcaster’s pay offer for 2015 and have vowed to hold a strike ballot if it’s not improved.

Unions representing ITV employees are angry at the below-inflation 2% offer, which comes at a time when the broadcaster’s financial performance is strong.

A strike was previously mooted in December over what unions described as “miserly pay.”

In a recent vote, members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) voted 85% in favour of moving to a ballot for strike action, members of Bectu voted 86% in favour and Unite 78% in favour.

Sue Harris, NUJ national broadcasting officer, said: “This resounding yes vote to move to a strike ballot, unless the pay offer is improved, must be taken seriously by the ITV management.

“We are now prepared to go back to the negotiating table and hope the management will see sense and put a proper, decent offer forward and be as generous as they were with the deal given to ITV executives.”

An ITV spokesman previously said: “We believe that the offer we have made is a fair one, reflecting our current circumstances and is consistent with recent pay awards agreed across the media sector and in UK private sector business.”

ITV came under fire recently after revealing that its CEO, Adam Crozier, was paid £8.4m (US$13.15) last year.