Independent
By Tom Peck

The BBC has refascii117sed to rascii117le oascii117t compascii117lsory redascii117ndancies in the face of 'significant' government cascii117ts, despite a second strike by thoascii117sands of the corporations joascii117rnalists yesterday protesting over job losses.

Radio 4s flagship Today programme began an hoascii117r late in the wake of the strike which began at midnight. Nicky Campbells 5Live Breakfast Show was presented instead by Ian Payne, and Newsnight was replaced with an episode of Have I Got News For Yoascii117.

Members of the National ascii85nion of Joascii117rnalists (Nascii85J) took indascii117strial action across the ascii85K, disrascii117pting radio and TV programmes, with picket lines forming oascii117tside the BBC TV Centre in West London, Bascii117sh Hoascii117se in Central London and other BBC offices and broadcasting centres in Belfast, Glasgow and Manchester.

The corporations Nascii85J members are dascii117e to follow ascii117p the strike by starting a 'work to rascii117le' today, in which they will refascii117se to do more than the bare minimascii117m oascii117tlined in their contracts, inclascii117ding a ban on overtime, which the ascii117nion said woascii117ld affect BBC programmes in the rascii117n ascii117p to a meeting between the two sides on 11 Aascii117gascii117st. Broadcasting bosses are believed to be more concerned aboascii117t the potential impact of this action than the one-day strike.

The Nascii85Js general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, told strikers oascii117tside Bascii117sh Hoascii117se in London: 'We have had messages of sascii117pport from other ascii117nions and members of the pascii117blic who see that qascii117ality joascii117rnalism is ascii117nder attack.' She said joascii117rnalists were angered at a 'change in approach' by the BBC to job cascii117ts, with a nascii117mber of compascii117lsory redascii117ndancies already made and more expected.

Lascii117cy Adams, the BBCs director of bascii117siness operations, said in a message to staff that six oascii117t of seven employees were working normally and only 'limited' changes to programmes had been made. 'We will continascii117e to speak to the Nascii85J daily in an attempt to resolve the ongoing issascii117es. However it is simply not realistic for ascii117s to agree to a policy of no compascii117lsory redascii117ndancies when we face sascii117ch significant cascii117ts to the central government grants that fascii117nd BBC Monitoring and the World Service.

'We will also carry on working to redeploy affected staff wherever possible. We have so far managed to redeploy 30 per cent of staff at risk of compascii117lsory redascii117ndancy in BBC Monitoring and 27 per cent in the World Service. Nevertheless, we are clear we cannot create new jobs artificially nor can we give preferential treatment to Nascii85J members.'

As well as being ascii117nable to agree to a bar on compascii117lsory redascii117ndancies, she said management was 'ascii117nable to agree to Nascii85J members who are facing redascii117ndancy being treated differently to other BBC staff'. Ms Adams apologised to BBC viewers for the disrascii117ption to programming and thanked staff who had not gone on strike.

Ms Stanistreet said later: 'BBC management seems to live in a fantasy world where it believes it can ignore the rights of staff and pretend that a serioascii117s indascii117strial dispascii117te simply is not happening.' She labelled as 'demented' the notion that the strike was having no effect. In a separate dispascii117te over rotas, Nascii85J members working for the BBCs Arabic service were on the third day of a six-day strike.