Members of the Communication Workers Union employed at the TV licensing center in Bristol, UK voted 95% in favor of industrial action. Staff have been angered by the decision of Capita Group Plc, the company contracted by the BBC to administer the license fee, to shift administration work to Mumbai.
Two consecutive days of strike action are set to start on January 29, with some 124 staff expected to take part. CWU members have been left with no alternative but to take industrial action as Capita are unwilling to provide long-term guarantees in relation to jobs, said the union’s assistant secretary Andy Furey.
It is not the first time that trade unions have threatened to disrupt the BBC’s outsourcing policy. In July 2004, the Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union opposed the corporation’s plans to hand over its IT department to Siemens Business Services.
There was also an angry reaction to the BBC’s decision to award Xansa Plc a major finance and accounting contract in October last year. While Xansa is a UK-based company, and has pledged to keep all voice work in the UK, the bulk of the project will be administered from its center in Chennai, India.
