BBC in attempt to prevent further union strike action

LONDON - BBC managers are urging unions to call off next week's two-day strike and enter into talks with director-general Mark Thompson over his proposed 3,780 job cuts.

Thousands of BBC staff are due to strike on May 31 and June 1 next week, causing flagship programmes such as 'Today' on Radio 4 and 'Newsnight' on BBC Two to be pulled again.

BBC deputy director-general Mark Byford told the Radio 4 'Today' programme executives wanted to resume talks with broadcasting unions.

"Let me stress, we want to talk to the unions about these changes. We are here to listen and ready to talk," he said.

But members from the three unions -- the National Union of Journalists, Bectu and Amicus -- have accused the BBC of leaving no room for negotiations.

"We have not had a single piece of meaningful negotiation," NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear told 'Today'.

"We want them to commit to negotiate a way of achieving savings that need to be made without the need for compulsory redundancies," he added.

It is understood that up to 9,000 staff will join next week's 48-hour walkout, including high-profile BBC presenters Natasha Kaplinsky, Jeremy Vine and Fiona Bruce, who also refused to cross picket lines yesterday.

The corporation played down figures from broadcasting unions, which hailed Monday's strike as the most successful in the BBC's history -- with between 13,000 and 15,000 staff staying at home.

The BBC claimed that 10,500 out of 17,000 expected to work had turned up and more than 90% of the corporation's marketing and human resources departments made it in.

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