The BBC said today it believed "an opportunity to resolve this dispute is now in sight", but said nothing about whether any of the 3,780 proposed jobs facing the axe would be saved.
Broadcasting unions Bectu, NUJ and Amicus will now ballot and reply with an official response to the BBC on May 31, the day the proposed second wave of strikes were due to start.
The BBC said it had tried to be "flexible" in meeting the unions' concerns, but it seems clear that unions will not pull out of strike action altogether unless the BBC looks at other cost-saving tactics without the need for compulsory redundancies.
Unions agreed to meet on Thursday to discuss strike action after an invitation by arbitration body Acas following Monday's strike and a threatened two more days of strikes over job cuts.
The 48-hour strike on May 31 was expected to be supported by up to 10,000 members of staff, including top BBC presenters Natasha Kaplinsky, Jeremy Paxman, Jeremy Vine and Fiona Bruce who did not cross picket lines on Monday.
This week's walkout caused problems to some parts of the corporation with programmes such as 'Today' on Radio 4 and 'Newsnight' cancelled, while other parts were able to operate as normal.
However, a 48-hour strike would be far more damaging effecting production on soap stalwarts 'EastEnders' and 'Holby City', as well as news and sports programming.
Broadcasting unions 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 rubbished the reports claiming only 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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