BBC unions ready for job cuts fight

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Director General Mark Thompson will present cost-cutting plans to the BBC Trust on Wednesday to plug a £2 billion funding shortfall, with TV and radio news, factual programmes and websites expected to be hardest hit.

Mr Thompson will soften the blow by announcing up to 1,000 new jobs, but he could still be facing industrial action by journalists and technical staff.

The broadcasting workers' union Bectu and the National Union of Journalists will make it clear they will not accept any compulsory redundancies and will demand a risk assessment of staff left at the BBC after the cuts to make sure they can cope with any extra workload.

A source warned that strikes would be "inevitable" if these demands are not met.

Several hundred jobs are expected to be axed in factual programmes, which makes programmes such as Planet Earth, Panorama and Top Gear, around 600 in news, 80 in sport as well as cuts in Scotland, Wales and in the corporation's online business.

The cuts will amount to around 12% of the BBC's total workforce but some departments could be facing reductions of 20%.

The budget for producing original programmes is also expected to be reduced, leading to speculation that the number of repeats on BBC TV will increase.

Unions will press for staff to be redeployed or given the chance to apply for one of the new jobs being created.

Journalists will stage a lobby outside Broadcasting House on Wednesday ahead of the Trust's meeting. Staff will be given details of the cuts at meetings on Thursday morning, and unions will meet later to decide their response.