Unions warn BBC of strike ballot

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The threat comes after BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced plans to axe 2,500 jobs in a bid to bridge a £2 billion funding shortfall.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and broadcasting workers' union Bectu warned the corporation it must hold "meaningful" negotiations over the "savage" cuts.

The unions said they are confident their members will back industrial action - which would take live programmes off the air, hitting news, sport and other sectors.

The NUJ and Bectu said 3,000 letters had already been prepared, bearing Friday's date and asking for volunteers.

Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of Bectu, said members are "feeling extremely angry and believe the BBC is jumping the gun on redundancies before they have even negotiated with us".

Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the NUJ, said a number of journalists were told on Wednesday night they would be losing their jobs, well before Thursday's official announcement.

"That just shows bad faith on the part of the BBC and makes a mockery of anything they might say about consultation and negotiation. If we haven't received the necessary assurances by noon (on Friday) we are ready to start a ballot," he said.

A strike would be the first since a walkout in 2005, also over job cuts, which caused huge disruption to BBC programmes.

Mr Thompson said strikes would not change the level of the BBC funding and would "not achieve anything" as he urged unions to work with him to help redeploy as many staff as possible.