NUJ rejects BBC pay offer
The NUJ has rejected the BBC’s latest pay offer, saying it falls well below inflation and would amount to a real-terms pay cut for members.
The offer follows several months of negotiations with the NUJ, BECTU and Unite.
Under the proposal, BBC staff would receive a 1% salary increase, with a £500 underpin for employees in bands A-F, subject to existing eligibility criteria and completing ‘mandatory for all training’, annual appraisals, and declaration of personal interests.
Staff currently receiving a 2025 non-consolidated allowance would receive the higher amount of the 1% pay award, the £500 underpin or their non-consolidated pay award from 2025.
Any increase would be applied to base salary up to the maximum of the new pay range, with any amount above that maximum paid as a new 2026 non-consolidated allowance.
There would also be a 1% increase to night payments, Christmas and Boxing Day payments, and the London/Channel Islands weighting allowance, while all job pay ranges would rise by a minimum of 1%.
Following a recent meeting of representatives, the NUJ confirmed to the BBC that it was rejecting the offer.
The union said the proposal fails to recognise the pressure on staff, who are being asked to produce more with less while facing increasing job insecurity.
The NUJ has agreed to seek independent conciliation via ACAS and said it hopes the process will result in an improved offer that can be put to members.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
“This offer falls far short of what our members deserve and would leave many worse off in real terms. BBC journalists and media workers continue to deliver accurate, independent, locally relevant and universally accessible journalism in increasingly difficult circumstances. The BBC must invest in the talented and experienced staff who make its public service journalism possible.”