BBC workers vote for biggest strike in 13 years; The coronation of King Charles could be a goal

UPDATED: BBC workers will hold their first 24-hour strike on March 15 at 11am, timed to coincide with the UK government’s budget. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has confirmed that the coronation and the Eurovision Song Contest are also targets of industrial action.

NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “This powerful result shows the strength of sentiment among BBC members and their determination not to stand by and watch local radio output being dismantled. I do calling on the BBC to take stock and engage meaningfully so that we can move towards a solution that recognizes the critical role that quality, relevant and truly local news plays in our public broadcaster.”

LAST: BBC workers have voted in the biggest strike in 13 years in protest at the company’s changes to local content in England.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) have warned they will miss the coronation of King Charles III. can target in May when they put down their tools.

About 83% voted in writing in favor of a strike, while the remaining 17% did not support a strike. Turnout was 69%, higher than some expected.

An NUJ meeting will be held later in the day to decide how to proceed after receiving a mandate for industrial action.

Deadline first reported in January that it was “inevitable” that workers would strike in anger over proposals to cut local TV and radio programs across the country.

The BBC argued that local content funding would be maintained, but £19m ($23m) of resources from traditional broadcasting services to online and multimedia productions would be re-prioritised to “keep up with the change to keep pace with audience expectations”. This includes spreading local news online and investing in investigative reporting.

BBC staff have not held a major strike since 2010, when there was a 48-hour strike over a pension dispute. Flagship programs including Newsnight and Breakfast fell off the air as star presenters including Fiona Bruce joined the protest.

The BBC said: “We are disappointed with the outcome of the vote. Our local plans aim to deliver an even better service to communities across England, reflect how the public uses the BBC, improve our online offering and increase the impact of our journalism.

“We have consulted extensively with the NUJ over the past few months and adjusted our plans based on the feedback. We have assured the teams working across our 39 local BBC bases that we will maintain overall investment and staffing levels in local services and work hard to reduce the risk of redundancies.