BBC director general Mark Thompson, who the NUJ has called 'the architect of this butchery' over planned jobs cuts at the broadcaster
Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PAThe National Union of Journalists is to ballot its members over a vote of no-confidence in the director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, following the broadcaster's announcement that it intends to cut almost 2,000 jobs as part of it Delivering Quality First strategy.
The no-confidence vote, the ballot for which will run until 24 November, will be the first against the BBC director general in the corporations 84-year history.
Referring to the proposed cuts across the BBC, Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the NUJ , called Thompson "the architect of this butchery".
"This shows the depth of anger felt by journalists across the BBC and their outrage at the lack of leadership from the top of the corporation. The BBC's future is under attack as a result of the freeze on the licence fee settlement driven through by the coalition government.
"The director general should be fighting for the BBC, not inflicting cuts in areas that will cause irreparable damage to services and inevitably compromise quality journalism and programming.
"NUJ members are committed to defending jobs and quality journalism at the BBC and we are asking readers, listeners and viewers to join with us in this battle. And that is why we will be organising the no confidence ballot against Mark Thompson, the architect of this butchery."
Responding to the NUJ's announcement this morning, a spokesperson for the BBC said: "We remain committed to a constructive dialogue with the unions."
The no-confidence vote follows news at the end of October that the NUJ, alongside broadcast unions Bectu and Unite, are to ballot on industrial action after the BBC rejected a list of proposals from the unions, including a call for the broadcaster to lift a deadline on changes to terms and conditions for new joiners.
The BBC's news division is set to bear the brunt of the cuts, through which the broadcaster hopes to make savings of around £670 million a year by 2016/17, with 800 full-time posts to be closed.
A report publishing this week by the National Audit Office said that the BBC needs to "strengthen" its approach to targeting savings and do more to encourage a "culture of challenging cost" if it is to continue to meet its savings targets.
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