NUJ to launch no confidence ballot in BBC director
Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, has been given a bruising by The National Union of Journalists after the group described him as an “architect of butchery” over his programme of efficiency savings.
The verbal assault is being followed up by a member’s vote of no confidence in Thompson – the first such move in the pressure groups 104 year old history.
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “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 BBCs 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."
If industrial action is approved a 24 hour strike could hit the corporation as early as December.