NUJ claims BBC officials spied on union officers and hacked into their emails
The BBC management spied on union officers, hacked into their emails and used trumped-up charges to force active union members from their jobs; the NUJ has today said.
Journalist representatives from the BBC today demanded an investigation into the operation of the BBC’s Human Resource practices following the revelations, provided in a sworn statement to the NUJ by a former member of the BBC’s HR team turned whistleblower.
NUJ reps voted unanimously for a motion that said: “This meeting welcomes the resignation of Lucy Adams, who headed up the shadowy Management Reference Group set up to force these changes through, and is the person who must bear responsibility for the abuses that have happened under her leadership and within her own department. It further demands that a full investigation now takes place and that Lucy Adams is suspended in accordance with BBC procedure. It is vital that others involved in this dirty tricks campaign and guilty of union busting tactics are now dealt with.
“In the light of these revelations and the knowledge that the ACAS settlement talks were tarnished and compromised, this meeting insists that the BBC pension negotiations are urgently reopened, carried out in good faith and a legitimate settlement reached.”
It is alleged that the BBC used ‘dirty tricks’ such as misusing performance management schemes and targeting staff with trumped up disciplinary charges as a way of putting pressure on staff and pushing them out of a job.
The BBC insists that Adams revealed her decision to resign before the allegations were made.