The first day of strike agains job cuts at the BBC took place on 23 May.
More information : IFJ Call for Solidarity
Here below are the messages of support to the strikers:
FROM VER.DI, GERMANY:
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to express on behalf of ver.di representing 200.000 mediaworkers and journalists in Germany our solidarity and support for NUJ, BECTU and Amicus. Your strike today also in our opinion is necessary to fight against 4,000 job cuts and for employment in the BBC. It is also important for high quality in the BBC as well as in public service broadcasting in general.
This strike concerns all public service broadcasting workers since BBC has always been the model for public service broadcasting around the world and especially after the second world war in Germany. The plans of the BBC management would have a disastrous effect on the prospects of the future of public service broadcasting in all European countries.
Ver.di urges the BBC management to reflect upon their plans and assure the rights of BBC workers in transformation through full negotiations with the unions, to reconsider its proposals and to temper them with greater concern for the immediate effects and for the long range strategy for the preservation of public service broadcasting.
In solidarity,
Frank Werneke
Vice President ver.di
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FROM JUADN, GREECE
Athens, 23 May 2005
Dear colleagues,
The Executive Board of the Journalists’ Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers fully supports the struggle of BBC journalists and workers against management’s decision to cut 4.000 media jobs damaging quality of information and driving thousands of workers to unemployment.
The JUADN issued a media release since the strike was announced in the BBC, asking our members to address their protest by email to BBC General Director Mark Thompson. According to our picture hundreds of our members have responded and the JUADN release was published in all print and electronic mass media.
We are convinced that job decreases will irrevocably damage quality of BBC programming, a fact of detrimental consequences for public broadcasting image in Europe.
Best fraternal greetings
Manolis Mathioudakis, JUADN President
Nikos Megrelis, JUADN General Secretary
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FROM NIPPORO, JAPAN
To the member of NUJ and Bectu:
We aid the fight for protecting your public broadcasting service.
The message of support is sent on behalf of a Japanese journalist's labor union.
Japan Broardcasting Labour Union(NHK worker’s union)
NIPPORO,
President : Mitsuru Osamura
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FROM SJ, PORTUGAL
The Sindicato dos Jornalistas (SJ) of Portugal fully back the strike of the BBC journalists in defense of its jobs and of the public service values and quality media.
The SJ understands well the reasons of its colleagues of the BBC and of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) because in Portugal we are facing since 2002 sucessive attacks against the public service and the labour rights.
The SJ supports the campaing of the European Federation of Journalists for the quality of the public service, that is one of the greatest challenges facing journalism today, and greets the initiative of the International Federation of Journalists in organizing a meeting to discuss the BBC dispute and the crisis of broadcasting in Italy.
The SJ reaffirms its solidarity with the journalists of the BBC and its colleagues of the NUJ and appeals to the General Director Mark Thompson not to take measures that may put in risk the worldwide reputation of the BBC.
Sindicato dos Jornalistas
José Luiz Fernandes
(Vice-President)
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FROM IAJ, IRAN:
The Iranian Association of Journalists, the biggest and the most well-known union of journalists in Iran (many of whose members have been prosecuted and/or arrested by the Iranian judiciary), have voiced support for the BBC staff in their upcoming strike in protest to thousands of job cuts.
Secretary of the association, Masoud Houshmand-Razavi, said to show their solidarity with the International Federation of Journalists and in support for the BBC staff, his union has asked all its members as well as other people who contribute to media activities, not to give any interviews to the BBC during those three days.
Iranian reformist journalists, most of them members of this association, are frequently interviewed by the Persian output of the BBC World Service as well as other Persian-language media including Radio Farda (the Farsi output of Radio Free Europe) and Radio France International.
Source: Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA)
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FROM NUJ NEPAL
National union of journalist, Nepal strongly supports the ,"Fight for BBC,support the strike." the protest and strike programme leaded by National Union of Journalists ,uk.
Down sizing of the staff by 19% will not just throw the working media people of BBC to the street it also suffer the quality and reliability of the popular public broadcaster.The more danger thing is that it will set a bad precedence for the rest of the world.
So we, national union of journalist strongly back the strike programmes initiated by national Union of Journalists uk and urge the concerning authority to resolve the problem without cutting a single job.
Prakash Adhikari
General secretary
National Union of Journalists, Nepal
