London:
BBC journalists have called off a strike scheduled for next week, saying on Thursday that management had agreed to meet with union leaders to try to resolve a dispute over proposed pension cuts.
The National Union of Journalists, which represents 4,100 of 17,200 workers at the BBC, said its willingness to resume talks was dependent on management's dropping disciplinary action against three employees in the United States after a strike last week.
"We will enter those talks determined to seek a negotiated settlement," said Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the union. "But we remain committed, and authorized, to take further industrial, political and legal action in the event that talks fail to deliver a fair pensions settlement."
The BBC said it had agreed to meet with representatives of the five unions representing the company's employees to discuss "points of clarification" to the pension proposal.
"We welcome the N.U.J.'s decision to lift the threat of strikes," Lucy Adams, head of the BBC's personnel department, said in a statement.
"This is good news for the license fee payer," she said, referring to the fee levied on British television-owning households that finances the BBC. "While the BBC cannot afford to reopen the pension reform deal agreed with the majority of staff, we have agreed to meet with the joint unions, including the N.U.J."
The journalists' union is the only one of the five labor groups that has continued to hold out against the proposed changes in the pension plan, saying the changes could cost some employees tens of thousands of pounds in lost retirement income. The BBC says the cuts are needed to plug a gap in the plan's financing.
The strike by BBC journalists last week forced some popular news programs off the air. Managers and fill-ins replaced familiar news readers on other shows.
In a letter to the BBC staff on Monday, Mark Thompson, its director general, ruled out new talks, saying that management had already modified its initial pension proposal.
Roger Seifert, professor of industrial relations at Wolverhampton Business School, said Mr. Thompson was in a difficult position because of concern about losing viewers to commercial TV rivals if the strikes continued.
"People rely on the BBC for straight information, so a strike can be quite successful," Mr. Seifert said. "It would have rattled the senior management."
The journalists' union said it wanted the new talks to take place within the next week, before the BBC moved to put the current proposals into effect.