BBC redundancy letters delayed

THE BBC has postponed plans to issue redundancy letters to staff and agreed to talks on a national framework agreement, unions said yesterday.

Unions told the BBC that it had until noon yesterday to agree not to send out letters seeking volunteers for redundancy.

Broadcasting union Bectu and the National Union of Journalists said it had received a letter from the BBC saying the corporation would send letters asking for staff to come forward for voluntary redundancy in two weeks.

On Thursday, BBC director-general Mark Thompson announced plans to axe 2,500 jobs.

Unions will not be launching an immediate ballot for strike action.

The postponement will allow talks to take place on issues like redeployment and staff retraining, the unions said.