Non-motoring > Breakfast TV. Miscellaneous
Thread Author: FotheringtonTomas Replies: 24

 Breakfast TV. - FotheringtonTomas
Gettinu up earlier to do a few things, I put on the box, and saw the changed "breakfast" TV format - due to a strike, they said. It's far better than the "normal" offering.
 Breakfast TV. - Redviper
BBC Staff are on strike? What are they whingeing about now?

In today’s jobs market I’m glad to do whatever I can get – and I would love to work for the BBC.
 Breakfast TV. - Bromptonaut
Redviper,

At risk of further increasing your ire the issue is pensions. Scheme is massively in defecit and board/employees face usual work longer/paymore/get less choices. Movement is towards converting from final to career average salary; some unions have signed up but not the NUJ.

Issue for them is devaluation of years already 'banked' in the scheme.
 Breakfast TV. - Tooslow
Career average has always struck me as so insane I don't even understand why it is discussed. My salary when I started work was approx 1/20th that when I finished.

John
 Breakfast TV. - Bromptonaut
John,

The last gov proposed career average for the civil service but the served years were re-valorised every year in line with RPI. The threat of industrial action, and not just by clerks, saw that one off.

I think the BBC proposal is similar but offers less protection, below CPI even, for earned years and it affects pension already earned.
 Breakfast TV. - Tooslow
That sounds like a nice, complicated solution that no one can keep track of. My, relatively, simple pension value calculation was wrong on at least one annual statement out of three. They couldn't get the start date right, or my birthday, or my marital status. Consequently I checked it every year and challenged it when necessary. Who came up with that one? It's worthy of Gordon.

John
 Breakfast TV. - Perky Penguin
How hard could that be? They may have said it was better, I didn't
 Breakfast TV. - FotheringtonTomas
Eh?

They didn't, I did.
 Breakfast TV. - Dulwich Estate
Bromptonaut.

A little more fuel to the fire. SWMBO was expecting a state pension at 60 years of age. The last government pushed it back until she would be 63 and a bit. In the process she has had about £20,000 pounds stolen from her. This new lot have now pushed the date back to 65 years of age for her - that's another £10,000 taken from her. We are in this household £30,000 down as a result.

She too had a "contract" - she worked and paid NI contributions and upheld her end of the bargain. The government have effectively said to her "Tough - we ain't got the money".

What's so different about pampered BBC staff ?
 Breakfast TV. - Bromptonaut
DE,

First of all hold no brief for the BBC's staff, pampered or otherwise. However, as a public sector employee I may have a common interest!!

The state has robbed everybody by pushing back the age for state retirement pension. A statutory provision is not a contract. The government can rob you blind at will subject only to the non existent consciences of MPs and checks by the electorate.

Occupational pension is deferred salary and part of a contract of employment. If the employer wants to increase payments or decrease the value of future years that is a matter for negotiation. Retrospectively devaluing 'banked' years is something the staff find unacceptable.

The mess in the BBC pension fund, like a few others is at least in part due to the employer taking a lengthy contribution holiday during the good years.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 6 Nov 10 at 08:51
 Breakfast TV. - Zero
>
>> Occupational pension is deferred salary and part of a contract of employment. If the employer
>> wants to increase payments or decrease the value of future years that is a matter
>> for negotiation.

Or not. Its simply a matter of deciding what you wish to do with the pension, defer it it, close it, what ever, enter a period of "consultation" ignore everyone, and go ahead and do it.

I know, its happened to me, and a load of others. BBC, Public service? you are just catching up with the rest of us in the private sector who have been robbed blind.
 Breakfast TV. - Manatee
Like Zero I've already had this in the private sector. Final salary (DB) scheme first closed to new entrants, then closed to further accruals for those already in it, and future increases on the accrued defined benefits linked to CPI rather than RPI.

Currently the employer is making comparatively generous contributions to the replacement defined contribution (DC) scheme, (though worth much less in pension terms than the defunct DB scheme) but they may well decide to reduce that when the rules in 2012/13 default all employees into the DC scheme, which will increase the costs significantly.

Where there is no collective bargaining negotiation doesn't some into it. Basically they can do what they want.
 Penisons - Perky Penguin
Yes Bromptonaut, but, given average luck and some healthy living Mrs BA will live on for as many years, to draw her pension, as she would have done under the previous arrangements. The extreme time for drawing an pension was a lady whose husband diedin India, leaveing her a widow at age 18, and she lived on to draw her pension for over 80 years. I am not on a maximum State Pension but 3 years of what I get isn't close to £20K, what is her secret?
 Penisons - Dulwich Estate
UK full state pension for a single person is about £5100 per annum. Add a sprinkle of SERPs/Second State Pension and £6,000 pa is possible. Multiply by 3 years and four months of enforced deferment = £20,000 (give or take).

I opted out of the the second state pension in 1988 / 1989 as soon as the government of the time gave us the incentive. For years people told me I was daft and said my extra state pension would be better than a personal one funded by NI contributions and the incentive.

I told them then and I'm telling them now - never trust the government.
 Penisons - Roger.
Talk about topic slide!
Yes - Breakfast without the simpering self-absorbed, overpaid collection of usual presenters was greatly improved.
The lack of so-called "celebrities" promoting their latest money making wheeze was totally refreshing.
 BBC Strike - Bromptonaut
Did anyone else hear Stuart Hall rifling through the archive of footie interviews on 5 live?

Played in the small hours in place of 'Up all Night' but I think it was used earlier in the day as well.
 BBC Strike - Iffy
...Did anyone else hear Stuart Hall rifling through the archive of footie interviews on 5 live?...

Strange you should mention that, because I heard some of it.

I don't quite get the Mick McCarthy/Stuart Hall thing which 5Live seem to think is so clever.

When McCarthy was manager of Sunderland his relations with the press were very strained.

 BBC Strike - BobbyG
I have taken to watching BBC Breakfast when at the gym in the morning.
It strikes me that over the course of the program they have so many "guests". Now some may well be the BBC correspondent for donkey racing or whatever (how many correspondents do they have?), but there are also loads of experts, civilians etc that guest depending on the topic. Now they usually speak for less than a minute, maybe give an opinion or something and thats it.
I am wondering how much they will get paid for their fleeting appearance, will there be a car to pick them up etc etc?
BBC just seems to shout waste of money time and time again.
 BBC Strike - Alastairw
I suspect the plethora of guests on BBC Breakfast is partly to show they HAVE to be in London, as BBC bosses are threathening to relocate the show to Media City in Salford, together with sport, Radio 5 and the childrens tv dept.
 BBC Strike - rtj70
No reason the guests cannot be in a studio anywhere in the world and use a video link.
 BBC Strike - Bromptonaut
>> No reason the guests cannot be in a studio anywhere in the world and use
>> a video link.

Yeah but No but. I use a video conference for a monthly staff meeting with colleagues in our Edinburgh office.

Works well enough to disseminate management messages, agree key actions from executive board and allocate them to individuals. If however there is eyeball/eyeball business to be done, say re budgets or staffing, the delay and lack of resolution on the VC affect dynamics. Very difficult ot reach conclusions.

Suspect a live political interview would be nearer the second example. Maybe that HD quality VC links are good enough but it ain't as simple as using webcams.
 BBC Strike - rtj70
So you're telling me the BBC does not have huge bandwidth via the Internet they cannot try to use? Your example tells me your VC solution is either deficient or has a bandwidth problem.

I never mentioned webcams. The BBC does use links between studios across the UK all the time and it works at high quality video.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 7 Nov 10 at 23:58
 BBC Strike - Stuartli
It's NUJ members who are on strike.

I used to be a member of this union - at the time you had to be as it operated a closed shop, something I detested.

No union card, no job.

It was also, as you will probably realise, extremely Left wing.

The NGA was very similar in many ways.
 BBC Strike - Perky Penguin
I can't understand why reporters have to be "At the scene" for many reports. Some idiiot footballer breaks his toe; a breathless and overawed reporter is found standing outside a large building (Hospital?) in the dark saying that Fragile Fred is somewhere in there with a broken toe, then we ciut to a large sign reading "Grantford General Hospital", further breathless and boring non-information, camera zooms into a particular window where the great one may, or may not, be on his bed of pain. Total waste of time and people. The report has no more credilbility because it is delivered from the scene of such a non-event. Same with the recent prison riots - reporter outside a prison saying there is a riot going on inside. No pictures of rioters or damage, just a man saying the authorities are trying to regain control. BORING!!!!!
 BBC Strike - Iffy
...I can't understand why reporters have to be "At the scene" for many reports...

With the types of story mentioned where nothing much is happening, the only way to get anything is to be there.

You might see Jonny Footballer's manager swing into the hospital to visit him, or his very fit Mrs.

More chance of an interview with the prison governor or prison officers' association rep if you are stood outside the jail.

Or you might get to speak to a con's wife or brother who will tell you what they are rioting about.

And all these stories would be much more boring if they were just being read - television is a visual media.

As regards Breakfast TV, most expert guests will not be paid, but a car will be sent to collect them, partly because of the time of day, and because the producer needs to know his guests will be there.

Viewers would be very quick to criticise the programme if it appeared disorganised.

Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 8 Nov 10 at 08:58
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