BBC viewers are facing weeks of disruption that could hit coverage of events such as Wimbledon and the Proms, it emerged yesterday. More than eight in 10 staff who voted in a strike ballot said they were in favour of industrial action to protest against thousands of planned job cuts.
Representatives from the BBC's three main unions will meet today to decide what form the protests should take. It is believed there are plans for a large-scale 48-hour walkout, followed by a series of 24-hour stoppages throughout spring and early summer.
The earliest possible date that a strike could be called is a week on Friday, the day before the FA Cup final. Union insiders said other outside broadcasts, which could include the Chelsea Flower Show and Glastonbury, and news divisions that rely on mobilising large numbers of staff at short notice, would be "obvious targets".
Live shows from TV Centre, such as Graham Norton's Saturday night show, Strictly Dance Fever, and News 24, at which staff have already started a work-to-rule protest, could also be affected.
The National Union of Journalists, the broadcasting union Bectu and Amicus launched strike ballots among their BBC members on April 22 after management refused to meet demands for a 90-day moratorium on the cuts and a call to make the majority of redundancies voluntary.
The director general, Mark Thompson, has argued that the BBC needs to be radically reorganised to meet the challenges of the 21st century and head off calls for reform of its licence fee funding. He hopes to make annual savings of £355m within three years.
He has announced plans to cut around 4,000 jobs, affecting staff across the BBC, including programme makers. More than one in 10 staff in programme-making divisions such as news, sport and drama will lose their jobs.
Back office divisions such as human resources, marketing and legal will be particularly hard hit. If staff affected by the decision to sell off commercial divisions BBC Broadcast and BBC Resources are included, the number of jobs to go will top 6,000.
Luke Crawley, Bectu's main BBC official, said the ballot result was a "clear signal to Mark Thompson that he is going too far, too fast".
The NUJ general secretary, Jeremy Dear, said: "This result is a reflection of the huge anger at the scale and impact of Mark Thompson's cuts. The cuts package is badly thought out, doesn't add up, will do irreparable damage to quality and standards and has been soundly rejected by staff."
In the ballot, which closed at lunchtime yesterday, 84% of the 2,158 NUJ members who voted were in favour of strike action. Among the three divisions of Bectu members 3,068 voted, with 79% in favour.
A BBC spokesman said yesterday: "Given the scale of the changes that the BBC need to make and that the unions have not allowed us to talk to them in order to address their concerns, we are not surprised by the ballot result, but we are disappointed because we would prefer to continue constructive discussions with them."
Mr Dear called this an "absurd and blatant lie". He said: "Since December we have consistently asked for negotiations. We've had PowerPoint displays, lectures and management presentation. At every opportunity they have made it clear the changes are non-negotiable. The BBC need to understand there is a difference between talking and listening."
The planned strike is the first big protest since December 2000, when Match of the Day and National Lottery Live were affected by a 24-hour walkout over travel pay and redundancies. In May 1994, a one-day strike led to Newsround and Breakfast News being replaced with cartoons.
