Union official predicts BBC strike

LONDON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The BBC is facing a labor strike after announcing plans to cut 2,500 jobs in news, factual programming and divisions outside London, the Times of London said.

Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, also came under fire from high-profile presenters such as Robert Winston and John Humphrys at a special briefing in which Thompson attempted to explain the layoffs and program budget cuts.

"Do I think there will now be a strike? Yes," Jeremy Dear, of the National Union of Journalists, said Thursday night.

Unions asked the BBC to stop sending letters asking for voluntary redundancies by noon Friday and warned the corporation that if it didn't, the unions would conduct a strike ballot.

"We've had no satisfactory response from them so far," Dear said.

Thompson also indicated at the briefing that the salaries of some high-paid stars, such as Jonathan Ross, could be targeted.

"With constrained spending, we have to look hard at all our costs and that includes talent," Thompson told The Daily Telegraph, declining to discuss individuals, but noting "every single contract" would be reviewed.

The BBC said it hoped to reduce the number of layoffs by creating 700 new jobs.