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BBC journalists are on strike as a 48 hour walk out began at midnight in a dispute over pensions. Radio 4's flagship Today programme was forced off the air and journalists said they expected that the World At One and PM programmes would also be scrapped. Earlier, Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason, confronted the BBC deputy director general Mark Byford on the picket line at Television Centre. Presenters including Radio Five Live's Nicky Campbell took part in the action and TV newsreaders Fiona Bruce and Huw Edwards were expected to join in later today. Staff are angry that BBC bosses have tried to renegotiate the pensions of existing staff at the Corporation, making them rather less attractive to have. Management there are trying to deal with a mega deficit in the Corporation's pension fund, believed to be in the region of £1.5 billion. It's the National Union Of Journalists who have decided to strike, while BECTU - which represents studio technicians and such like - has chosen not to walk out. They argue that the most recent pensions deal offered is the best that can be realistically expected, assuming the pensions fund really is £1.5 billion in deficit. The different conclusions of the two unions will result in the rather tricky situation of BECTU members having to cross the NUJ's picket lines at BBC offices. Though both the Beeb and officials at the technicians' union have said they won't take action against any BECTU members who refuse to do so though, of course, they will lose a day's pay. The strike will be most obvious on news programmes which will be severely lacking staff today. Radio 4's 'Today' programme has already fallen victim to the strike, though the 'BBC Breakfast' TV show did go ahead, albeit in a reduced form. BBC Director General Mark Thompson has said that while strike action will almost certainly have an impact on the Corporation's output, it won't change the pensions deal being offered to its staff, because deal makers on the management side are constrained by the realities of the huge deficit in the organisation's pension fund. Says Thommo: "[The strike] may manage to take some output off the air or lower its quality. But strikes aren't going to reduce the pension deficit or make the need for radical pension reform go away". But NUJ head Jeremy Dear remains adamant that the Beeb must find another way to tackle its pensions crisis, saying last night: "NUJ members across the BBC have consistently dubbed the proposals a 'pensions robbery'. That hasn't changed. The BBC have now left members with no choice but to take action to defend their pensions". While the strike ends at midnight tomorrow night, a work to rule then kicks in which will see NUJ members only work their allotted shifts, including taking all breaks in full. Some insiders say that that might prove almost as damaging as the all-out strike in terms of hitting programme quality, because some BBC news outlets rely as a matter of course on staffers working well beyond their contracted hours each day, which, to be fair, is pretty common across the whole media. Additional reporting by CMU Network
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