BBC Wales Strike

[Allyn Gibson]

It's happened! Industrial action, that bane of 1970s Doctor Who production which resulted in the cancellation of "Shada," has disrupted the production of the Christmas Special!

They only lost one day of production due to the strike. It was to protest the loss of four editorial jobs.

 

[23skidoo]

It's amazing how many episodes of Doctor Who very nearly were cancelled because of strikes. We were lucky we only lost Shada and that the revival has (so far) avoided such problems. I remember there was one bizarre job action during either the Pertwee or Tom Baker era that resulted in a ladder being left on set in the middle of a scene with no one authorized to move it. (I think they later reshot the scene.)

My favorites, though, still have to be the so-called "Color Strike" at ITV that resulted in several shows like Upstairs Downstairs having to shoot in black and white for several episodes in the 1970s (resulting in those episodes becoming worthless for syndication), and another ITV strike that actually took the network off the air for several months which is why Doctor Who's City of Death was able to score some of the highest ratings in the show's history.

Ahhh... good times....

Alex

 

[Geckothan]

Bloody union communists...

Not only bloody union communists, but WELSH bloody union communists...

 

[Cutter John]

I'm a supporter of Unions and workers rights in general, but yeah it does seem they're perhaps a bit too powerful in the UK.
I know I'm going by second-hand info, but it always seemed back in the day that the country could barely function because about twice a week someone would get their nose out of joint and call a general strike.

 

[MacLeod]

Well to be fair Unions have less power than they used to. But it seems more often or not it's a Union that serves the Public sector rather than the Private sector that strikes.

 

[Sci]

I'm a supporter of Unions and workers rights in general, but yeah it does seem they're perhaps a bit too powerful in the UK.
I know I'm going by second-hand info, but it always seemed back in the day that the country could barely function because about twice a week someone would get their nose out of joint and call a general strike.

Oh, yeah, sure. Unions are too powerful. That's why the United Kingdom has such an egalitarian distribution of wealth.

 

[Cutter John]

Oh, yeah, sure. Unions are too powerful. That's why the United Kingdom has such an egalitarian distribution of wealth.

Well I did say it was second hand info. And there wasn't even an internet back then.

So its pretty much like the US these days then?

 

[23skidoo]

Well to be fair Unions have less power than they used to. But it seems more often or not it's a Union that serves the Public sector rather than the Private sector that strikes.

I've been doing some reading on Doctor Who history and it did seem like strikes occurred during the classic era with such monotonous regularity that I'd be surprised if the DW production office didn't factor "strike delay" into schedules and budgeting. And sometimes the strikes occurred for stupid reasons, like the Shada strike apparently was sparked because of a dispute over what union was in charge of a clock or some other prop used on a kids show. So because of that pissing match we lost a Douglas Adams story on Doctor Who.

I'm in Canada so I don't hear about the day-to-day over in the UK. Are unions over there still walking out for silly reasons like that, or are they mostly walking for things that matter like salaries and working conditions? (The strike that shut down DW last week I categorize as reasonable as they were supporting fellow workers that had been let go. I wouldn't call that a silly reason and it was just one day. We'll probably be seeing more of that in the next while as more BBC cuts take hold; the CBC here in Canada is facing similar cuts and I'd be surprised if we didn't see a protest strike or two too).

Alex

 

[Sci]

Oh, yeah, sure. Unions are too powerful. That's why the United Kingdom has such an egalitarian distribution of wealth.

Well I did say it was second hand info. And there wasn't even an internet back then.

So its pretty much like the US these days then?

Pretty much, especially post-Thatcher.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

I'm a supporter of Unions and workers rights in general, but yeah it does seem they're perhaps a bit too powerful in the UK.
I know I'm going by second-hand info, but it always seemed back in the day that the country could barely function because about twice a week someone would get their nose out of joint and call a general strike.

Powerful? Unions? In the UK......?

 

[23skidoo]

Based on reports coming out of the UK today about the massive cuts and layoffs announced at the BBC, it sounds like we're going to see more strikes coming. If they shut down things at BBC Wales over 4 job losses, imagine what'll happen to protest close to 2,000.

(And no, no mention of Doctor Who in all this, except for an ominous reference to less programming being commissioned for Saturdays, and the fact Blue Peter - long the show's unofficial promotion arm - being moved off BBC One to one of the kid channels. And one can assume the loss of Confidential was related.)

Alex

 

[Savage Jaw]

Based on reports coming out of the UK today about the massive cuts and layoffs announced at the BBC, it sounds like we're going to see more strikes coming. If they shut down things at BBC Wales over 4 job losses, imagine what'll happen to protest close to 2,000.

(And no, no mention of Doctor Who in all this, except for an ominous reference to less programming being commissioned for Saturdays, and the fact Blue Peter - long the show's unofficial promotion arm - being moved off BBC One to one of the kid channels. And one can assume the loss of Confidential was related.)

Alex

The BBC One budget has only been cut slightly - 3% - so there should be minimal impact, if any at all to Doctor Who.

 

[MacLeod]

Well to be fair Unions have less power than they used to. But it seems more often or not it's a Union that serves the Public sector rather than the Private sector that strikes.

I've been doing some reading on Doctor Who history and it did seem like strikes occurred during the classic era with such monotonous regularity that I'd be surprised if the DW production office didn't factor "strike delay" into schedules and budgeting. And sometimes the strikes occurred for stupid reasons, like the Shada strike apparently was sparked because of a dispute over what union was in charge of a clock or some other prop used on a kids show. So because of that pissing match we lost a Douglas Adams story on Doctor Who.

I'm in Canada so I don't hear about the day-to-day over in the UK. Are unions over there still walking out for silly reasons like that, or are they mostly walking for things that matter like salaries and working conditions? (The strike that shut down DW last week I categorize as reasonable as they were supporting fellow workers that had been let go. I wouldn't call that a silly reason and it was just one day. We'll probably be seeing more of that in the next while as more BBC cuts take hold; the CBC here in Canada is facing similar cuts and I'd be surprised if we didn't see a protest strike or two too).

Alex

Trivial reasons depend on ones perspective. take the BA cabin strike that was off and on for a while before it was resolved. If I were thinking of booking a flight with the possibility of it being cancelled due to strike action, I wouldn't have picked BA. If everyone thought that BA could have gone under, and a lot of people could have been out of work because of strike action.

In the UK re: strikes as it's more often the public sector that strikes rather than the private sector strieks. It can create ill feeling in the private sector there they go again the public sectors on strike again. Not saying they are wrong by going on strike, just what can happen.

 

[Starkers]

Oh, yeah, sure. Unions are too powerful. That's why the United Kingdom has such an egalitarian distribution of wealth.

Well I did say it was second hand info. And there wasn't even an internet back then.

So its pretty much like the US these days then?

Pretty much, especially post-Thatcher.

The union movement was desperately needed, especially back in the 20s and 30s when workers really were shafted, and even up to the late 60s early 70s. Unfortunately by the 1970s you had the unions helping bring the country to its knees, which let Thatch in to do what she did. I don't want to get into the right or wrong of it, but people forget she had widespread support for the union measures because people were tired of the lights going out, the bins not being emptied and the dead not being buried. Push too hard, be you union or government, and the pendulum swings, either further left or further right.

What good are the unions nowdays? Well the RMT don't do too bad considering tube drivers are paid £50K plus because London is too terrified of the tubes striking to do anything but give into their demands. And the BA strikes of the last few years were mainly down to one particular group of staff who wouldn't accept a deal the vast majority already had.

Trouble is once upon a time the unions battled to ensure people had enough to eat, these days they battle to ensure people can still afford the latest iPad and two weeks in the sun, which kinda dilutes public support.

 

[Cutter John]

Trouble is, despite the abuses, we still need unions. Big business has so many government connections that were unions to suddenly dissapear, you can bet we'd start sliding right back to the way things were in the 20's. You already see some of that here in the US over the past few years.

 

[Starkers]

Yeah, I'm not the most pro union person in the world but we definitely still need them. Unfortunately as with any organisation, often the people who rise to the top aren't the people who should do, so they can be as corrupt (or not) as any business.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Based on reports coming out of the UK today about the massive cuts and layoffs announced at the BBC, it sounds like we're going to see more strikes coming. If they shut down things at BBC Wales over 4 job losses, imagine what'll happen to protest close to 2,000.

(And no, no mention of Doctor Who in all this, except for an ominous reference to less programming being commissioned for Saturdays, and the fact Blue Peter - long the show's unofficial promotion arm - being moved off BBC One to one of the kid channels. And one can assume the loss of Confidential was related.)

Alex

BBC One is taking a 3% budget cut, which amounts to around £35m. The reference to Saturday night was "Entertainment shows" which means Total Wipeout, Don't Scare The Hare, Epic Win type shows. They specifically mentioned shows like Strictly Come Dancing and Drama were to be protected.
Blue Peter is being moved to CBBC because the CBBC strand on BBC One is going to be closed down as CBBC will be available to 97% of the country next year when analogue broadcasts are ended.

 

[Avon]

they should just get rid of bbc3. it's trashy like an itv channel.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^I would disagree, BBC Three has had a number of decent programmes over recent years. Torchwood, Being Human, The Fades, Him & Her, Russell Howard's Good News, plenty of documentaries and seasons of programming. They're really more like Channel 4 used to be than ITV. In your face names sound like it's tacky crap but it's actually better than you think. There's no denying there is rubbish on there, but I'm not self centred enough to think that just because it isn't to my tastes it should be on TV.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Trouble is, despite the abuses, we still need unions. Big business has so many government connections that were unions to suddenly dissapear, you can bet we'd start sliding right back to the way things were in the 20's. You already see some of that here in the US over the past few years.

1920s? Nah, further. Back to the 1890s.