After rejecting amended plans to reduce local radio, BBC journalists in England will go on a 48-hour strike.

The Journalists, who are members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will embark on the strike action on June 7 and 8 .

They will also follow the rules and refrain from acting inappropriately in positions of authority.

The BBC stated that it would keep talking to the union in an effort to lessen the effect on its employees and viewers.

The BBC’s intentions to spread more programming among its 39 local radio stations are at the heart of the controversy.

The mediation service Acas secured some concessions in the talks, but the union felt they were insufficient.

On March 15, NUJ employees who work for BBC Local went on strike for the first time, which caused some programming to be interrupted.

While members voted on the BBC’s revised proposal, a second strike that was scheduled to coincide with the local elections on May 5 was called off.

The union claimed that the improved agreement will result in three additional pairs of weekend breakfast shows and would eliminate the possibility of layoffs for 300 journalists.

But because members rejected it, local radio, regional TV, and online workers in England will go on strike in June.

“Many of our members who have had to reapply for their jobs and face being laid off have had a very trying and upsetting time,” said Paul Siegert, NUJ national broadcasting organizer.

“This fight is about the heart of the BBC’s public service remit.

“Local news is vital not just so people can be informed to be able to participate in local democracy, it binds communities together and for the many who will not be able to access local news digitally they will lose the familiar presenters who have become their friends.

“Local radio is not expensive in terms of the BBC’s budget and we believe that the BBC could easily solve this dispute.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re obviously disappointed with the result of the NUJ ballot.

“We will continue to engage with the union as we have done over the last few months in an effort to minimise the impact on our staff and our audiences.

“We have a plan to modernise local services across England – including more news journalists and a stronger local online service – which will see no overall reduction in staffing levels or local funding.

By gvoice

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