BECTU OUTSIDE BROADCAST BRANCH
Hello and welcome to the new BECTU OB Branch.
This branch has been set up to reflect the needs of members working in outside broadcast and, with more effective representation, to address the growing list of bad experiences suffered by all those in this part of the television industry.
BECTU is the largest sector of the Prospect Union, with 46,000 of the 147,000 members.
Such numbers give us a voice and there has never been a greater need to use that voice as members find their budgets squeezed from both ends.
Inflation has depleted domestic finances, and the OB companies constantly exert pressure to push terms and conditions backwards.
BECTU has already used the power of it’s membership to engage with various bodies to improve the way the workforce is treated.
An example of that is your IR35 tax status.
HMRC only recognised that TV should be treated differently to it’s main target of the IR35 legislation, the IT industry, thanks to effective campaigning by BECTU who created the list of jobs upon which your tax status depends.
Without BECTU, every freelancer would be paying tax and National Insurance at source.
We didn’t want that and the employers didn’t want that.
BECTUs intervention helped everybody
Another positive success for BECTU was the ‘Back To Work’ guidelines written in response to the devastating impact the pandemic had on jobs in all aspects of TV and film.
Those guidelines were not only adopted by the TV and film companies, they were ‘copy and pasted’ by many other companies in completely different industries.
In so doing, BECTU not only helped people get back to work and back to work safely, it helped the whole industry get back on its feet.
As a result of such efforts, BECTU is both recognised and respected by the broadcasters, production companies and facility providers.
BECTUs successes were brought about by it’s membership.
That is you.
Encouraging others to join can only make us stronger.
Getting involved as a rep can only make us stronger.
BECTU’s free training can only make you stronger.
We already have a voice that is heard.
Together we can shout a little louder.