A tale of two union leaders

The official results are not out, but NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear is predicting that his members at the BBC will reject the management's latest pension proposals. At BECTU, things are more circumspect,with no word as yet from General Secretary Gerry Morrissey - which might suggest things are close.

Jeremy Dear has been over eight years in post.  At various times, he's been named as a member of the Awkward Squad, a group of socialist union leaders, which may or may not have existed. Or may or may not be re-assembling. And may or may not include the leaders of the PCS, the RMT and FBU.  Gerry Morrissey has been in post since 2007 at BECTU.  He joined the BBC as a buyer in catering.

A strike call by one and not the other would cause real tensions, and genuine anxiety for colleagues in News about crossing other people's picket lines.  And there's opposition to the deal inside both unions.  Let's hope the leadership teams can come up with a way forward that uses any mandate cleverly.