ITV staff to strike in pay dispute

ITV has studios and offices on London's South Bank

ITV production workers and other staff have voted to strike on 14 May in a dispute over pay, broadcasting union Bectu has said.

The 24 hour strike could affect live programmes, including ITV News bulletins and Good Morning Britain.

The union had originally hoped to strike as Britain goes to the polls on 7 May, but revised its plans to coincide with ITV's annual meeting.

The dispute over pay goes back to last December.

Bectu said its members had voted in favour of industrial action by 67%, in protest over ITV's "miserly" offer of a 2% increase.

Unions are arguing for a bigger wage increase in view of the TV company's profits.

"There is a huge disparity between the pay offered to staff and the bonus package to executives as well as shareholder dividends," said Bectu general secretary Gerry Morrissey.

"Our members are helping to make the profits but are not sharing in them."

The strike will coincide with ITV's annual meeting and will hit live programmes, with journalists and other broadcasting staff also involved in the dispute.

ITV said it had contingency plans in place to ensure all its programmes would continue to be broadcast and was "confident" viewers would remain unaffected by the strike.

"We are fully prepared to maintain an open dialogue with union representatives following the ballot result today, which has seen 232 union members voting to strike out of a UK workforce of 3,000 employees," said a statement from the broadcaster.

"ITV continues to make good progress, but our focus on costs remains incredibly important across the business."