The labor conflict in Betevé intensifies with 12 new dismissals

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The Betevé labor conflict intensifies again, before the 12 new layoffs which were announced this morning. The intention of the management of the municipal channel of Barcelona is to reformulate its programming, for which three programs will disappear from the grid: ‘Àrtic’, ‘La Família Barris’ and ‘La Cartellera’. Last July, the company had already laid off another nine workers “to try to avoid bankruptcy.”

“Despite the approach of the positions between the management and the works council throughout these months of negotiation, it has not been possible to reach an agreement, and we don’t have any more time. The city council has already let us know that it cannot be constantly rescuing us and that we have to find a way to function with the allocated resources,” he explains. sergi vincentdirector of the chain.

“We cannot look the other way. We have to reverse the dynamics in which Betevé is immersed and guarantee its future and relevance. And that implies making decisions. Dispensing with personnel is a very hard decision, and we do it with the utmost responsibility”, adds the director, who last July admitted to EL PERIÓDICO: “If we do nothing, the chain could disappear.”

According to Vicente, “Betevé’s priority is the deployment of a project based on direct that guarantees a sustainable and competitive model, and the management of the media’s resources must be geared towards this goal.” He also recalls that he won the contest to be the director of this project, and that his responsibility is “to make the decisions that are necessary to make it a reality. The mandate of the Consell d’Administració and the Barcelona City Council require me to do so”, he reiterates.

Deep renovation of the programming

In addition to the 12 dismissals, Vicente today announced a series of changes “to give a new impetus to the public media outlet in Barcelona” that will begin to become visible from now on, with the extension of live time slots, and that will be noticed especially from September. The biggest bet is the premiere of a new large afternoon format live which will focus on culture. The ‘victims’ will be three other network programs that will disappear from the grid: ‘Àrtic’, ‘La Família Barris’ and ‘La Cartellera’

“There will be a profound renovation of programming with the aim of significantly improving audiences and commercial revenue. In fact, commercial income has already begun to grow since the new commercial director joined a few months ago, with an increase of 36% in 2021 compared to the previous year”, explains Vicente. “Changes are being made to guarantee the sustainability of Betevé. The media evolves very quickly and you can’t petrify a programming that prevents us from making the changes we need. It’s time to start a new stage and it has already begun,” he concludes.

mobilizations

For its part, the company committee of the local TV company in Barcelona, ​​which had called a protest this morning in the face of the “imminent layoffs” it foresaw, has today requested The resignation of Vincent for his “poor management”. In recent days, he had rejected a pact with the management “which meant a reduction in purchasing power and a cut in working conditions” of the workers, as he had described in a statement. In it, he asked the city council of the Catalan capital to find a solution to the labor conflict, stalled for months.

The representatives of the staff, who request “the immediate reinstatement” of the 12 dismissed, demanded that “any procedure of layoff or restructuring“, with the aim of avoiding a situation like that of last July, when the company laid off nine workers to try to “avoid bankruptcy”. Likewise, it requested “that an agreement continue to be negotiated” that regulates its activity as a public media “in fair conditions, without wage cuts or cuts in labor rights.”

dismissals

The committee, which hoped that the conflict would be resolved “in an agreed manner without eternalizing the process by judicial means”, also demanded the resignation of the director of resources, carme ponte, for his “disastrous management and inability to negotiate throughout this process”. As well as the dismissal of the members of the board of directors, Susana Alcaide, Josep Maria Carbonell, Francesc Orteu, Álex Sàlmon and Xavier Vidalwhom he accused of deciding “from the shadows the future of 244 workers without knowing the real needs of the environment or sitting at the negotiating table”.

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In its manifesto, the committee emphasized that the first lawsuits for “illegal assignment” that were filed in 2014 have ended with court decisions favorable to the workers. “Having verified the solvency of the Barcelona City Council, this shock plan of the Betevé management in the form of dismissals and social cuts is only due to directive’s revenge towards the plaintiff workers”, he affirmed. “What the justice ruled in various firm sentences, now they want to revert by means of dismissals”, he denounces.

A few months ago, Vicente provided figures from the audited annual accounts and recalled something that has been known for a long time: that the origin of the critical economic situation lies in “the changes that have been produced by the judicialization and by the impact of VAT” , that they are not allowed to deduct. Thus, 74.8% of the budget -a “very high” percentage, certified the director- is used to pay staff, when before that figure was 57.5% (from 9.4 million euros in 2019 to 13, 5 million this 2021; in 2015 they were 1.2, 8.3%). And only 8.89% of the budget (1.6 million euros) is dedicated to programming, when in 2015 that figure was 29.1%. The other expenses item is 16.24% and the maintenance and cleaning item is 2.9 million.



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