RTÉ staff vow to oppose any attempt to outsource Late Late Show and Fair City ‘by all means’

Employees branded the proposal a “kick in the teeth to ordinary workers” and vowed to oppose plans to offer production contracts to the private sector.

The warning comes after director general Kevin Bakhurst told a staff meeting that production of programmes including the long-running Dublin soap and popular chat show will move off site over the next five years. He outlined the decision, which is part of RTÉ’s new strategy document, A New Direction.

Ciaran Kelly, a Siptu member and broadcast engineer, said RTÉ is a company that staff have given their working lives to.

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“If management believes that it will be allowed to erode conditions of employment that were long fought for and hard-won it is seriously mistaken,” he said.

He said the proposals amount to a kick in the teeth to ordinary workers at the station.

Staff affected by this proposal are the very people who have always given 100pc and gone the extra mile to ensure that programmes were made and got to air, he added.

“We are all very committed, passionate and proud of our jobs,” he said.

“Rather than value us, management is expecting us to pay for its gross misgovernance and waste of licence fee money over recent years.”

Zac Sloper, Siptu RTÉ committee chairperson. said the current problems in RTÉ were brought about by bad management decisions and practices.

He said Siptu members do not have confidence in the current managers of the station, many of whom were in place during recent fiascos.

“We do not believe they have the best interests of RTÉ or its staff at heart,” he said.

“Siptu members will not be left to pay the price for problems created by RTÉ management.”

He said the union will be seeking meetings with management to raise its opposition to the proposals.

Martin Mannion, a Siptu organiser, said union members decided they will oppose any move to outsource their work at a meeting of the Siptu RTÉ committee yesterday.

“RTÉ management’s proposals to cut jobs and outsource productions, such as the Late, Late Show and Fair City, are being forced on staff without consultation with them or their union,” he said.

He claimed the union was witnessing “a cynical move by management towards the privatisation of the station” rather than a considered response to the crisis facing the broadcaster.

It is understood that Mr Bakhurst disagreed with the trade unions’ use of the word “outsourcing” at the staff meeting, when referring to the future of the shows.

During the meeting, he said the independent sector will be invited to discuss the possibility of producing Fair City.

The director general indicated that the Late Late Show might be produced by an in-house team along with an independent company.

An RTÉ spokesperson said Mr Bakhurst and other members of RTÉ’s interim leadership team have said on many occasions this week that Fair City and the Late Late Show are “central to what we do in RTÉ and will remain so”.

He said the need to transform to put RTÉ on a sustainable financial footing, meet the changing needs of audiences in a digital age and invest in its programming, content and digital services, rather than aging buildings, combined with a requirement to invest more in Ireland’s independent sector, as recommended by the Future of Media Commission Report mean that “we need to do things differently in the future”.

RTÉ already successfully produces a wide range of programmes – from Kin and The Dry to Dancing with The Stars and Room to Improve – with the independent sector, he said.

“Crucially, the transformation outlined on Tuesday will take place over a five-year period and will be gradual and consultative,” he said.

“While we understand some of the concerns raised, we believe RTÉ’s strategy document – A New Direction – outlines clearly how we believe RTÉ will regain trust, better serve the changing needs of audiences and remain an important and valued part of Irish life into the future.”

The spokesperson said exits from RTÉ as part of the voluntary exit programme referred to in the strategy will be voluntary.

He said RTÉ is “committed to supporting its employees during this period of change”.