Stephen Cole - Appearing more on N24?

I just can't help but ask what you did to have to edit that incredibly witty riposte a total of 3 times, yet still managed to use the word "seams".

That's a masterstroke of intellectual and computing incompetence. Let's hope they don't make you do anything too taxing (like writing or typing) at the BBC.

Also nice to see you've gone ever so quiet on explaining to us all exactly what the strikes did achieve.

Have you got an answer?

Once more, a constructive reply would be a most spiffing treat.

Because 24 hour news is a team effort. The presenter relies on the team supporting them and vica versa. After all it only takes a producer to get one letter wrong in a technical instruction and the presenter can end up looking a total idiot.

Dunedin, you're an utter moron. If you can't read what archiveTV posted above then you shouldn't be in any job which involves breathing

i would not invite a rude, ignorant, vitriolic, slimy person into my home, and so it follows, i do not want the news to be delivered to me by such a person.

Have you actually bothered to find out for yourself what the strike itself achieved rather than jumping on the bandwagon and resorting to personal abuse ?

It is the case that all it achieved was a deferment, the BBC are still commited to some 4,000 job losses but just in a years time, and almost certain to include compulsory losses. Mark Thompson hasn't gone away and he's still looking to make annual savings of £350m.

You have an odd view of 'success'.

I suggest you look at www.bectu.org for the full details. The main thing was it brought the BBC back to the negotiating table and negotiations are still ongoing. It also protected the pension rights and redundancy terms of many who have spent their lives working for the cooperation and faced the prospect of losing those rights.

And most importantly it showed the BBC the strength of feeling among BBC staff. The likes of Huw Edwards, Anna Ford, John Humphryes, Sophie Raworth, Jeremy Paxman, Jeremy Vine, Nik Gowing, Jon Sopel etc all supported the strike. Presumably you believe they were all misguided and that you know better than any of them.

Can I ask what do you actually do for a living?

But does it matter as long as he isn't "rude, ignorant, vitriolic or slimy" on screen.

Surely to expect more is to ask every person in the world of presentation (or the service industry as a whole) to have a perfect life away from work? Is the cashier who smiles at you and says hello at the supermarket any less good at their job if they're lying to their partner about an affair away from work?

Is that a fair demand to make? Is it fair that you should know a person's alleged personality on a public forum without that person having a right to reply? What if the person delivering the "gossip" on the presenter is actually the "ignorant, vitriolic and slimy" one looking to make petit trouble?

So many questions.

I think the "concession" on ensuring pension transfers for the BBC Broadcast jobs was hardly difficult for the BBC since they've sold it. Otherwise, all that it achieved was a delay in the inevitable.

I'm sorry but that just isn't successful at all. Given the remits for the strike, success would only have been achieved with a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.

That hasn't been achieved.

There's a difference between "supporting" a strike and not going out of your way to defy it. Many of those famous names you've listed didn't actually come out and say how right the strikers were, nor did they join the picket line. I believe Jeremy Paxman would have come in, but there weren't enough people working to get Newsnight running- he didn't openly endorse the strike action. And regardless of who supports your strike, it still didn't achieve anything and that's the ultimate bottom line.

For what it's worth- I work in the field of healthcare. Can I ask what you do (presumably at the BBC or Bectu)?

At last- someone who can look objectively at the aims of the strike and the outcomes achieved.

So Mr. Hall, let me ask you to clarify two points since you absolutely agree with archiveTV's comments on the strike action.

1. You believe that a strike is successful if you get the management back to the negotiating table within 24 hours (independent of what you then agree)?

2. A strike is successful if lots of people support it (independent of the whether the aims of the strike are fulfilled)?

I hardly know why I stuck question marks after those two statements, because it is obvious from your terse (and ludicrously childish) reply that you absolutely agree with them.

So read them again, and see if you would like to retract (or at least rephrase) your comments. I hate to have to put it so simply for you, but I fear it may be necessary to make you understand what your reply actually meant.

As always- constructive replies are welcome.

I have pointed out what it achieved. You can ignore my points if you like but it doesn't make them invalid. And the concessions on pensions was very important and helped protect the retirement plans of many loyal BBC staff. There was never going to be any guarantee on no compulsory redundancies. The unions achieved a deferment. In two years time they will get another deferment. It's called compromise. The unions gave a bit and the BBC gave a bit. Maybe you were expecting a Miners type dispute with hordes of Police escorting a few strike breakers into Television Centre. Many in BBC management, if not outwardly supporting the strike, supported its aims. For instance the pickets were given permission to use BBC facilities for refreshments. Hardly the bitter dispute you were hoping for.
As for critics of strike breakers. People have not problem with those who simply did their jobs and worked on the day of the strike. After all they have to work together every day. What they did have, was an issue with were those who saw the opportunity for their own self promotion and enrichment. There are always some so selfish they see the disputes of others and an opening for their own egos. On the whole they were people who were not regularly used by any channel and not thought of highly by any in BBC management.

I'm amazed that as a healthcare worker you fail to see the value of teamwork. Maybe you are one of the many NHS burocrats who spend their time in meetings and sending bills to each other. One of those who, to quote Oscar Wilde, know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. The value of good team work is essential to the smooth working of any operation and vital to the look of 24 hour news. And the team includes the presenter.

*yawns* how boring this thread has turned.