40 female BBC broadcasters team together to demand equal pay

Jul 23, 2017

If this doesn't shake up the BBC, we don't know what will.

More than 40 female presenters, broadcasters and journalists from the BBC have all teamed up together to demand equal pay.

The professionals sent a letter regarding the gender pay gap to BBC Director-General Tony Hall, asking him to work on closing the gap immediately.

Revolting #bbcwomen https://t.co/rz9xkaOreY

— Jane Garvey (@janegarvey1) July 22, 2017

It comes after it was revealed that Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans earned more than £2 million (€2.23m) last year, while the highest paid woman was Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman who earned between £450,000-£499,999 (€500,000-€556,000).

The letter, which was created by Women's Hour host Jane Garvey, asks if Mr Hall could "sort" the gender pay gap immediately.

I'm sure I'm not first to ask but do you have a link to the letter our male colleagues have put together in support?

— Sam Singh (@MissSamSingh) July 23, 2017

Jane tweeted out the letter herself, with the caption "Revolting."

The letter is as follows:

"The pay details released in the Annual report showed what many of us have suspected for many years … that women at the BBC are being paid less than men for the same work.

"Compared to many women and men, we are very well compensated and fortunate. However, this is an age of equality and the BBC is an organisation that prides itself on its values.

"You have said that you will ‘sort’ the gender pay gap by 2020, but the BBC has known about the pay disparity for years. We all want to go on the record to call upon you to act now.

"Beyond the list, there are so many other areas including production, engineering and support services and global, regional and local media where a pay gap has languished for too long.

"This is an opportunity for those of us with strong and loud voices to use them on behalf of all, and for an organisation that had to be pushed into transparency to do the right thing.

"We would be willing to meet you to discuss ways in which you can correct this disparity so that future generations of women do not face this kind of discrimination."

As of today, it has been signed by: