BECTU was a trade union that supported people working in media industries through negotiating pay rates and working conditions, providing insurance, and advising contractors. It set minimum pay rates for different jobs and ensured standard employment terms through collective bargaining between employers and employees. The union also offered education, networking opportunities, and one-on-one support to help media professionals with issues like taxes, benefits, and career development. BECTU is now part of the larger Prospect union.

1. Emily Kelly
Media- Unit4 Pre production
BECTU
Bectu was a trade union for people working with the media industries. Bectu stands for the
Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communication and Theatre Union. It is now part of a bigger
union called Prospect. This supports people working with in media industries and that they
are important for pre production processes in many ways.
Recommended rates:
Recommended rates are the rates that are recommended by the BECTU. The union sets
standard minimum rates of pay for different jobs, contexts and rates of seniority. The union
sets also works to set standard conditions of employment. Therefore, it can be irregular as
media work, you can still get entitlement to breaks in your working day and pay in respect
of accumulated leave.
Collective bargaining:
Collective bargaining is part of the BETCU that helps to talk between an employer and
employee. This means individuals having to argue for better pay for conditions from
individual’s employers. The union is also able to argue for the industry for improving rates of
pay and better conditions for everyone. By having this, the BECTU have employees right so
any under paying can be avoided and every employee is safe whilst doing their job.
Public Liability Insurance:
This is a type of insurance in the media industry which covers the payments and legal costs if
anybody else decides to sue your production for any reason at all. This means you can
budget for the insurance payments and that covers any unexpected costs to avoid the
budget being blown for a big claim for damages.
Contractors and Self Employed Advice:
This means the people working in the media industries are self- employed and working on
job to job on specific contracts rather than being employed on a contract. The union works
to provide support to the members on all these different issues which can include tax,
national insurance, benefits and pensions.
Networking:
Networking is when the members of the organisation meet together through meetings or
conferences. This is important in the media industry in order to share career prospects and
to share their experiences and to work towards improving working conditions for people in
the media industries.
Education and Training:

2. Emily Kelly
Media- Unit4 Pre production
This provides education courses both for people wanting to become union representatives
and for careers advice and guidance for creative technical skills in management’s skills.
One to one support:
The BECTU provides supports for the staff who are working in the media entertainment
industry in order to support their future. They also provide training, legal services and low
cost insurances for freelancers within the entertainment and media industry.
Tax and National Insurance:
The BECTU also provide help with tax and national insurance. These help producers of a film
or people in the media industry to pay for the tax themselves and they also provide a
guidance document in order to help them identify areas when paying tax and insurance.