LONDON: The BBC’s China editor Carrie Gracie has resigned from her post, citing pay inequality with male colleagues.
In an open letter, Gracie – who has been at the BBC for more than 30 years – accused the corporation of having a “secretive and illegal pay culture”.
She said the BBC was facing a “crisis of trust”, after it was revealed two-thirds of its stars earning more than £150,000 were male.
The BBC said there was “no systemic discrimination against women”.
Gracie said she left her role as editor of the corporation’s Beijing bureau last week, but would remain with the BBC.
She said she would return to her former post in the TV newsroom “where I expect to be paid equally”.
Gracie is co-presenting BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.
In the letter, posted on her blog, Gracie – a China specialist who is fluent in Mandarin – said “the BBC belongs to you, the licence fee payer.
“I believe you have a right to know that it is breaking equality law and resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure.”
In July last year, the BBC was forced to reveal the salaries of all employees earning more than £150,000 a year.
Gracie said she was dismayed to discover the BBC’s two male international editors earned “at least 50per cent more” than its two female counterparts.
US editor Jon Sopel earned £200,000-£249,999, it was revealed, while Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen earned £150,000-£199,999.
Gracie was not on the list, meaning her salary was less than £150,000.
A letter calling for equal pay – published in the Telegraph – was later signed by both Ms Gracie and BBC Europe editor, Katya Adler.
EQUAL PAY:
In her open letter, Gracie said: “The Equality Act 2010 states that men and women doing equal work must receive equal pay.
“But last July I learned that in the previous financial year, the two men earned at least 50 per cent more than the two women.
“Despite the BBC’s public insistence that my appointment demonstrated its commitment to gender equality, and despite my own insistence that equality was a condition of taking up the post, my managers had yet again judged that women’s work was worth much less than men’s.”
Gracie said she asked for the four international editors to be paid equally.
“Instead the BBC offered me a big pay rise which remained far short of equality,” she added.
“I believe I am very well paid already – especially as someone working for a publicly funded organisation.
“I simply want the BBC to abide by the law and value men and women equally.”
She said “patience and goodwill are running out” among female staff.
‘NO SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION’:
In a statement, a BBC spokeswoman said “fairness in pay” at the corporation “is vital”.
“A significant number of organisations have now published their gender pay figures showing that we are performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average.
“Alongside that, we have already conducted an independent judge-led audit of pay for rank and file staff which showed ‘no systemic discrimination against women’.
“A separate report for on-air staff will be published in the not too distant future.”
Last year, a report published by the BBC found there was a 10.7 per cent gender pay gap in favour of men when the mean average hourly pay rates were compared.
Director General Lord Hall pledged to close the gap by 2020, saying the corporation should be “an exemplar of what can be achieved when it comes to pay, fairness, gender and representation”.
