Staff vote to strike over ENO job cuts

The English National Opera (ENO) is facing further turmoil after backstage staff voted to strike over planned job cuts.

One in six positions is under threat at the cash-strapped company, which performs at the Coliseum in London. Gerry Morrissey, assistant general secretary of the Bectu union, said yesterday: "We would prefer the positions to be lost through voluntary redundancies but it appears there will not be enough volunteers." Bectu and the ENO have agreed to meet at the conciliation service Acas later this month.

Earlier this year, 60 choristers staged a walkout in protest at plans to axe 20 of them. An agreement was eventually reached to lose 10 through a voluntary redundancy scheme.