The BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie has resigned from her post, citing pay inequality with male colleagues.
In an open letter, Ms 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".
Ms 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".
Ms Gracie is co-presenting BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday.
In the letter, posted on her blog, Ms 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.
Ms Gracie said she was dismayed to discover the BBC's two male international editors earned "at least 50% 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.
Ms 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, Ms 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% 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."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Carrie Gracie returned to Beijing in 2014 after several years' absence
Ms 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 good will are running out" among female staff.
Industry support
BBC media editor Amol Rajan said Ms Gracie's resignation was a "big, big headache" for the corporation.
Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said it was "no surprise" that Ms Gracie was not prepared to stay silent about the "scourge of unequal pay" at the BBC.
"[The letter] makes it clear what a difficult decision it has been to speak out about what she calls a crisis of trust at the BBC, but why it is vital that the British public are clear about why she has been forced to resign her post."
On Twitter, many people, including BBC journalists, have expressed support for Ms Gracie using the hashtag #IStandWithCarrie, echoing the #BBCWomen hashtag that was prominent last summer.
'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 a 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% 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".
China editor gets scores of supportive messages from broadcasters and politicians after quitting over unequal pay
The BBC’s China editor, Carrie Gracie, says the support she has received for resigning in protest over unequal pay demonstrates a hunger for change.
Within hours of posting an open letter to licence fee payers citing a “crisis of trust” at the BBC over men being paid more than women, Gracie has been sent scores of messages of support from a string of prominent broadcasters and politicians.
Despite being the subject of a news story, Gracie took the unusual step of going ahead with a scheduled appearance as presenter of the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4.
She told the programme how much she had been moved by the support. Interviewed by her co-presenter John Humphrys, whose £600,000-plus pay packet is at least four times more than Gracie’s, she said: “The support that I’ve had in the last few hours over this … does speak to the depth of hunger for an equal, fair and transparent pay system.”
She added: “What is lovely for me is that people are mentioning my China work, because I would not wish to be remembered for ever as the woman who complained about money.”
Humphrys interrupted her to say “too late, too late”, before going on to praise his colleague’s stint as China editor.
BBC's China editor resigns in protest over gender pay gap Read more
Gracie added: “I want to be remembered as the person who did some fine China work, and enough people are saying that for me to feel that that will not get buried as a result of all this.”
BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) "The support that I've had speaks to the depth of hunger for an equal, fair and transparent pay system."@BBCCarrie says she has been moved by the support for her resignation over gender pay row. More here 👉 https://t.co/pMJE08Hsoq#r4today pic.twitter.com/J1KuTF40kg
Sarah Montague, the least well paid of the regular Today programme presenters, was one of 130 broadcasters and producers to sign a message of support backing Gracie’s protest.
It urged the BBC to “urgently address pay inequality across the corporation”. And it pointed out that 200 women across the BBC had made pay complaints.
Sarah Montague (@Sarah_Montague) Statement from #bbcwomen in support of @BBCCarrie #EqualPay #IStandWithCarrie pic.twitter.com/tueh1aCW8W
Many of the BBC’s most prominent names also backed Gracie’s stance and hailed her bravery.
Kirsty Wark (@KirstyWark) .@BBCCarrie is an outstanding and principled journalist and I am proud to stand with her #bbcwomen #equalpay #istandwithcarrie
emily m (@maitlis) What an amazing front page @thetimes - ! the women no longer prepared to put up with the stuff they shouldn't ( wasn't actually including reshuffle ) https://t.co/SBWTwBRQJu
Clare Balding (@clarebalding) This is a letter to everyone who loves and values the BBC from one of its finest journalists. @BBCCarrie has resigned as China editor. Please read and retweet. It’s time for #equalpay https://t.co/eSMU3x5aCS #bbcwomen #IStandWithCarrie
Rival broadcasters also backed her protest. Lindsey Hilsum, international editor at Channel 4 News, criticised the BBC for not valuing their “fluent Chinese speaking China editor” and “renowned authority”.
Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) It seems the BBC does not value @BBCCarrie - its fluent Chinese speaking China Editor, a renowned authority as well as a great journalist - bcs it won’t pay her the same as a man. https://t.co/3v94InDcQU
A number of politicians also voiced their support, including Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon; the shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams; and Labour’s former deputy party leader Harriet Harman.
Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) This @BBCCarrie letter is a must read. All respect to her. https://t.co/9CvZrsyWLR
Debbie Abrahams MP (@Debbie_abrahams) BBC News - BBC China editor Carrie Gracie quits post in equal pay row https://t.co/uS1fsHlhbg Well done @BBCCarrie for taking such an important stand. Took great courage.
Jacqui Smith (@Jacqui_Smith1) Devastating letter from @BBCCarrie who’s done a brilliant job as China Editor. BBC don’t deserve talent like her if they can’t get their act together on #equalpay She’s also done a great job on @BBCr4today Perhaps she could replace Humphries. https://t.co/NNXIIloHx3
Labour’s Jess Phillips tweeted: “Here’s my suggestion. I’ll pay 50% less of my licence fee. I love and would die in ditch for the BBC but this isn’t the gender pay gap even, this is equal pay issue and it’s illegal to pay her less than men doing equivalent work. SORT IT OUT.”
The Tory MP Nadine Dorries wrote on Twitter: “What a brave lady she is. Absolutely no way any woman under any circumstances should be paid less than any man for doing the same job.”
Labour peer Lord Foulkes, who demanded that Gracie reveal how much she was paid during a live interview about MP’s pay in 2009, said he agreed with her campaign for pay parity.
George Foulkes (@GeorgeFoulkes) But I agree with Carrie Gracie on pay parity! https://t.co/ICtt3Tu32q
Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said it was “determined to hold the BBC to account”.
She said: “It’s no surprise that NUJ member Carrie Gracie is not prepared to stay silent about the injustice wrought upon her by her own employer.
“Her letter to licence fee payers makes it clear what a difficult decision it has been to speak out about what she calls a crisis of trust at the BBC, but why it is vital that the British public are clear about why she has been forced to resign her post as China Editor and return early to London,” Stanistreet said in a statement.
The journalist, who has been with the BBC for 30 years and described leading its China coverage since 2013 as “the greatest privilege of my career”, stated her concerns in a letter addressed to the “BBC audience”.
She accused the corporation of a “secretive and illegal pay culture” after it was revealed two-thirds of its stars earning more than £150,000 were male.
A BBC spokesman said: “Fairness in pay 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.”
Dear BBC audience
My name is Carrie Gracie and I have been a BBC journalist for three decades. With great regret, I have left my post as China editor to speak out publicly on a crisis of trust at the BBC.
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 thirty years at the BBC, I have never sought to make myself the story and never publicly criticised the organisation I love. I am not asking for more money. 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.
On pay, the BBC is not living up to its stated values of trust, honesty and accountability. Salary disclosures the BBC was forced to make six months ago revealed not only unacceptably high pay for top presenters and managers but also an indefensible pay gap between men and women doing equal work. These revelations damaged the trust of BBC staff. For the first time, women saw hard evidence of what they’d long suspected, that they are not being valued equally.
Many have since sought pay equality through internal negotiation but managers still deny there is a problem. This bunker mentality is likely to end in a disastrous legal defeat for the BBC and an exodus of female talent at every level.
Mine is just one story of inequality among many, but I hope it will help you understand why I feel obliged to speak out.
I am a China specialist, fluent in Mandarin and with nearly three decades of reporting the story. Four years ago, the BBC urged me to take the newly created post of China editor.
I knew the job would demand sacrifices and resilience. I would have to work 5,000 miles from my teenage children, and in a heavily censored one-party state I would face surveillance, police harassment and official intimidation.
I accepted the challenges while stressing to my bosses that I must be paid equally with my male peers. Like many other BBC women, I had long suspected that I was routinely paid less, and at this point in my career, I was determined not to let it happen again. Believing that I had secured pay parity with men in equivalent roles, I set off for Beijing.
In the past four years, the BBC has had four international editors – two men and two women. 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% 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.
My bewilderment turned to dismay when I heard the BBC complain of being forced to make these pay disclosures. Without them, I and many other BBC women would never have learned the truth.
I told my bosses the only acceptable resolution would be for all the international editors to be paid the same amount. The right amount would be for them to decide, and I made clear I wasn’t seeking a pay rise, just equal pay. Instead the BBC offered me a big pay rise which remained far short of equality. It said there were differences between roles which justified the pay gap, but it has refused to explain these differences. Since turning down an unequal pay rise, I have been subjected to a dismayingly incompetent and undermining grievance process which still has no outcome.
Enough is enough. The rise of China is one of the biggest stories of our time and one of the hardest to tell. I cannot do it justice while battling my bosses and a byzantine complaints process. Last week I left my role as China editor and will now return to my former post in the TV newsroom where I expect to be paid equally.
For BBC women this is not just a matter of one year’s salary or two. Taking into account disadvantageous contracts and pension entitlements, it is a gulf that will last a lifetime. Many of the women affected are not highly paid “stars” but hard-working producers on modest salaries. Often women from ethnic minorities suffer wider pay gaps than the rest.
This is not the gender pay gap that the BBC admits to. It is not men earning more because they do more of the jobs which pay better. It is men earning more in the same jobs or jobs of equal value. It is pay discrimination and it is illegal.
On learning the shocking scale of inequality last July, BBC women began to come together to tackle the culture of secrecy that helps perpetuate it. We shared our pay details and asked male colleagues to do the same.
Meanwhile the BBC conducted various reviews. The outgoing director of news said last month, “We did a full equal pay audit which showed there is equal pay across the BBC.” But this was not a full audit. It excluded the women with the biggest pay gaps. The BBC has now begun a ‘talent review’ but the women affected have no confidence in it. Up to two hundred BBC women have made pay complaints only to be told repeatedly there is no pay discrimination at the BBC. Can we all be wrong? I no longer trust our management to give an honest answer.
In fact, the only BBC women who can be sure they do not suffer pay discrimination are senior managers whose salaries are published. For example, we have a new, female, director of news who did not have to fight to earn the same as her male predecessor because his £340 000 salary was published and so was hers. Elsewhere, pay secrecy makes BBC women as vulnerable as they are in many other workplaces.
How to put things right?
The BBC must admit the problem, apologise and set in place an equal, fair and transparent pay structure. To avoid wasting your licence fee on an unwinnable court fight against female staff, the BBC should immediately agree to independent arbitration to settle individual cases.
Patience and good will are running out. In the six months since July’s revelations, the BBC has attempted a botched solution based on divide and rule. It has offered some women pay ‘revisions’ which do not guarantee equality, while locking down other women in a protracted complaints process.
We have felt trapped. Speaking out carries the risk of disciplinary measures or even dismissal; litigation can destroy careers and be financially ruinous. What’s more the BBC often settles cases out of court and demands non-disclosure agreements, a habit unworthy of an organisation committed to truth, and one which does nothing to resolve the systemic problem.
None of this is an indictment of individual managers. I am grateful for their personal support and for their editorial integrity in the face of censorship pressure in China. But for far too long, a secretive and illegal BBC pay culture has inflicted dishonourable choices on those who enforce it. This must change.
Meanwhile we are by no means the only workplace with hidden pay discrimination and the pressure for transparency is only growing. I hope rival news organisations will not use this letter as a stick with which to beat the BBC, but instead reflect on their own equality issues.
It is painful to leave my China post abruptly and to say goodbye to the team in the BBC’s Beijing bureau. But most of them are brilliant young women. I don’t want their generation to have to fight this battle in the future because my generation failed to win it now.
To women of any age in any workplace who are confronting pay discrimination, I wish you the solidarity of a strong sisterhood and the support of male colleagues.
It is a century since women first won the right to vote in Britain. Let us honour that brave generation by making this the year we win equal pay.
Carrie Gracie
