THE 24-hour action by members of the technicians' union Bectu, which caused wide spread disruption of the BBC's live radio and television coverage, was dismissed by listeners and viewers as an irritation.

But now the men who hold all the technical aces are really talking tough.

They could, with a little help from their French friends, stop television pictures of the World Cup being shown in Britain.

Bectu's broadcasting official, Gerry Morrisey, put himself in line for the title of most unpopular man in the UK when he said that World Cup coverage would be targeted if the talks planned at the Arbitration, Conciliation and Advisory Service break down.

If the unthinkable happens, and members of Bectu deny us the opportunity to watch what is probably the world's greatest sporting spectacle, and which only comes around once every four years, they will be hitting the consumer harder than their bosses at the BBC.

The dispute follows a decision by the BBC to reorganise its technical section into a company called BBC Resources from July 1.

But the union claims the move represents "privatisation by stealth" and will cause job losses and pay cuts. It is a scenario familiar to many industries which have had to modernise or face the prospect of going out of business.

Sadly, there have to be casualties. But, as we have seen in the ship building and car industries, there are far more when companies opt to carry on with outdated methods.

The technicians at the BBC have adopted a Luddite attitude.

Camera crews, who we fund through the licence fee, often include one man to hold the sound equipment, one to move the lighting and another to carry boxes of equipment.

It is reminiscent of the days when work on a new ship would stop if the wrong man handled a rivet. That attitude helped the Germans, Japanese, South Koreans and Turks to take over an industry which the British saw as theirs by right.

The technicians should join the real world. Britain can no longer be held to ransom by such tactics.

And the Government would do well to pause for thought.

Yesterday's spat reminded us of how it used to be. And it was a very unpleasant memory.

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