Mobile phones and broadband could go do in BT Group strike
Britain's telecoms infrastructure could be in jeopardy if BT Group workers carry out their threat to strike at the end of the monht.
Over 40,000 BT Group workers have announced a two-day national strike against what they say are real-terms pay cuts,.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) – which represents BT Group workers – has today served notice for strike action that will take place on July 29 and August 1.
It follows a ballot last month which saw 30,000 Openreach engineers voting for strike action by 95.8 per cent on a 74.8 per cent turnout.
Workers in BT, approximately 9,000 of whom work in call centres, followed suite by voting to strike by 91.5 per cent on a 58.2 per cent turnout.
BT's National Network Management Centre moved to Oswestry in the 1980s.
The dispute centres on workers opposing the offer and implementation of a £1,500 per year pay increase for employees which they say with inflation equals a pay cut.
BT making £1.3 billion in annual profit last year, with CEO Philip Jansen gaining a £3.5 million pay package – a 32 per cent wage increase says the union.
The workers on strike look after the vast majority of Britain’s telecoms infrastructure, from mobile phone connection, broadband internet and back-up generators to national health systems, cyber security and data centres.
The strike action is also likely to have a serious effect on the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband.
It is the first strike action at BT Group since 1987, and the first national call centre workers strike.
CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “For the first time since 1987, strike action will now commence at BT Group.
“This is not a case of an employer refusing to meet a union’s demands – this is about an employer refusing to meet us whatsoever. The serious disruption this strike may cause is entirely down to Philip Jansen and his friends."
“These are the same workers who kept the country connected during the pandemic. Without CWU members in BT Group, there would have been no home-working revolution, and vital technical infrastructure may have malfunctioned or been broken when our country most needed it."
“We won’t have bosses using Swiss banks while workers are using food banks."
