BT employees step up strike motion as Virgin Media O2 affords pay rise

The union representing frontline employees at BT has launched a recent spherical of strike motion simply as rival Virgin Media O2 introduced a ten per cent pay rise for its lowest-paid employees.

About 40,000 BT employees represented by the Communication Employees Union are set to strike on 4 days this month starting on Thursday and for the primary time because the industrial motion began, 999 emergency name handlers are becoming a member of the walkouts.

“We’re by no means going to stroll away from this,” mentioned Dave Ward, common secretary of the Communication Employees Union, including that the anger shouldn’t be “going to dissipate”.

The union is disputing a £1,500 pay rise supplied to 58,000 frontline employees, together with engineers, name centre employees and retail employees, throughout BT Group in April, which equated to a median 4.8 per cent pay rise at a time when inflation is round 10 per cent.

The CWU has highlighted the discrepancy between frontline employees’ pay and that of senior administration, provided that the chief govt obtained a 32 per cent pay improve within the final monetary yr, to £3.5mn, due to earlier share awards.

On the identical day because the CWU’s new wave of business motion, Virgin Media O2 introduced that it was planning to introduce a brand new £1,400 cost for workers incomes £35,000 and below. Together with a 3 per cent pay rise earlier within the yr, and bonus funds, the brand new provide equates to a greater than 10 per cent pay rise for the corporate’s lowest paid employees.

Final month, Sky additionally introduced that it might offer 70 per cent of its employees a recent £1,000 “winter cost”. 

Andy Kerr, deputy common secretary of the CWU, liable for telecoms, mentioned that the Virgin Media O2 provide is “the type of factor we’d be keen to take a look at” for BT employees.

The BT motion comes amid a wave of private and non-private strikes throughout the UK, as employees wrestle with the rising value of dwelling. About 115,000 employees at Royal Mail will likely be withholding their labour for a number of days throughout October and November, and British railway employees have continued their strike motion all through the week.

BT mentioned in a press release final month that it was “profoundly disillusioned that the CWU is ready to take this reckless plan of action by together with 999 providers in strikes”.

“We made the very best pay award we may in April and we’ve got held discussions with the CWU to discover a manner ahead from right here,” it mentioned.

Ward mentioned that the union had obtained some criticism for its determination to incorporate 999 name centre employees within the newest spherical of business motion, and mentioned that he was acutely aware of the truth that putting members will likely be affected by lack of pay.

“Taking strike motion could be very troublesome throughout a price of dwelling disaster,” he mentioned, including that it was BT administration, not the unions, which are being “the reckless ones”.