BT workers vote overwhelmingly for strike action

By a Scottish CWU member and BT worker 

Communication Workers Union (CWU) members have delivered an overwhelming message of defiance to their bosses by voting against real term pay cuts.

Members have shown they will not accept their imposed pay rise from a company which reported £1.3 billion profit in 2021. 

Around 30,000 BT, Openreach and EE workers were balloted earlier this month for industrial action.

CWU had rejected a pay rise offer of £1200 earlier this year, however a £1500 pay rise was them imposed without Union agreement on members’ April salaries.

This led to immediate preparations being made to hold this nationwide statutory industrial action ballot; the first since 1987.

The results reveal an overall impressive win for the CWU with the returned yes votes ranging from 95.5% within EE to 95.5% being reported from Openreach members.

EE, however, did not manage to cross the legal threshold for strike action. They missed this by only 8 votes. However the growth of CWU membership within EE since 2018 has been impressive and continues to grow.

EE members are some of the lowest paid within the BT Group and are also employed on some of the poorest terms and conditions.

The big issue this week was a report of a foodbank within an EE site. BT denies this is a foodbank and insists this is a “food pantry and instead food can be taken and replaced. It was set up to help staff struggling to get to the shops or canteen.” There is baby formula in the food pantry.

Philip Jansons front cover appearance on a newspaper recently, revealing that his pay of £3,460,000 – up 32% from last year- has highlighted the disparity between the CEO’s and the working class.

He is currently earing a giant 86 times the median workers’ salary. The workers who kept the country connected during the pandemic know their worth and are ready to strike for it.

BT have been given a week to respond to the ballot results and CWU have made it clear they are willing to talk. What is also very clear is that the workers are uniting. 

If there is no movement from our bosses, CWU members will be joining transport workers, postal workers, local government workers and other on the picket lines to fight for a decent pay rise to combat the cost of living crisis.”