Challenge greedy BT bosses with strike action to save jobs

By Sean Robertson

Despite being a company that regularly posts multi-billion pound profits, BT bosses are pursuing a race to the bottom, slashing jobs and attacking workers’ terms and conditions.

Earlier this year, the company announced plans to lose possibly thousands of desk-based staff as part of its new location strategy. In May the company made its first ever compulsory redundancy and it is planning to offshore the remaining 12 UK-based User Access Management Teams to India. 

BT Openreach is pushing forward with plans to make just 24 compulsory redundancies (CR) from a Group Functions workforce of over 11,000, despite having a legally binding duty to ‘avoid, reduce and mitigate ’ compulsory redundancies wherever possible.

The NewGRID and 2018 pension agreements mean that the company should be mitigating CR. But management is simply choosing to ignore these agreements – possibly because the union’s response has been too timid. 

The union held an online meeting about the issue last week. Speaking at the meeting, one affected worker told of his astonishment at being asked to help train up an outside service provider that has been lined up to provide the function he currently conducts providing digital support for vulnerable members of the community.

Explaining his overwhelming sense of hypocrisy when hearing senior managers preaching about the values of the ‘BT Family’ and the socially important work being conducted by the company in tackling digital exclusion, he said: “I love working for BT but I now realise what ….we’re all just numbers. I’ve never previously thought about BT that way, but 100 percent that’s the way I’m feeling just now. I’m just shocked by it, as I’d never previously thought that BT would behave in this manner.”

Other workers in cabling have told the Socialist that they are being asked to work to a higher value than previously, with less staff.

Members of the union are angry and disappointed at the very limited steps the union is taking to fight back, which so far amounts to a ‘day of action’ on October 1. One CWU member said:

“People need to have secured themselves new roles by November 30 to avoid CR yet the union are organising poster and social media campaigns. What we need is an immediate ballot for group-wide industrial action which will hit BT in the only place it cares about – its pockets. It feels like our union leaders are too cautious, too close to management. We need a combative union willing to fight tooth and nail for every job and able to inspire the wider workforce to do likewise.”

The CWU must resist all attacks on jobs, particularly given the inherent profitability of BT and Openreach, and the current uncertain economic climate. Workers must push leaders to fight, but should be under no illusions about the true nature of the union leadership. In a recent pay offer ballot the union advised members to accept a paltry 1.5% pay increase, despite the obvious leverage held by staff during the Covid crisis where they are vaunted as essential ‘key workers’. 

In order to mount a serious defence against the upcoming jobs cull, workers should get involved in the union, by taking positions on the branch or becoming reps or shop stewards to increase the combativity of the union. Every single job should be defended. No one should be made redundant simply to maximise the profit of private shareholders.

Recent victories for CWU postal workers, which protected thousands of jobs and led to the removal of the Royal Mail chief executive, point to the fact that a united workforce and combative union can lead a successful campaign to defend jobs.

Socialist Party Scotland says:

• No to all redundancies! Hold an immediate ballot for strike action!

• Build a fighting movement of Openreach workers and unions to stop all job losses

• Fight for improved pay. Use technology to improve working conditions by reducing hours and improve quality of life, not maximise private profit

• Take BT, Openreach and all other key utilities into democratic public ownership under key workers control to provide and protect high quality well paid jobs and meet the needs of communities – for people not profit.

• Fight for a combative left wing union movement which properly represents workers.