Striking BT workers slam ‘pittance’ pay rise
Workers at BT and Openreach in Washington have described their £1,500 pay rise as a “pittance” and said it showed a “lack of respect” after the company’s Chief Executive Officer Philip Jansen was awarded a 32 per cent salary increase.
Workers on the picket line outside the Washington branch said the flat rate offer worked out at an average of a five per cent increase – significantly below the current 9.4 percentinflationrateandprojected11percentincreaseforecast by the Bank Of England.
Ninetysevenpercentofemployees, who are members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), voted to withdraw their labour yesterday and on Monday, with workers highlighting a number of colleagueswerehavingtoresortto foodbankstomakeendsmeet.
Customer Service Engineer, Ian Hammond, 56, said: “I’ve worked for the company for 33 years and this is the first time I’ve been on strike. I can’t affordtobutIfeelit’snecessary.
"The company have made a £1.3bn profit and paid out £750m in dividends to shareholders, yet we’ve had this flat pay increase imposed on us. The cost of living has gone up and we are asking for 10 per cent which is more in line with inflation.
"With the cost of living crisis, many people can’t afford to live.”
FellowengineerRalphWatson, 63, added: “It’s a pittance of a pay rise. I think if the CEO had not received this 32 per cent increase then people may have been inclined to say ‘fair enough’, but in light of this, what has been offered shows a lack of respect.”
Ralph, who has worked for BT for 16 years, feels the increase also shows disregard for the efforts of staff during the Covid pandemic.
Headded:“Throughoutthe pandemicwewereexpectedto gointopeoples’homes,someof whom may have had Covid, to makerepairs.Wediditandthis is how we’ve been rewarded.”
Whilethecompanywerein negotiationsearlierintheyear, Ian said since the ballot for industrialaction,BTbosseshave “refused to meet”.
He added: “Hopefully they will come back to the negotiatingtablebutthismayonlyhap
pen when customers begin to putthepressureonwhentheir servicescan’tberepairedorinstalled.”
Respondingtothestrikeaction,aBTGroupspokesperson said: “At the start of this year, we were in exhaustive discussionswiththeCWUthatlasted for two months, trying hard to reach an agreement on pay.
"When it became clear we were not going to reach an accord,wetookthedecisiontogo ahead with awarding our team members and front-line colleagues the highest pay award in more than 20 years.
“We’ve confirmed to the CWU we won’t be re-opening
the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could.
"We’re balancing the complex and competing demands of our stakeholders and that includes making once-in-ageneration investments to upgradethecountry’sbroadband and mobile networks, vital for the UK economy and for BT Group’s future – including our people.
“While we respect the choice of our colleagues who are CWU members to strike, we will work to minimise any disruption and keep our customers and the country connected.”