A telecoms union has confirmed that more than 40,000 BT employees will stage a strike at the end of July in protest at pay offers that fall below inflation.
Earlier this month the Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned it would proceed with industrial action unless BT presented an improved pay proposal, describing the current offer as “weak” and “insulting.”
BT has proposed a one-off payment of £1,500. With RPI inflation running at 11.7 percent, the union says the offer amounts to a significant real-terms pay cut and will not help staff cope with the rising cost of living.
Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU, said: “Our members, and working people in general, have had enough. We will not accept seeing workers use food banks while executives use Swiss banks.”
He added, “This situation is unjust and unsustainable—people will not be expected to work harder and harder for less and less forever.”
BT is reported to be developing contingency plans to manage the disruption expected from the strike, which would be the company’s first major industrial action since 1987.
Ward blamed senior management, saying: “The serious disruption this strike may cause is entirely down to [BT CEO] Philip Jansen and his colleagues, who have chosen to disregard their own workforce.”
“Workers will not accept a substantial deterioration in their living standards,” he said.
Across the country, companies are preparing for possible unrest as employees face mounting financial pressure amid soaring inflation.
(Photo by Emil Kalibradov on Unsplash)
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