• 260 picket lines are set up across the UK as BT workers strike for the first time since 1987 over pay.
• Strikers on the picket line show anger at the BT CEO’s massive pay packet whilst workers struggle to pay their bills.
• “The chief executive has had a 32% pay rise, maybe we should aim for that,” said CWU organiser Graham Colk.
By Ka Long Tung / Image: MS Redfern
Members from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were ready for the strike at BT Stadium House, Cardiff as early as 7am.
Members distributed leaflets to colleagues while a handful of supporters showed up to show solidarity.
“We haven’t had a proper pay rise for two years now,” said Sharon Smith, who has worked for BT for 23 years. “It just feels like we’re just there to be squashed.”
The CWU had refused a £1,500 pay rise offer which BT said would be the highest pay award in more than 20 years.
However, the union said that the pay rise was not enough to cover skyrocketing inflation in living costs as Philip Jansen, BT’s Chief Executive, received a 32% increase in his overall pay up from £2.6 million in 2021 to £3.5m in 2022.
The industrial dispute comes amid the cost of living crisis. The inflation rate has reached 9.4% which is a 40-year high.
“Everything has gone up, everything,” said Smith. “My gas and electric, I was paying £150 a month. It’s just gone up to £285.”
Graham Colk, the CWU Openreach Regional Co-ordinator, said the union demanded a pay rise as close to the inflation rate as possible.
“The chief executive has had a 32% pay rise, maybe we should aim for that.”
BT reported core earnings up 2% at £1.9 billion on revenue of £5.1 billion in the three months before the end of June.
“All we’re asking is that we have a share of that, right?” said Colk.
Julie Feehan, who has worked for BT for 38 years, said the offer to workers was an insult considering what Philip Jansen was offered. “It’s a kick in the teeth. We have to make a stand.”
She was striking to demand better treatment as an operator in BT in 1987. 35 years on, she took part in industrial action again.
The CWU represents about 40,000 of the BT Group’s 100,000-strong workforce. The ballot on industrial action over pay shows that in BT, 91.5% of “yes” votes were recorded on a 58.2% turnout. In Openreach, a subsidiary company of BT, 95.8% of members cast “yes” on a 74.8% turnout.
Workers at BT are mainly call centre staff who assist customers. Openreach’s workers are mostly engineers who maintain the UK’s internet infrastructure.
During the pandemic, Feehan said, the company called them key workers but the company has offered them a fixed pay rise of just £1,500 for their integral work. Feehan was unsatisfied with BT’s decision.
However, she believed the industrial action would be effective to make changes happen.
Members from the CWU persuaded workers who were walking through the picket line to consider joining them to ask for better pay together. However, most of them received the leaflet but walked inside the building.
Smith said she was disappointed but understood some people couldn’t afford to work. “If everyone stands together, that’s the whole point of a union,” said Smith.
“We struggle as well, but we’re doing it for everybody,” said Smith. “I’m at the end of my work journey with BT. But I’m thinking more of the younger ones because I think they need things right. The younger ones are on a lot less money. They need every penny they can get.”
Early this month, BT said that they would not review their decision again this year.
Colk said that the CWU might take more industrial action if they could reach their demand of a decent pay rise.
“Because we’re a democratic union, we make sure that we consult our members beforehand,” said Colk. “But we would most probably have no choice but to take more industrial action if Philip Jansen, the Chief Executive, refuses to come to the table.”
Today is the first day of the two planned strike days. The next one takes place on Monday 1st August.
