CWU to vote on strike action at BT

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Communications workers will vote this morning on whether to ballot members on a strike at BT, the UK's biggest network operator.

The move follows a pay offer from BT of 2% plus bonuses between £250 and £500 in the wake of reported profits before tax of £1bn and the loss of 30,000 jobs in two years - 14,000 from BT itself, and 21,000 from agencies and contractors it hired.

The Communications Workers Union expects BT's CEO to receive a bonus of £1m when the annual report is published today. BT proposed to pay shareholders a dividend of 6.9p per share, up 6.2% from 6.5p the year before.

CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said the issue was about fairness. "BT staff have borne the brunt of cost savings and delivered the huge profits being enjoyed by the company this year. We have no problem with senior executives receiving bonuses, but we want all staff to share the success of the company," he said.


BT said it was disappointed the CWU had rejected BT's offer of 2% plus a guaranteed bonus of between £250 and £500. "Our offer is more generous than those accepted by the union elsewhere and so we are surprised they have rejected it," BT said.

It said the CWU's demand of 5% was unrealistic. It said CWU members at BT were significantly better paid than at other companies. Its offer meant the lowest-paid union members could receive up to 5.4% more in pay and bonuses and there would be a further pay review for some staff in October, BT said.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Communications Workers Union members voted unanimously this morning to ballot 60,000 BT workers for a strike in support of their 5% wage claim against BT's offer of 2% plus a guaranteed bonus of between £250 and £500.

At a CWU meeting where the mood was said to be angry and disappointed, delegate after delegate spoke to express their unhappiness with BT's offer in the face of excellent results for the 2010 financial year from the UK's largest network operator, wich earned BT CEO Ian Livingston a £1.2m. bonus.

CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said staff had borne the brunt of the cost savings and had delivered the profits but were being treated as a "second-thought".


About 14,000 BT staff and 21,000 agency and contract staff have lost their jobs in the past two years.

Kerr said BT could afford a decent pay rise for staff this year. "Free cash flow is almost double the forecasts at £1.9bn. With a pay-freeze last year and inflation now running at 5.3%, BT's attitude to pay is insulting and the staff deserve more," he said.

Kerr said BT had not faced an national strike since 1987. "This is not something we take lightly. Strike action is clearly a last resort. We hope the company will return to negotiations and avoid the need for a strike," he said.

A BT statement expressed disappointment at the vote, but said its door remained open. "It is in no-one's interest for industrial action to take place and we have written to the union this week to say we remain willing to meet with them."

BT maintained that its final offer was more "fair, realistic and more generous" than others the union had accepted elsewhere. It also said that BT workers enjoyed better pay and perks than others in the communications industry.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

CWU Goes for BT Strike Ballot http://www.cwu.org/news/archive/cwu-goe ... allot.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

26th May 2010

Communication Workers Union delegates representing almost 60,000 staff at BT have voted unanimously to hold a strike ballot as the current standoff over pay continues.

An emergency motion heard at the CWU telecoms annual conference this morning (Wednesday) was unanimously voted for by hundreds of delegates. At the same time, BT published its annual report which shows senior executives at the company receiving millions of pounds in bonuses including a £1.2million bonus for chief executive Ian Livingstone.

Andy Kerr, CWU deputy general secretary, said: "This is about fairness. We don't mind senior executives getting bonuses, but we want all staff to share in the success of the company. Staff have borne the brunt of the cost savings and have delivered the profits but are being treated as a second-thought.
"BT can afford a decent pay rise for staff this year, there's no doubt about that. Their profits are extremely healthy and free cash flow is almost double the forecasts at £1.9billion. With a pay-freeze last year and inflation now running at 5.3% BT's attitude to pay is insulting and the staff deserve more.
"Strike action is clearly a last-resort. We've not had a national strike in BT since 1987 so this is not something we take lightly. We hope the company will return to negotiations and avoid the need for any strike action."

The full text of the motion is:
E2 This conference is appalled by BT's failure through the 2010 pay review, to adequately reward the contribution made by CWU members to BT's ongoing financial recovery. It further notes that BT's annual results, announced on 13th May 2010, show that BT's preferred measure of profit (EBITDA) has increased by 6% to £5.78bn, cash flow has increased by 162%, and its full-year dividend by 6%. It also notes that if met in full, the CWU's 5% claim would only account for a fraction of BT's recorded profit.

While recognising that the CWU would prefer a negotiated settlement, BT appear to have closed the door on this by making an offer that results in a pay cut in real terms and which will have a detrimental impact on all future pension payments of current Newgrid grades.

This conference recognises that CWU members have played a major part in delivering BT's ongoing financial recovery and the CWU now demands that our members share in that recovery

Should BT fail to make a revised pay offer that reflects the contribution made by CWU members by midday on 4th June 2010, the T&FSE will:

Immediately serve formal legal notice to BT of the CWU's intention to ballot all appropriate members for industrial action.
Step-up the campaign for a Yes vote
Plan a programme of action that is designed to have maximum impact on BT and the minimum possible impact on CWU members
Call meetings at central locations in all regions of the country and ask branches to facilitate maximum attendance at those meetings
Offer guidance to branches on activities that should be undertaken locally.

[Dogs of War]

If BT staff had any sense they would tell the CWU to go and f**k themselves.

[DirtyHarry]

If BT staff had any sense they would tell the CWU to go and f**k themselves.

Exactly. The way postal workers have been stitched-up time, and time again by the CWU, should serve as a stark warning to our brothers and sisters in BT.
We've backed this union every time it's called upon us, and our reward? A job that has, is, going to Hell in a handcart, and doesn't show the slightest inkling of changing course anytime in what remains of my working lifetime.
Well over £1000 in wages myself and thousands of other colleagues lost in the last lot of strikes, and what did we end up with? The prospect of more junk mail for less money, Saturdays made as bad as any other day in the week, and new standards to be agreed, no doubt in order to get the remaining staff to work faster so they make up for the overall shortfall in staffing numbers.

BT WORKERS, BEWARE.