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Thousands of BT workers walk out in first strike in 35 years
The union said the industrial action may cause ‘significant issues’ for those working from home
40,000 BT and Openreach workers have walked out in the first of two strikes today in a dispute over pay.
Workers at the telecoms giant voted in favour of industrial action earlier this month after they were offered an ‘inadequate’ £1,500 per year pay rise.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the action was the first national telecoms strike since 1987.
It also warned that the strikes, scheduled for today, July 29th, and Monday, August 1st, could affect the rollout of ultra-fast broadband, and could cause connection issues for people working from home.
BT has repeatedly said it made its best pay offer, and would not be re-opening the 2022 pay review.
The CWU has criticised this deal, saying company bosses had ‘stuck two fingers up’ to workers.
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said ahead of the strikes there would be ‘hundreds of picket lines’ arranged across the country today.
Ward said, as per the BBC: “Our members kept the country connected during the pandemic. They deserve a proper pay rise, and that’s what they’re going to get.
“Workers at BT Group will never accept their bosses using Swiss banks while they use food banks.”
Ward has previously pointed out how BT staff had received a real-terms pay cut as a reward for working ‘under great difficulty’ during the pandemic.
He said: “These are the same workers who kept the country connected during the pandemic.
“Without CWU members in BT Group, there would have been no home-working revolution, and vital technical infrastructure may have malfunctioned or been broken when our country most needed it.”
This week, BT revealed its first sales growth for five years, which comes as a result of a price increase for customers earlier this year.
The company said revenues increased by 1% to £5.1bn for the three months to June 30th.
BT said it had engaged in ‘exhaustive discussions’ with the union, before deciding on the £1,500 pay increase, which it claims is its ‘highest pay award in more than twenty years’.
The telecoms giant said in a statement: “We have confirmed to the CWU that we won’t be reopening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could,” a statement said.
“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.”
As prices rise at their fastest rates in forty years, a number of workers across various industries have been striking for adequate pay rises, including railway, health care and education workers.