After BT workers rejected the last-minute proposal to reach a compromise agreement over pay, they decided to formally serve notice of their intention to strike nationwide for the first time in 35 years. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced that customers can expect disruption to services including repairs, installations or getting faults fixed.
Why are BT workers planning to launch a strike?
Just last year, BT and the CWU reached an agreement which stipulated that the telecoms giant commits to implement a pay increase for team members (and management teams) in the UK during 2022. The agreement would “depend on various factors including business performance, economic outlook and inflation.” As we already know, inflation has since gone through the roof.
BT recently announced that they planned to award workers a £1,500 consolidated pay increase to their annual salaries (up from an original offer of £1,200) – representing an increase of up to 8% for some colleagues and more than 3% for even the highest paid frontline workers.
“Earlier this year, BT offered and implemented a £1,500 per year pay increase for employees. In the context of Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation levels hitting 11.7% last month, this is a dramatic real-terms pay cut.” CWU said in a press statement following the ballot vote.
All of this was happening at around the same time as BT’s CEO opted to take a 32% increase in his overall remuneration package this year, taking his salary to £3.5m.
How will the strike impact businesses and the public sector?
BT Group is the largest provider of fixed broadband in the UK and there could be a significant impact on the infrastructure for everyone in the UK (regardless of whether you are a BT customer or with another ISP), especially those who are working remotely and business customers. With nearly 40,000 BT workers striking and 30,000 being Openreach engineers, the strike could impact three key areas: repairs, installations and customer service.
At Everyday Communications, we believe customer service is paramount and will continue providing customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, during the planned strike. We will endeavour to keep customers updated on any disruption to installations or delays to repairs, as an ISP with a focus on proactively informing our customers of any issues.
We’re here to help
As this unified action goes ahead there will be significant disruptions and complications UK-wide, therefore we are here to help and accommodate customers as an ISP that focuses on service delivery.
Keep an eye on our website and follow our social media channels for more details.
