By Leah Montebello
Thousands of BT and Openreach staff continued to strike today as the row over pay continues with the FTSE 100 firm.
Over 40,000 union members took action on Friday after the workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a walkout.
The dispute centres around the pay package offered by the company, which the Communication Worker Union (CWU) deemed “wholly inadequate”.
BT offered a £1,500 pay increase for all employees earlier this year, which the telecom giant regards as the highest pay rise in decades.
CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: “On Friday, BT Group workers took strike action and received overwhelming support from the public. They showed their strength but on Monday they will show their generosity.
“When corrupt politicians and overpaid bosses fall way short of the mark, it is working people who look after other working people. I have no doubt the public will show their support to workers and struggling families by turning up to picket lines, dropping off goods and standing side by side with people fighting for dignity.”
City A.M. understands that BT’s operations have been relatively undisrupted by action, with the major impact hitting scheduled appointments and call centre wait times only.
However, a union source told City A.M. that most branch represents estimate that less than two per cent of BT Group employees attended to their regular tasks today.
Most call centres weren’t open, with waiting times into the hours, and picket lines were huge across the country.
“Philip Jansen felt compelled to take a photograph of himself working in an Openreach van, as if that didn’t suggest that normality was completely halted for the day.
Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy joined a union picket line at her Wigan constituency this morning, signalling further defiance to Sir Keir Starmer.
Starmer sacked Sam Tarry MP as shadow transport minister last week after he joined rail strikers at Euston station.
As it stands, BT and the CWU are not currently in engaging in negotiations over pay.
A BT Group spokesperson said: “We have confirmed to the CWU that we won’t be re-opening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could.
We’re balancing the complex and competing demands of our stakeholders and that includes making once-in-a-generation investments to upgrade the country’s broadband and mobile networks, vital for the UK economy and for BT Group’s future – including our people.”
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