BT Pay Update
23/03/22
Colleagues,
I wanted to write out to you by way of update on the current ‘dispute’ over Pay. Andy Kerr (on behalf of himself and the T&FS executive) updated branches and NT members at a meeting last week, that the current state of play regarding this year’s BT Pay Rise, is not what the CWU would deem to be acceptable.
At the time of the meeting, what was clear, was that BT have NOT yet supplied a percentage figure to the CWU. This position, I’m sure, is wholly unacceptable to our membership.
Andy has briefed the branches to say that there are due to be more meetings this week and next, but unless BT massively change their approach, we need to be ready for the fight which may be in front of us.
What we do know is that BT have guaranteed a Pay Rise this year. But what the final figure offered may be, is currently anyone’s guess at this point. We have seen in the past several weeks that Philip Jansen has put video blogs out ‘hinting’ at a ‘competitive’ pay rise that he believes BT can 'afford', and which will be in line with other blue-chip companies. I believe 3% was mentioned as merely a comparator. However, watching this video, I was concerned that competitive does not necessarily mean ‘on par with’. There is a very high chance, BT's figure could fall well below this.
I wanted to update members of this branch, that our position is, and should be, that this is absolutely unacceptable, and we MUST stand up against it.
I had previously asked members to get in touch with us giving us their views, and for those of you who have taken us up on this, I sincerely thank you. I believe from emails and calls from our branch members that they share the same frustration as our branch, every CWU Branch up and down the UK, the T&FS Executive and Andy Kerr. We are all on the same page and we all believe that WE ARE WORTH MORE!
Until we are briefed further, and Andy Kerr and the Executive receive a formal pay offer from BT, there is little we can do and we must bide our time and let negotiations continue. Of course though, any offer that is put forward will be put to the membership via a Pay Ballot, to either accept or reject. Should it fall short of all of our expectations, I’m sure you are all aware that we may need to ballot for further action.
That being said, at present, we need to be ready for the worst case scenario. What this means, is that in the event of any pay offer being rejected by the membership and we require a further ballot for action, we need every single member to have their details up to date.
I have written out to members on countless occasions (and I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing it) asking for you to update your details. This is because in the event of any formal ballot, a few incorrect addresses can be catastrophic to the result. We need several details to be correct. In this instance we cannot be any clearer your HOME ADDRESS AND YOUR WORK LOCATION MUST BE ACCURATE.
Your work location is an interesting one. I have spoken with several members who, when I have asked their work location, they will provide their home address as they have been home working due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This in inaccurate. Unless you are employed as a ‘Home Worker’ (of which there are very few), then you will be badged to a building. This is the work location we will need. If you are unsure, please get in touch with the branch and we will be happy to advise you.
Finally, let me be absolutely clear that the current state of play regarding the pay rise is not acceptable within our branch. We are worth more and we need all the membership to divert all their frustration towards BT for their heel dragging, and not towards the CWU who are fighting everyday, to secure as high a pay rise as is possible.
Yours in Solidarity,
Anton Begley
Branch Secretary
