At the CWU T&FS Conference, the following Emergence Motion (E1, below) was moved by Andy Kerr, seconded by our branch officer, Mick Bagnall, left, and carried by conference.
E1. This Conference is appalled by BT’s failure through the 2022 pay review, to
adequately reward the contribution made by CWU members keeping the country
connected throughout the pandemic.
The CWU National BT Committee rejected BT’s final offer of £1500 flat rate consolidated
pay rise on 6th April 2022 determining this was not acceptable in the face of: increased
inflation, which is predicted to continue in an upward trajectory and the cost of living
crisis, which is largely yet to impact our members.
BT remains a highly profitable company which now has a responsibility to ensure that
their employees have a fair share of the profits they have contributed to creating.
Conference also deplores the decision taken by BT, announced on 7th April 2022, to
impose their final pay offer for Team Member Grades in April 2022 salaries.
This imposition undermines industrial relations and is totally disrespectful to the many
thousands of their employees who are CWU members.
This Conference endorses the decisions taken by the CWU National BT Committee:
- To reject the company’s final, pay offer of £1,500
- To hold an industrial action ballot of all appropriate CWU members across BT Group
This Conference instructs the T&FS Executive:
- To serve formal legal notice to BT of the CWU’s intention to ballot all appropriate members for industrial action as soon as is practicable
- To intensify the campaign for a YES vote in the forthcoming industrial action ballot.
- Plan a programme of action that is designed to have maximum impact on BT and the minimum impact on CWU members.
- Ensure that any improved offer on the 2022 pay rise must be agreed by the CWU membership impacted in a consultative ballot prior to implementation.
Everything is going up – let’s make sure your wages do too!
Inflation has risen again – RPI is now at 9%. BT are imposing a pay increase without your agreement – which amounts to less than £20 per week, this won’t even cover the rise in your food bill.
National insurance is going up, energy bills are set to almost double this year and transport costs are at a record high. BT is a rich and profitable corporation and has a duty to ensure their employees can attend work, free from any worry about whether they can afford to pay their bills and feed their families. You’ve contributed to BT’s profits and earned the right to a decent cost of living pay rise – £1500 doesn’t cut it – it’s your pay, you should have your say!
The CWU held a Facebook Live Event to talk to you about what you can do to fight back against BT.
All members need to watch this broadcast which went live on Tuesday 19th April on the CWU Facebook, YouTube and Twitter channels.
Access the session to watch back at any time via the links below.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/100064643414383/posts/354740893357355/?d=n
YouTube https://youtu.be/0faY-8kHmjQ
Pay Latest – 6th April 2022
The BT Pay Committee met on the 6th April 2022 to consider a further offer from BT on pay. The company had increased the pay offer, from £1,200 to a £1,500 flat rate (pro rata for part timers), fully consolidated increase from 1st April 2022.
Andy Kerr, Deputy General Secretary – Telecoms and Financial Services, said of the previous offer –
“BT has made a pay offer which the CWU has rejected. The formal proposal is a flat rate of £1200.
This offer is insulting considering the contribution our members have made to the business; many of our members have put their lives on the line during the pandemic and significantly contributed to BT’s profits. Rising inflation and the squeeze on household incomes means the offer of £1200 is a relative pay cut. BT need to listen to its workforce and realise they are its greatest asset; they have a clear choice whether to prioritise shareholders or workers.
The CWU has made the case to BT that our members should get a 10% pay rise; this is just a fraction of BT’s profits – they can clearly afford it. Now is the time for BT to put people before profit. We have further negotiations in the coming days, if BT is not willing to make a decent offer, we will need to start preparations for a statutory industrial action ballot.”
The flat rate increase would apply to all team members in BT, Openreach and EE. This represents a percentage pay increase of 7.89% for staff on the lowest pay grades to just 3.34% for staff on the highest pay grades.
The CPI rate of inflation for Feb 2022 stands at 6.2%, with the RPI rate standing at 8.2%, with further increases over the next months predicted.
The two main reasons for rejection were;
- The offer did not meet our members’ expectations in the face of the current cost of living crisis
- The company’s intention to impose this increase in the April salaries whether we accepted it or not.
We are therefore left with no alternative but to hold an Industrial Action ballot as soon as is practicable. Branches need to continue with their preparations as outlined in our last briefing.
The company will be communicating with employees and we will be communicating direct with members via email later today.
A virtual BT Branch Forum will be held on the afternoon of Tuesday 19th April 2022 to discuss BT Pay, and we will also be holding a Facebook Live event with members during that evening. More information will be made available shortly.