The outcome of the BT Pay Ballot is below:
- Accepting the pay offer: 81% of valid votes
- Rejecting the pay offer: 19% of valid votes
Of the ballot papers dispatched, 73% were returned.
The fully consolidated and pensionable settlement, which ends six months of industrial unrest in BT Group, comes on top of the £1,500 flat-rate increase that was unilaterally imposed by BT in April this year.
The CWU has now confirmed acceptance of the proposed pay agreement to BT and they are now taking steps to implement this in January pay. Below is a reminder of the agreement reached:
- A £1500 flat-rate (pro-rata for part-timers) fully consolidated and pensionable pay increase, payable monthly from 1st January 2023. This is on top of the already £1500 consolidated and pensionable pay increase you received on 1st April 2022.
- As it is consolidated, it increases your hourly rate of pay which flows through to pay related payments such as overtime and bank holiday premiums.
- The next pay review date for 2023 only, will be 1st September 2023 to allow for a period of negotiations on long-standing discussions to resolve all current unagreed pay and grading issues.
- From 2024 onwards, the annual pay review will revert to 1st April.
“From the CWU’s perspective, the deal that members have ratified this morning, 15th December 2022, is just the start of a journey that will see two further sets of pay negotiations in the next 15 months and the long-overdue conclusion of discussions to resolve all current unagreed pay and grading issues.”
Thanking all those who participated in the ballot, Andy Kerr, Deputy General Secretary, insists: “Members have every reason to stand tall at what the first large-scale industrial action in BT Group in 35 years has achieved.
“One thing is absolutely certain: CWU members have made their case loud and clear – and apart from securing a fully consolidated rise that is double what the company initially imposed, they have also set down a crucially important marker for the future that CWU members will never accept imposition.”
Telecoms and Financial Services (TFS) Executive chair and CWU President, Karen Rose, who was also part of the national negotiating team, agrees:
“The resolve and determination shown by members throughout this historic dispute means that we can face the future with our collective strength well and truly banked. That can only serve us well in the challenging talks that lie ahead.”