40,000 CWU members in BT and Openreach, and 999 are taking four days of strike action during October, against the imposition of a pay cut. The first national action in 35 years in BT is happening because, in the teeth of a historic cost-of-living crisis, bosses have ignored all the normal procedures for negotiating pay and imposed a flat rate ‘rise’ of £1,500.
The bosses claim this equates to an 8% rise for the lowest paid. That, in itself, would be a pay cut. But the CWU has calculated that, in reality, it is more like 5%, since the £1,500 is not all new money: up to two-thirds has been paid out already! For the majority of CWU members, the pay offer is around 3-4%.
Strikers on the picket line are discussing what next steps might be necessary if the BT bosses do not enter serious negotiations. The strike is also leading workers to discuss wider political issues.
Bill, CWU shop steward on BT Openreach picket line, spoke to Heather Rawling
“This is the fifth day members have now been on strike. We’re pretty strong. Just look around the picket line.
“I think the unions should all be joining together as one – put all those supposedly in power in their place. This is what society needs, not what politicians or business want.
“Our new so-called prime minister says ‘growth, growth, growth’. But at who’s cost? It’s not them at the top because they are ‘growing, growing, growing’ – away from us! They’re getting more and more wealthy – disgustingly wealthy. How much money can one individual spend or need?
“And it’s not trickling down. That is never going to happen. They can use these sound bites like ‘trickle down’. It means nothing to the average individual. As long as you’ve got people using food banks, it is morally indefensible. In big business and government, they’re just morally bereft and corrupt.”
