Socialist Party members in CWU
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in BT have been voting on a pay offer of 4.1% for those earning under £30,000 per year, and for those earning over that, a 3% increase. Socialist Party members have advocated rejecting the deal.
The pay increases are to be consolidated and pensionable. Previous years have seen unconsolidated lump sums make up the respective offers.
But this deal does nothing for younger members on grades that were launched through the ‘Workforce 2020’ agreement. Ostensibly brought in to save jobs, its real effect has been to undermine the previous terms, which was really its aim.
We now see this generational divide on the shop floor. Younger members are increasingly resentful that they often do the same work alongside older worker teammates but for less. Plus they see their future pension affected by how the pension fund investment behaves in an increasingly volatile free market.
And although the deal has a positive uplift for those earning under £30,000, it still leaves many members short as rents and energy costs rise – especially as Trump’s Middle East war threatens to send these costs even higher. Rather than ‘inflation-busting’ as the union negotiators would like us to believe, at best this would be treading water, at worst a pay cut.
Also, especially in Openreach, home-working has been reduced for many and outright withdrawn for some.
The background is BT’s plan to make savings year-on-year to 2030. To date, £900 million has been saved by ‘natural attrition’ – around 17,800 mainly older workers left the workforce in 2025, while there were only 11,000 new hires, all on ‘Workforce 2020’ terms.
A push to develop Artificial Intelligence and automation and remove human intervention is well underway. BT is reported to be on track to reduce the workforce from 90,000 to 20,000 by 2030. Part of this reduction is the embedded use of contractors, accelerating the pressure to reduce headcount and pay. Profit before tax was £1.3 billion.
The CWU should be preparing for determined action on pay. We should demand that BT’s accounts, including the costs and returns of contractors, are opened up for CWU and lay-member inspection.
CWU should demand that BT is renationalised, alongside other telecom companies, with compensation based on proven need only, and with the full involvement of the workforce to develop a truly national integrated telecoms industry to meet the needs of the entire population, not major shareholder profits.
The ballot ran between 5 and 18 March.
