BT strike looms as union ballots over pay claim

BT may face disruption to its phone and internet CWU ballots for strike action over pay which affect 50,000 of BT workers. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

The Communication Workers Union has threatened to hold a lengthy strike at BT in an attempt to force the company to come up with a better pay offer for its members.

The CWU is sending out ballot papers today. This could result in a walkout by more than half of BT's staff, leaving thousands of customers without phone lines or internet access.

Andy Kerr, the CWU's deputy general secretary, told the Financial Times that the union was prepared to hit BT with significant disruption if necessary.

"If it takes quite a period of time of industrial action for the company to see sense, we are prepared as a union to go down that route," he said.

Kerr also predicted that a large majority to vote for a strike – which would be the first at the telecoms firm in more than two decades.

Shares in BT were the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 this morning, down 1.4% or 2p at 137.6p. The company called on the CWU to call off today's ballot and return to the negotiating table.

Talks between BT and the union, which represents more than 50,000 BT workers, collapsed last week after the union rejected the company's revised pay offer, saying it did not improve on the 2% rise for 2010 already on the table. The CWU has demanded a pay increase of 5%.

Kerr told the FT the union was willing to compromise on a lower figure, but reiterated that 2% was unacceptable. Union leaders have accused BT of "blatant double standards" in its plans to award bumper bonuses to senior management after a rise in profits.

A BT spokesman said: "We are surprised by the union telling the media they are willing to compromise on their 5% claim. At no stage have they formally put forward an alternative proposal. Given this, we call on the union to postpone the ballot and return to formal discussions with the company. Industrial action is unnecessary and would only benefit our competitors so we look forward to any new proposal from the union."

BT said it was disappointed that the ballot was going ahead. It claimed it had improved its offer several times "but the union have not moved once from their opening claim". "Their insistence on 5% this year alone, at a time when they're accepting around 2% from other companies, is puzzling and at odds with pay deals throughout the public and private sectors."

The company believes its offer is one of the best around and would see all the union members receive 5.1% over 21 months, with thousands getting more than 10%. On top of that, there are extra payments and guarantees on job security, it said. "BT is now contacting union members directly as it is clear that the union's leadership are unwilling to negotiate … As for the union's claim that we have threatened to make redundancies if we accepted their demands, that is simply untrue."

The result of the ballot will be announced on 5 July. At last month's annual conference in Bournemouth, CWU delegates voted unanimously to ballot members about industrial action.

Source: The Guardian, 18th June 2010

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