Firm focus on the future as BT Group members bank hard won rise
BT December 15 2022
Members across BT, Openreach and EE have voted by four-to-one to accept a further £1,500 flat rate pay rise (pro-rata for part-timers) that will be paid monthly from January 1, 2023.
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.
As such, the deal equates to a headline fully consolidated and pensionable pay increase totalling £3,000 in the current financial year.
Crucially, for the CWU, the deal – which was supported by just over 81% of members participating in a consultative ballot that closed this morning (Thursday) – applies across the entire CWU member represented grade range and applies not just to those on lower salaries, as had initially been suggested by the company.
Under the terms of the agreement, the next pay review date moves from April 1 to September 1 in 2023. This is to allow for a period of intensive negotiations aimed at resolving a raft of longstanding pay and grading disagreements which are likely to result in further pay uplifts for some.
A new round of across-the-board pay talks will begin in earnest immediately after that, with the CWU focussed on ensuring that a negotiated offer is placed before members in time for the September 1st 2023 payment date to be met.
From 2024 onwards the annual pay review will revert to April 1, meaning members will be due for a further increase just seven months after next September’s review date.
“There’s certainly going to be no let up for union’s negotiating team over the coming period,” stresses deputy general secretary Andy Kerr.
“From the CWU’s perspective, the deal that members have ratified this morning 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 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,” she concludes.
“That can only serve us well in the challenging talks that lie ahead.”