Inflammatory BT call centre script attacking CWU yet another reason to vote ‘Yes!’ today
BT, EE, Openreach June 29 2022
Members across BT Voice Services have been advised not to comply with part of an inflammatory management instruction that the union believes represents a direct attempt to demean staff and interfere with a legally constituted industrial action ballot.
The insult, which comes at the tail end of the first BT Group-wide strike ballot in 35 years, is yet another example of senior management’s contemptuous attitude towards employees and highlights once again the reason why anyone who has not already cast their vote to do so TODAY – before tomorrow morning’s postal ballot cut off.
Dismayed contact centre members contacted the union for advice after local site managers issued them with a clumsy and deeply inappropriate statement to read verbatim to customers asking questions or commenting on the issue of possible strikes.
The wording of the script – issued, amongst others, to those fielding 999 calls – went well beyond a simple statement of fact – directly blaming the CWU for any concerns over possible disruption and suggesting that the union is behaving irresponsibly in challenging the company’s imposition of real-term pay cuts.
A riposte from the union was sent to members in Voice Services earlier this week – pointedly copied to senior management to highlight the fact the crude attempt to intimidate those participating in the ballot had been clocked.
The CWU national officer for BT Voice Services Allan Eldred explained: “For the business to ask you to read out such a statement, when your union is in the midst of a ballot for industrial action, where you are entitled to vote freely and as you wish, is nothing less than outrageous. In our view the words have been constructed in such a way as to attempt to interfere with your ballot.
“The company have faced criticism, as has the CEO personally over the last week in the national press. It has been reported that Philip Jansen is paid 86 times more than the average BT worker. This is 32% more than he was paid last year, and 97 times what BT’s lowest paid worker is paid. (See Daily Mirror story here)
“How dare they now ask you to become complicit in criticising the CWU for demanding our members’ view is respected, and that you should get a cost of living pay increase – especially while they are overseeing foodbanks being set-up at workplaces because their employees can no longer make ends meet. (See Big Issue story here)
“Our strong advice to members is that the only part of the statement that it is necessary to repeat to customers who ask the specific question about Industrial Action is the very last sentence. This reads ‘Rest assured that as a business we’ve planned for this and have contingency plans to deal with any action that may result from the ballot for strike action’.”
Stressing that any member experiencing managerial pressure to stick with the anti-union parts of the script should contact their local CWU representative immediately, deputy general secretary Andy Kerr insisted that the furore had demonstrated once again the importance of members delivering the largest possible ‘Yes’ vote in the industrial action ballot which closes tomorrow.
“For Voice Services to even think it was appropriate to instruct staff to parrot what was effectively a company press release, denouncing the union and dismissing the legitimacy of employees wanting a cost of living pay rise, is sadly symptomatic of what we are up against across BT Group today,” he explains.
“Even at this closing stage of the ballot I’d urge anyone who has not yet cast their vote to take this final opportunity to reject management by imposition by voting ‘Yes’ today.”
- Given that any ballot paper received after tomorrow’s post cannot be counted for legal reasons, late voters must now use a priority post box to beat the cut-off. Identify your nearest priority post boxes at https://www.royalmail.com/services-near-you#/