Pay claims lodged with Capita O2 and Tesco Mobile partnerships

Telecoms & Financial Services, Capita

Identical pay claims have been submitted by the CWU on behalf of members in the Capita O2 and Tesco Mobile partnerships – with the union seeking to build on the advances made last year for the lowest paid staff by way of a 1.35% increase over and above the rise that has already been applied for those on the Real Living Wage.

A year after Capita made good on its pledge to pay a minimum of the Real Living Wage (RLW) across its UK operations – fulfilling long-standing CWU demands – on April 1 the minimum hourly rate paid across the company increased by 20p to £9.50 (£10.85 in London), in line with the Living Wage Foundation’s assessment as to the minimum earnings required to cover routine everyday costs.

That rise – which equates to 2.15% – applies to the lowest paid staff on Capita contracts in the O2 and Tesco Mobile bargaining units where the CWU is recognised for collective bargaining purposes, but crucially also across the whole of Capita’s contact centre business.

As such, beneficiaries include members at the unrecognised Dearne Valley site in South Yorkshire and also members working on a raft of accounts at Preston Brook and Leeds ABC (including the National Trust, Lloyds Bank, M&S and Samsung) which fall outside the established bargaining units covering those sites.

Welcoming Capita’s voluntary decision to once again apply the RLW increase – even though the company is not formally accredited as a RLW employer and therefore not bound to do so – CWU assistant secretary Brendan O’Brien said: “This is a badly needed and well deserved increase – especially considering the exceptional contribution made by members across the whole of Capita’s contact centre business in an extraordinarily difficult year.

Brendan O’Brien

“Capita deserves credit for voluntarily applying the RLW increase in full – but, with regards to the 1,000-plus employees on Capita contracts in the bargaining units where the CWU is recognised for collective bargaining purposes, we do not believe the RLW goes far enough and are therefore calling for an additional 1.35% to be paid to this group of members.

“Similarly, for those members on the O2 and Tesco Mobile who were TUPE’d out of Telefonica in 2013 – and who are still on legacy contracts that pay above the RLW – we’re seeking a 3.5% increase in salary flowing through to pension protection payments and pay associated allowances.

“As such, in essence, our 2021 pay claim is for an across the board increase of 3.5% , but taking into account that those on the RLW have already received 2.15%, as applied in this month’s pay packets.

“The CWU firmly believes that this is a fair, just and measured claim – taking into account the fact that all our members have been key workers throughout the Covid pandemic and that their work during this period must be clearly recognised in a way that had not yet occurred in Capita.”

The pay claim was formally presented to Capita Tesco Mobile Partnership management last week, and the first of a series of meetings with Capita O2 senior management will take place next Thursday (May 6).

“Members will be kept fully updated as and when developments occur – but, in the meantime, we’d welcome any comments and feedback from members via their local branch and representatives,” concludes Brendan.


  • The CWU is keen to do more for members in Capita  who sit outside the recognised O2 and Tesco Mobile bargaining units where the union is recognised for collective bargaining purposes – but needs to grow membership in those areas to achieve that aim. Indeed, the union’s clout in negotiations is always directly related to membership strength – so, wherever you work in Capita,  please encourage colleagues who have not yet joined the union to do so without delay.


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