“Put this proposal to bed”, Liverpool workers and politicians tell BT
BT July 30 2026 
“Put this proposal to bed”, Liverpool workers and politicians tell BT
Protesting BT workers and local politicians urged that “sense be heard” today, as they protest against plans to relocate hundreds of jobs out of Liverpool.
Dozens of workers stood together outside The Plaza, BT’s Liverpool city centre offices on Wednesday against the company’s proposals to move the jobs out of the area.
The company claims that down to a rise in cost for renewing the lease on the building, continuing at the site isn’t feasible after the contract ends next March.
The move looks set to impact 600 employees – while some will be forced to commute to Manchester or Leeds should they wish to keep their jobs, others will lose their work entirely.
They were joined with several prominent politicians from the local area, including Labour MPs Paula Barker, Ian Byrne, Peter Dowd and Kim Johnson, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram and council leader Liam Robinson.
“These people deserve a lot more than this”
Labour MP Johnson, whose Liverpool Riverside constituency includes the Plaza, said that she found BT’s decision “atrocious.
“This is affecting these 600 workers very badly – people who have committed themselves to their job, their organisation, and their region.
“I’d say to BT: you need to start thinking about the years of service these people have given to them and to this city.
“These people deserve a lot more than this.”
Ahead of a meeting with BT leaders, Rotheram said there was “no justification for this decision, who are experiencing record profits that have been made off the back of this loyal workforce.
“This is an unjustifiable act from a management that praised the workforce here, and promised that they would continue invest in this workforce just a few years ago.
“Well, that has now been turned on its head, and many don’t think this is right.”
Damaging Disability Services
Those impacted include everyone from 999 callers to Openreach workers, but a significant group of workers hit are the relay services team, who enable deaf and hard-of-hearing people to communicate over the phone.
Pete Pascal, a relay service worker who is also CWU Mersey Branch’s equalities rep, said: “I think they need to reconsider what they’re going to do to these people.
“We’ve got excellent staff here who’ve worked years and years, and young people finding good work in the company.
“But day to day, it’s imperative we have people here are doing this work for people who are speech-impaired and hard-of-hearing.
“They are a lifeline.”
Another relay worker said how the job has “changed dramatically” in the 30 years she had worked for the company, and that her remit now includes anxious and autistic people.
“The service started here, and we get other call centres ringing up, asking our workers what to do if this or that happens.
“These are basic things they aren’t trained to do.
“These customer calls can be any call – the bank, personal calls, the DWP – we have been doing it for so long, and we are so familiar with doing it, that I think without us, the confidence of people on these calls isn’t going to be there.
“I also just think it’s very sad there won’t be any BT in Liverpool anymore – I think they’re making a big mistake.”
Organising the demonstration was North West and North East Regional Secretary Carl Webb, who said: “Today, workers protested in such large numbers to send a clear message to BT: think again.
“This is a workforce with a track record of loyalty, who have a wealth of knowledge in them and are proud to have BT operating out of Merseyside.
“They don’t want to see jobs relocated or vanishing – they’re proud of what they do and they want to carry on in this city.
“So do local politicians, who are turning out today in large numbers to tell the employer that this isn’t on, that this will be bad news for the region as a whole.
“I hope that sense is heard and this distressing proposal is put to bed.”