{"id":26256,"date":"2021-03-11T08:21:31","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T08:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=26256"},"modified":"2021-03-16T07:06:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T07:06:42","slug":"cwu-to-ballot-on-national-industrial-strike-over-bt-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/03\/cwu-to-ballot-on-national-industrial-strike-over-bt-changes.html","title":{"rendered":"CWU to Ballot on National Industrial Strike Over BT Changes UPDATE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Communications Workers Union<\/a> (CWU) last night announced, during a mass forum, that they have “taken the decision to move to an official national industrial action ballot<\/em>” for all employees after failing to “resolve the points of disagreement<\/em>” that exist between themselves and BT<\/a>, Openreach<\/a> and EE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The BT<\/a> Group has had a rough few years and as a result of that, as well as the need to invest \u00a312bn into “full fibre<\/em>” (FTTP<\/a>) broadband (here<\/a>) and to deploy 5G<\/a> mobile, the operator has been busy restructuring itself and trying to cut cost (here<\/a>). Naturally this has resulted in a variety of changes, such as the move to re-organise around a smaller number of regional offices, contract changes and job losses.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> The CWU represents around 45,000 staff across the BT<\/a> Group.<\/div>\n

The recent move by 170 of Openreach<\/a>’s Repayment Project Engineers<\/strong> (RPE) to strike over the imposition of grading changes (here<\/a>), which might affect areas like salaries, holidays and terms for newcomers, was thus largely seen as a test case for wider action in the future.<\/p>\n

Last night the CWU decided that enough was enough and moved to start preparations for an official ballot on a national industrial strike across BT, Openreach<\/a> and EE<\/a>. The exact timetable for all this is due to be set out in the “coming weeks.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

A BT Spokesperson said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We\u2019re disappointed that CWU is contemplating industrial action, though the union has not started the formal industrial action process. We remain committed to discussing the concerns they have raised.<\/p>\n

BT needs to go through a period of immense change and investment to modernise itself for the future. Once complete, we will have a much simpler operating model with fewer people and we\u2019ll be better able to serve our customers. Such change is always difficult \u2013 that\u2019s why we have been discussing our plans with the unions and will continue to do so.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Karen Rose, President of the CWU, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Your union has tried everything possible to resolve the point(s) of disagreement that there are between us and BT, Openreach and EE<\/a>, and to do that in an amicable way. But tonight I’m here to announce that [we have] … taken the decision to move to official national industrial action ballot.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the time of writing the CWU has not yet put out an official press release, but they have uploaded a video of the announcement via Twitter<\/a> (see below). But one thing this appears to lack is a clear message for why the CWU are moving to take such action, although that will no doubt flow more clearly as part of the campaign, and we’ve included a few examples above.<\/p>\n

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MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BT, OPENREACH AND EE MEMBERS https:\/\/t.co\/9BaFGjBBRl<\/a><\/p>\n

— CWU (@CWUnews) March 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n