BT Group workers will be collecting for food banks as they strike against real-term pay cuts today.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have urged members of the public to drop off food to hundreds of picket lines across the country.
Call centre workers and Openreach engineers are set to strike.
They are expected to form pickets in Portlethen, Elgin, Inverness and Thurso, as they did last Friday.
BT group workers forced to use food banks
A spokesman for the striking workers said: “The workers, who are Openreach engineers and BT call centre workers, made the decision after it was reported that 14 million people risk starvation due to many previous food bank donors feeling too financially pressured to carry on giving.
“Food banks are no strangers to some CWU members.
“Earlier in the year, the Big Issue and the BBC reported how EE, a subsidiary of BT Group, had established a food bank for its poorly paid employees.”
“The experience of many BT Group workers has led company CEO Philip Jansen to be nicknamed ‘Foodbank Phil’ in many workplaces.”
The strike is the second day of industrial action after workers rejected £1,500 per year pay increase for all employees.
The spokesman continued: “In the context of RPI inflation levels approaching 12%, and BT making £1.3 billion in profit – with Jansen pocketing a 32% wage increase of £3.5 million – workers found this unacceptable, and voted in overwhelming and unprecedented numbers to strike.”
CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “Since BT Group workers have been forced to take historic strike action in defence of their standard of living, it’s obvious that ‘Foodbank Phil’ has no interest in their welfare.
Put need before greed for striking BT Group workers
“But his employees – our members – care about the contributions they make to the society they serve and the country they live in.
“Just like in the pandemic, working class people will step up to the plate when employers and politicians fail, and are ready to put need before greed.
“We urge all sympathetic members of the public to attend picket lines in their area and chip in to help out others.”
CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: “On Friday, BT Group workers took strike action and received overwhelming support from the public.
“They showed their strength, but on Monday they will show their generosity.
“I have no doubt the public will show their support to workers and struggling families by turning up to picket lines, dropping off goods and standing side by side with people fighting for dignity.”
BT Group spokeswoman said: “At the start of this year, we were in exhaustive discussions with the CWU that lasted for two months, trying hard to reach an agreement on pay.
“When it became clear that we were not going to reach an accord, we took the decision to go ahead with awarding our team member and frontline colleagues the highest pay award in more than 20 years, effective April 1.
“We have confirmed to the CWU that we won’t be re-opening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could.
“We’re balancing the complex and competing demands of our stakeholders and that includes making once-in-a-generation investments to upgrade the country’s broadband and mobile networks, vital for the UK economy and for BT Group’s future – including our people.
The spokeswoman continued: “While we respect the choice of our colleagues who are CWU members to strike, we will work to minimise any disruption and keep our customers and the country connected.
“We have tried and tested processes for large scale colleague absences to minimise any disruption for our customers and these were proved during the pandemic.”
Big Food Appeal
The P&J is working hard to ensure people across the north and north-east know where to turn if they are struggling for food.
The Big Food Appeal highlights where your nearest foodbank is, and is also working to reduce the stigma around food poverty.
For more information, or to get involved with The Big Food Appeal, click here.
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