Last week BT had a αύξη 1,200 salary increase bid rejected by the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents about 40,000 of its 100,000 employees, with union bosses describing it as “offensive” and a “relative wage cuts “. The union is pushing for a 10% rise in the face of rampant inflation, currently at 6.2% and the Bank of England forecast to peak at 10% by the end of the year. BT said the flat-rate pay rise – mainly for its lowest paid staff – resulted in an increase of between 3% and 8%. It has been dated from April 1 to coincide with households affected by multiple price increases, from municipal taxes and VAT on hosting to broadband and telephone bills, and will cost BT around 90 90 million. “While we have continued to expand and strengthen our networks to support the country’s recovery, the pandemic has hit our financial performance, like that of most companies,” said Philip Jansen, CEO of BT. “We know that the cost of living continues to rise and with this award, we ensure that our low-wage workers will benefit the most and as soon as possible.” The staff that will receive the salary increase are mainly those working in BT retail stores, engineers working in the Openreach subsidiary and call center staff based in the United Kingdom. BT said that talks with the unions about the remuneration for the remaining 42,000 employees were ongoing. About 83,000 of BT’s 100,000 employees are based in the United Kingdom. Last year, BT awarded a special 1.5 1,500 bonus to 59,000 front-line workers in recognition of their work during the coronavirus pandemic. This included a bonus of £ 1,000 in cash and £ 500 in shares, which will be awarded after three years as part of the employee share program. The bonus award cost BT about 110 110 million and the company said the payments accounted for about 5% of the employee’s average salary.
