- From 1 January 2023, all BT workers in the UK earning less than £50,000 a year will receive pay rise of £1,500.
- Agreement marks end of fiery dispute that saw thousands of workers stage walk-outs.
The Communication Workers Union announced that it had reached a “final agreement” with BT Group over pay, marking the likely end of an increasingly acrimonious dispute.
BT will offer what it calls a “UK cost-of-living pay rise” to all of its staff except those on the highest wages. As a result, BT and Openreach workers earning £50,000 a year or less will receive a consolidated pay increase of £1,500 from 1 January 2023. Including April’s pay rise of £1500, the agreement equates to a permanent increase of £3,000, with a further review set to take place on 1 September 2023. BT claimed the raise will cover “100% of frontline staff (and others at ‘team member’ grade), and 51% of managers in the UK”, equating to “85% of UK-based BT Group colleagues”.
In its announcement, the CWU strongly recommended that members accept the proposal, branding the agreement as the “maximum that can be achieved by negotiation”. A consultative ballot will be posed to members electronically and the result is expected to be announced before Christmas.
BT Group Chief Executive Philip Jansen has been steadfast in his position on a pay increase. He often argued that BT’s offer of a £1,500 raise compared “extremely well” with the wider industry and refused to budge even when 40,000 broadband lines were lost as a result of strike action in the quarter to 30 September (Q2 FY22–23).
However, following the agreement Jansen claimed “this award is based on the principles we have followed throughout this difficult period”. Jansen also confirmed that BT would work closely with its unions on “transformation plans and the delivery of the £3bn cost savings” by the end of FY24–25.
The decision from BT to offer the pay rise comes shortly after the UK government assured businesses that an energy cap would be in place for businesses to get staff through the winter. Speaking on a staff call last Wednesday, excerpts of which were heard by Bloomberg, Jansen claimed that the government’s business energy cap subsidy scheme will provide the Group with the financial dexterity needed to improve staff pay, likely a crucial factor in the probable conclusion of the long-running row.
