CWU members are currently facing unprecedented attacks on their job security and terms and conditions, despite being designated key workers and working tirelessly through the pandemic, at a time when our national telecommunications infrastructure has been under more demand than ever.
But BT’s ongoing site rationalisation programme and cost cutting-strategy have not come as a result of the impact of Covid-19. BT has embarked on a genuine ‘race to the bottom’, as it benchmarks the salaries and terms and conditions it is prepared to provide against mostly non-unionised competitors. The current climate of insecure work, low pay and poor conditions, following an erosion of workers’ rights under a government that champions businesses rather than the employee, clearly provides BT with the justification they feel they need to destroy the benefits that the CWU have fought hard to win over the last few decades.
The time has come for both CWU members and the public to back the Count Me In campaign to show BT that a culture of hostility, non-collaboration and lack of respect for their workforce is not acceptable for an organisation that outwardly presents itself as a modern, forward-thinking and ethical FTSE 100 company.
Sara Miah
Assistant Branch Secretary, Branch Communications Lead
and Women’s Officer CWU North Anglia Branch
