“The ink isn’t dry on the pay deal and BT management are already trying to tear up our contracts by changing the working week to 7am-11pm, Monday to Sunday. This will put a lot more pressure on staff already finding it difficult to cope. It also means the end of flexible working hours which many workers depend on to be able to take care of children. A consultative ballot delayed due to the pay talks is to resume over BT’s proposals.”
BT pay deal – “We still feel like we deserve more”
TheSocialist spoke to a worker in BT’s Customer Service contact centre after the recent 9.3% pay deal over three and half years – the equivalent to nearly 3% each year.
“With inflation in August running at 4.7% and VAT set to hit 20% in January, this pay deal will not match inflation and is in effect a pay cut. We still feel like we deserve more. For someone on A1 (the lowest pay band in BT) who earns £14,197 a year before any deductions, it is getting very difficult to pay the bills. The new pay deal isn’t going to cover it. Yet BT has reported massive pre-tax profits of £1billion so far this year!
On 15th October, 300 workers and young people gathered in Derry’s Guildhall Square in protest against a spate of bomb attacks by the dissident republicans in the city. The most recent took place on 5th October, when a car bomb was abandoned on the Culmore Road. Many people had to be evacuated from their homes. The explosion seriously damaged a nearby hotel and a branch of the Ulster Bank.
11 February: From the revolution of the oppressed 1979 to the new wave of resistance 2010
Picket: Confederation of British Industry NI Luncheon