CWU members strike over pay
(Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)Emergency-service phone operators will join BT and Openreach workers in industrial action that will see 40,000 people walk out.
More than 500 emergency call handlers are set to strike for four days in October over real-term pay cuts.
This is the first time that 999 call-centre workers will join in the strike, after previously being exempt from the Communication Workers’ Union strike action due to how essential their work is.
Find out below when the strikes will happen and how they may impact emergency services.
When will the strikes take place?
The BT and Openreach strikes are taking place on Thursday, October 6, Monday, October 10, Thursday, October 20, and Monday, October 24.
Where are the strikes taking place?
There will be more than 200 picket lines and workers will walk out of 999 call centres across the country.
Will the 999 workers’ strike impact emergency calls?
BT told Sky News that it would aim to maintain the number of call handlers on shift any one time by “redeploying colleagues”.
The company also said it would have “experienced agency teams” working, and expects “a number of colleagues” to attend work as normal.
Additionally, BT has also been training colleagues to fill any potential gaps.
Why are 999 call workers striking?
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “This decision was not taken lightly, but our union’s repeated attempts to initiate discussions was declined by a management who clearly believe they are above negotiating a fair deal for people who make massive profits for them.
“999 operators are using foodbanks; they’re worried about the cost of living and are being stretched to the limit. Goodwill won’t pay the bills, and vital services are now being hampered because of corporate greed.
“BT management clearly has no appreciation of its workforce or their social value – but this union does, and we’ll keep on fighting this company’s attempt to plunge its workers into even further hardship.”
CWU president Karen Rose, chair of the union’s Telecoms and Financial Services Executive, told CWU News: “The message that I’ve consistently been getting from members on the picket lines is that they’re really fed up – and enough is enough!
“We know a lot of our 999 operators, some of the lowest-paid workers in the company, went into work reluctantly during the previous strikes because they wanted to support themselves and their colleagues – but, having done that, they now feel taken for granted.”
She added: “The way the company has rewarded them for the seriousness with which they conduct their role is to not even bother to talk to the CWU!
“They’re treating all of our members, but particularly those in 999, so disrespectfully that we simply have to draw the line.”
