BT has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to protect 999 services as emergency call handlers take part in strike action. Hundreds of BT/Openreach colleagues across the UK have joined picket lines calling for higher pay.
Workers at one call centre in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, that handles 999 calls and acts as “the first point of contact” for emergency calls have also joined the strike. They are protesting against a pay offer from management that has been slammed as an effective “pay cut”.
BT said it awarded a £1,500 pay increase to its team members and frontline colleagues from April of this year, which it said represents a pay rise of around 5% on average and 8% for the lowest paid. However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents the BT workers, said in the context of RPI inflation levels already hitting 11.7% this year, the offer is a “dramatic real-terms pay cut”.
The union previously agreed with the company that the 999 call centre workers would be exempt from strikes and that a set number of workers would be available to work at any given time. The CWU have now changed their position on this, following “widespread outrage at the company’s refusal to negotiate with union representatives”.
Further walkouts are planned to take place on Monday October 10, Thursday October 20, and Monday October 24. BT said it “will do whatever it takes to protect 999 services – redeploying our people to the most important priority is a normal part of BT Group operations”.
CWU Northern Ireland Regional Secretary Erin Massey said BT must realise the worth of their workers. Speaking to PA from Co Armagh where workers have taken part in UK-wide walk outs over pay, Erin said: “The company has imposed a miserable 2% on top of us without negotiations in a breach of our agreement, we have a collective bargaining agreement with the company that they have conveniently overlooked and imposed this 2% which is not acceptable.
“The centre here in Co Armagh does the 999 calls and they are the first point of contact when emergency calls come in, and then we have to divert them to the relevant body, should it be the fire service, police, ambulance, coastguard, mountain rescue. I want the company to realise their worth, I want the company to start respecting their workers and realise that they are underpaying them.
“The engineers kept the country running during the pandemic, they kept the broadband services, the phone line, nobody can work without broadband, nobody can work without telephones.”
Asked whether people are being put at risk by 999 call handlers walking out, Ms Massey said: “The company is putting the public at risk by not acknowledging and not appreciating the workers that they have. Any risks that are involved, I’m going to have to put back to the company because they had plenty of notice that we were going to call this strike.
“We gave them the chance, we negotiated with them last time and we didn’t call out the 999 call centre workers because we appreciated that and we didn’t want to do it, but the company has left us with no choice.
“We had to bring them out this time because we have to make them sit up and listen. We’re serious about what we’re doing, and we’re not going to stop until we get a serious pay rise.”
