COUNT ME IN UPDATE –
KEEP GETTING THE WORD OUT
Dear Members, As we have previously communicated, discussions have been taking place with BT, Openreach and EE on a wide range of issues. At this point, no agreement has been reached and significant issues remain unresolved.
On this basis, it is absolutely critical that the sole focus of every single representative and member remains on returning the biggest possible yes vote in a national industrial action ballot. It’s taken some time to ensure we meet all the legal requirements for an official industrial action ballot, we are in the final stages of verifying the membership data, which is essential to ensure we do not fall foul of the anti-Trade Union legislation. We will share the details of the final timetable as soon as we can.
We will support you in delivering our key messages with a series of live sessions, home mailings, virtual meetings and various other forms of communications in the coming days and weeks.
For now, we need you to make sure you take the opportunity to speak to all of your colleagues and urge them to vote and vote yes in the forthcoming ballot.
If we stand together, we will win this dispute.
Andy Kerr Deputy General Secretary (T&FS)
View a PDF of the report here.
BT, EE and Openreach members are facing
the biggest threat to their working future.
At a time of economic uncertainty and worry, BT Group is ploughing ahead with a radical reorganisation of its business. They are doing this to protect profit, not their loyal, hardworking members.
BT Group’s reorganisation plans involve:
- Mass closure of many sites
- A potential threat to voluntarism in leaving the business
- A piecemeal approach to closure which lessens the chance of re-deployment
- Undermining and ignoring your agreements that protect your pension and voluntary redundancy terms
- Drastically reducing the pay, terms & conditions for multiple roles and grades
The CWU’s position is clear.
We aim to enter talks with BT and campaign to:
Increase job security and maximise the number of UK direct labour jobs in BT
Agree a centrally coordinated response to redeployment across all CFU’s to create a pathway that allows retraining and reskilling well in advance of any redundancy announcements
Maintain decent pay, terms and conditions for all BT employees by ensuring a fair grading, pay and reward structure
Create a fair, enhanced voluntary redundancy package
Re-instate the legally binding element of the pensions agreement
Minimise the use of contractors and reduce off shore work to maximise employment for UK BT employees
Now is the time for us all to come together and get involved to achieve these aims. By getting involved you will help us create the necessary leverage with the company. Being a union member means we are part of an active community that achieve things together. It does not matter if you have not been active in the union in the past. There is something for everyone to get involved in to be part of this campaign. Show your solidarity by using the resources page to download graphics for your social media or print off a poster. Or simply email us and let us know you want to be involved at countmein@cwu.org