CWU TELECOMS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES CONFERENCE 2024

 

 

22  CATEGORY A: Conference is concerned that there is a wide variance in the quality and standard of paperwork provided to our members working within BT Consumer when it comes to disciplinary hearings. Often managers say that the gave a document to a member 12 months ago and should still have it. Ignoring the fact that the company policy states that all paperwork should be provided. This often leads to meetings being delayed or rescheduled often causing further stress and anxiety for our members.

 

Conference instructs the TFSE to ensure that standards are adhered to by BT management and all paperwork provided to the individual including the option for digital provision of paperwork.

Lincolnshire and South Yorks

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

23  CATEGORY A: Conference notes the continued issue in BT Group of managers not including the full pack of evidence in sick cases and recent issues of packs being rights protected preventing union reps or dismissed employees from accessing the case papers / evidence.

The TFSE is instructed to reach agreement with BT Group to ensure all paperwork / evidence is provided in a format easily accessible (without the need for prior authorisation from a BT manager or holding a BT run Microsoft account) as standard in all hearings / cases where a warning / dismissal / sanction is a possible outcome.

South Wales

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

24  CATEGORY A:              Conference agrees that the BT Sick Absence procedure could be improved.

At the opening of the meeting the manager/team leader reads this statement "My decision will be based on the impact absence levels are having on the business rather than your inability to attend work due to ill health." Which then completely negates the whole purpose of the meeting and discussing the barrier to attending work therefore Conference believes it should be removed.

 

Additionally, currently, when a warning is implemented for sick absence the outcome letter confirms the right to appeal as follows:

 

“You do have the right to appeal against any part of this outcome. If you decide to do that, you need to put your grounds of appeal in writing to me within seven calendar days. Your appeal should say what it is about the outcome that you disagree with and why. An appeal manager will then be appointed and you’ll have the opportunity to meet with them.”

The Attendance Procedure confirms that the outcome letter “must also include details of who they should address the appeal to” but does not include a suggestion that the appeal should be returned to the decision maker.

Conference believes that having to confirm the intention to appeal and the reasons for the appeal to the decision manager, rather than the next level of manager, discourages employees from going ahead with an appeal even when they believe it should be pursued.

The T&FSE is instructed to seek the improvements detailed within this motion.

 

Tyne and Wear Clerical

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

25  CATEGORY A: If carried 27 Falls

 

The BT Speak Up process can be abused my employees trying to get their work colleagues into trouble with the company, this malicious behavior goes unchecked and without any retribution because it is an anonymous process. However this process can lead to innocent team members being subject to unnecessary stress and time off work, which ultimately is a cost to the company.

Conference instructs the T&FS Executive to negotiate with BT Group, a review of the speak up process, and to deem if it is necessary for the speak-up process to be used when it comes to reporting team members, because team members should be able to raise any issues or complaints with their line managers, this is a tried and tested process which does not allow any complaints brought in bad faith.

 

Midland No.1

 

                        Motion: Not Carried            Branch: Voted Against

 

 

26  CATEGORY A: Conference is concerned by the increasing numbers of members facing investigations as a result of BT Speak Up.

 

Whilst we understand and agree that there needs to be this service we are increasingly concerned that it is easy for vexatious complaints to be made this way resulting in members facing disciplines without knowing who the complaint is from, no way to ask counter questions or for further questions to be asked as there would be in a normal grievance process.

In some cases, members have found themselves in a fact finding meeting where the complaint fails to provide any supporting evidence such as a time or date of an alleged incident. Members often find themselves thrust into a very difficult situation where they can not defend themselves without specifics of who the allegation is from and what exactly has been said/done and leading to disciplinary cases causing undue distress to the member.

 

Conference instructs the TFSE to

 

Ensure a minimum standard of information before a fact finding can take place

Lincolnshire and South Yorks

 

                        Motion: Carried        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

27  CATEGORY A: It had been reported by branches that members have been left without part of their wages due to managers not marking members back from sick who were on zero sick pay. This has had a significant impact in EE sites but also impacted Ex BT sites.

In February, the National Officer confirmed that the company had drafted a new process and it has been included in the Manager Guide.

 

Conference recognises the work the CWU has done to challenge the issue but this new process is simply a workaround and it does nothing to address the underlying problem.

 

Conference instructs the T&FSE to ensure that the issue is resolved.

Tyne and Wear Clerical

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

29 CATEGORY A: Conference is concerned with the differences between EE/former BT contracts, specifically the phased return to work pay. The current policy states:-

 

If you’re still in receipt of CSP at the end of your absence period, you’ll be paid your normal basic pay plus any bonus or commission you may earn that’s associated with your role, until your CSP runs out. Any such pay in relation to unworked hours during a phased return to work is discretionary and will be deducted from your CSP entitlement.

If you’re no longer in receipt of CSP before your return you’ll be paid a pro rated salary in line with the hours you’re working. This will include any bonus or commission you may earn during the hours you work.

 

Currently, this fails to offer support to members that need time to readjust after long term sick and allow them to stay back in work.

 

Conference instructs the T&FSE to negotiate with EE to align their phased RTW with the BT Group policy and eradicate reduced pay during this time.

 

Scotland No.1

 

                  Motion: Carried       Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

30 CATEGORY A: Conference is concerned with the business approach being applied towards our EE contracted members wishing to pursue career development which is less favourable in comparison to BT or Ex-BT contract staff.

BT or ex-BT contract staff can attract cover payments in recognition of additional responsibility and workload, including a daily rate for periods of a week or more.

EE contract members are treated completely different, restricted to only being able to claim cover payments if their period of cover lasts longer than 3 months, when they can then claim up to 10% of their annual salary.

When questioning this, they are often greeted with Dickensian responses from management such as, ‘this is a development opportunity which you should be grateful for’!

This refusal to fairly recognise, reward and incentivise staff for their efforts also has the potential to disadvantage BT or Ex-BT contracted staff as the business opts to deny them career progression opportunities in favour of EE contract staff on a cost basis.

Conference instructs the T&FSE to enter into negotiations with BT Group to harmonise reward and recognition for development and career progression activities. This must be achieved without any detriment to existing BT or Ex-BT contract opportunity or reward.

Mersey

 

                  Motion: Carried       Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

33  CATEGORY A: The TFSE is instructed to negotiate with BT Group, an increase to the London weighting allowance.

 

The increase being the essential part of this motion, we would ask that, as part of the negotiations the TFSE should take into account the two following points

 

a)    it would be preferable to have a formula, so that the allowance increases in line with all other allowances.

b)    any members that volunteer to take an alternative role, due to their work area being part of a voluntary release exercise or better workplace program, should receive the two-year payment should they move to a role outside of their current London weighting area.

Greater London Combined

 

                        Motion: Carried        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

35  CATEGORY A:  If Carried 36, 37, 40, 41 and 43 Fall

This conference agrees there is a clear need to demonstrate CWU total opposition to compulsory redundancies within BT group companies to our members and BT group senior management and instructs the T&FS Executive to communicate this message as soon as possible.

Conference also notes Openreach’s intention to commence redundancy consultation reported in T&FS Openreach Members’ bulletin Issue 15/2024 dated 15 February 2024. In the bulletin the CWU Openreach National Team express disappointment at Openreach’s decision, and believe that Openreach did not have to commence redundancy consultation, but do not explicitly and clearly communicate to our members CWU opposition to compulsory redundancies.

 

This conference instructs the TFSE to:

 

•       Work with the management of all BT Group companies’ in identifying work for those at threat of redundancy, within and throughout the BT Group.

 

•       Work with BT Group companies’ management to identify and jointly assess all work that is currently outsourced, with a view to bring it back “in-house”.

 

•       Investigate whether the work can be made available as redeployment opportunities, and reliance on third party contractors is reduced wherever possible to maximise redeployment opportunities now, and in the future for all BT group employees.

•       Regular reports on the progress of identifying work in BT group companies, outsourced work, and third party contractor work in BT will be provided to CWU Branches with members employed by BT group companies.

 

Should BT Group not cooperate with the CWU on the actions listed or if the actions, when completed still result in any CWU member employed by a BT group company being served with notice of compulsory redundancy. The TFSE will immediately begin a campaign to oppose by all means up to and including industrial action.

 

South London, Surrey and North Hampshire

 

                        Motion: Not Carried    Branch: Voted against (another motion was more suitable)

 

 

36  CATEGORY A:  If Carried 43 Falls

Conference condemns the recent use of compulsory redundancies in Openreach in dealing with the cessation of the frames role. Conference instructs the TFSE to make preparations to oppose future compulsory redundancies in Openreach using all means possible up to and including industrial action.

South Wales

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

37  CATEGORY A:                                                    If Carried 39, 40 and 41 Falls

Conference understands that BT operates in a challenging market and the business case to transform for a sustainable future. While Conference encourages the continuation of positive engagement to enable an effective voice for our members that maintain the BT Group brands as market leading, there are serious concerns on the approach for delivering a “leaner” company. Notably, BT announced long term plans to cut 55,000 jobs by 2030 which are expected to flow from the completion of the Fibre network build, the introduction of AI, a lower resource to maintain the “new” network and restructuring. The impact on the human element is clear as the drive for cost efficiencies overshadows the value placed on those who provide the strength that underpins the company’s success.

Conferences reminds the TFSE of the objectives within the Count Me In campaign:

 

1)                     Redundancy Policies and Processes

2)                     Strategic Resourcing / Re-Skilling & Redeployment

3)                     Job Evaluations

4)                     Better Workplace Programme

5)                     Terms & Conditions

6)                     Structure

Conference applauds the hard work moving these complex issues forward. However, concerns are building over the speed and visibility as members currently face difficult choices under the Re-Organisation polices which are ceasing or moving their roles across, and out of, the UK today.

 

Therefore, the TSFE is instructed to focus on reinvigorating “Strategic Resourcing

/ Re-Skilling & Redeployment” by engaging with BT to challenge the use of offshoring and educate members on areas of growth within the business, along with available resources, to aid long-term employment. Engagement with Branches is encouraged to facilitate an understanding of the different approaches across BT Group and generating alternative options for managing surplus resource with longer term plans as opposed to placing members “at risk” with minimum notice periods.

Edinburgh, Dundee and Borders

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

38   CATEGORY A: Conference notes the recent announcement by EE ‘Operation Blue Fin’ concerning the EE (former BT) Enniskillen site in which workers were offered a voluntary paid leavers scheme as well as confirming they no longer consider this a strategic site.

This in effect puts pressure on workers to sign up to, in effect, their own site closure with only a few weeks’ notice. Conference, this an absolute disgrace and the time frame could not be considered anyway reasonable in the circumstances and will prohibit the union from meaningfully consulting and advising our members.

 

Conference is aware that the loss of over 300 jobs in an area of Northern Ireland starved of similar employment opportunities will have a devastating impact on the local economy, the greater Fermanagh community and hundreds of our members & their families.

 

Conference instructs the T&FSE to:

 

- continue the Save our Site campaign to lobby local politicians (councillors, MLA’s and MP’s from all parties representatives) to oppose the closure of the site, and continue to meet with BT Group representatives at all levels to fight the closure of the site, and brief the local branch and members with regular updates

Northern Ireland Telecom

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

44  CATEGORY A: Conference with more Voluntary Paid Leaver packages being offered on what seems like a weekly basis by BT/Openreach it is concerning that our members have to make a life changing decision with no cooling off period.

 

After pressing that button to accept the leavers package it can be a couple of days before reality of that decision hits home and that member really doesn’t want to leave.

 

Conference therefore instructs the T&FSE to negotiate a 14-day cooling off period. This is to be negotiated as soon as possible due to the increase in the amount of Voluntary Paid Leaver packages we are seeing being offered.

North East

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

45  CATEGORY A: Mental health affects everybody, every single day. However, very few companies actually have a mental health policy.

We want to raise mental health awareness and combat the stigmas associated with these conditions and when partnered to existing

legislation.

T&FSE are instructed to negotiate with BT Group a mental health policy which will benefit all members. As part of the policy there will be a joint annual awareness event.

Scotland No.1

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

47  CATEGORY A: Conference notes that Mental Health and wellbeing in our country is at an all-time low at this moment in time, and this is clearly evident amongst our members, and when our members seek support what they get is limited and inadequate from the partners that BT group use.

There are a wide range of treatments counsellors and therapists can use, however the treatments that are available to our members are limited not just in terms of approach but in terms of length/number of sessions.

 

Conference instructs the TFSE to work directly with the company to increase the level of support they offer through both EAP and Vita Health Group, as the current level is failing in supporting our members to full capacity.

 

Lincolnshire and South Yorks

                        Motion: Carried        Branch: Voted for

 

 

48  CATEGORY A: Many members with caring responsibilities be that elderly parents, a partner with caring need or children that are neurodiverse.

 

A Carer’s Passport is a record that ensures a carer is recognised and supported as part of the day-to-day life of an organisation.

The TFSE is instructed to launch an awareness guide for members of BT Group so that more people are aware of how to request a passport and receive the support they need.

South Wales

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

49  CATEGORY A:  If Carried 50 and 51 Falls

Conference recognises the value members place on being able to work from home under the BT Group, ‘3 Together, 2 Wherever’ approach to smart working.

 

Members appreciate the opportunity (where it exists), especially in a contact centre environment, to work in the comfort of their own homes, avoiding the usual daily rush hour challenge (including parking and travel costs) and without feeling they are being constantly ‘watched’.

Members are frustrated however by the interpretation of the ‘3 together, 2 wherever’ principles by their local managers as an inflexible instruction rather than a guideline to balance the benefits of working from home against the positive impact of co-operative team working in the office.

 

When members look to exploit the opportunity to work from home in order to manage short-term issues like minor illness, for themselves or close family (especially children), short notice school closures, travel disruption through adverse weather or strike action, it is not unusual for managers to refuse any flexibility even if that results in sick absence (often as a result of the stresses of having to manage difficult temporary situations at home whilst having to travel into work). This sometimes includes threats of disciplinary action should members not come into the office, irrespective of the reason behind the request.

The apparent inability to apply a common-sense approach to home and office working is counter-productive, damaging loyalty and the perception of the business as a supportive employer as well as creating unnecessary sick absence.

 

The T&FSE are therefore instructed to enter into negotiations with BT Group to amend their smart working statement and any associated management guidance, to enable a flexible approach to managing requests for additional temporary flexibility in smart working to support members as required.

 

This should extend to include the right to submit a formal application for temporary adjustments to home/office working (when an initial application is declined) in order to secure a written response citing reason for the rejecting the application.

Mersey

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

52  CATEGORY A: Conference agrees that the use of Flex in Openreach under the auspices of the Service Delivery Transformation agreement delivers very few benefits for our members and is really a tool for management to force engineers to flex the end of the working day in line with business needs.

Conference therefore instructs the T&FS Executive to enter into negotiations with Openreach with a view to a new Flex agreement that gives more control to engineers and delivers the ability for our members to take meaningful time off according to their own needs and in the interests of a proper work / life balance.

 

Edinburgh, Dundee and Borders

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

53  CATEGORY A: This conference expresses grave concern regarding the inadequate implementation of the Personal and Domestic (P&D) process, particularly within Openreach. Openreach Management's failure to utilise reasonable adjustments and the inappropriate utilisation of the P&D forum has resulted in frequent instances where minor requests are met with unreasonable demands. For example additional Saturday attendances or transitioning from shorter working week patterns to a 5-day attendance week. Furthermore, the failure of local management to process existing P&D attendance patterns promptly necessitates restarting the entire process, causing undue stress to the individuals involved.

The TFSE is hereby instructed to convene with Openreach to secure firm commitments that the P&D policy will be fully adhered to and seek assurance that in cases of managerial negligence members are not compelled to initiate the process anew.

South London, Surry and North Hampshire

 

                        Motion: Carried        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

54  CATEGORY A: Conference notes that since the introduction of the Customer Delivery Rate (CDR) metric by Openreach on the Service Delivery (SD) side of the business, in agreement with the Openreach National Team, the use of this metric has been corrupted by rogue managers from its initially stated purpose of being a useful measure to ascertain where training and support was needed within the workforce to instead being used as a measure by which engineers find themselves targeted with bullying and harassment.

Conference further notes that this behaviour has led to the creation of a hostile and paranoid work environment not seen since the days when Performance Management was in place. To contrast this with other parts of the business, Fibre Network Delivery (FND) introduced a similar metric for use by their management team called My Potential. This was trialled with both an individual score, similar to CDR, and with a team-based score. The teams that used a team-based score have had far less issues than the teams using an individual score for each engineer.

With this in mind Conference instructs the T&FSE in conjunction with the Openreach National Team to negotiate with BT Group, specifically Openreach, with the view of changing CDR to be a team-based metric, removing the ability of managers to be able to view the individual scores of engineers and thus remove their ability to target and harass them as is currently the case.

 

Greater Mersey Amal

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

 

 

 

 

 

56  CATEGORY A: Conference notes with a deep and growing concern the transformation of Genesys into a performance and behavioural management tool within Openreach desk.

 

Genesys originally designed as a system platform to replace Harrier, on the basis:

 

•       New, improved technology which will be quicker, and easier for users to navigate, with great feedback from early testers

•       Fully-supported system wrap, to ensure we can always be contactable

•       User-driven change model owned by Openreach, to improve how the system operates

•       Simple to on-board people to the platform and move users between queues

•       Full demand visibility to make it easier to resource call queues effectively

•       Single interface to manage voice, email, eChat, and text message contact

This system has now morphed into an Orwellian mechanism, closely monitoring every aspect of our members' work, including call metrics, comfort breaks, and after-call work time. This transformation raises serious issues that undermine the dignity, privacy, and treatment of our members.

 

Genesys, in its current form, perpetuates a surveillance culture. Constant monitoring of call metrics, including breaks and after-call work, creates an environment of distrust and anxiety among our members, who feel constantly watched and evaluated.

Members should not be subjected to such invasive scrutiny in their daily work routines, to also weaponise it to evaluate members based upon these metrics alone is inherently unfair. Members may be penalised for factors beyond their control, such as call volume fluctuations or technical issues, leading to unjust performance assessments.

 

We instruct the T&FSE to work with Openreach to establish clear guidelines and policies regarding monitoring and privacy on the Genesys system, ensuring that members' rights are respected and protected. To support initiatives aimed at promoting a culture of trust, respect, and collaboration within our workplace, recognising the value of members as individuals and contributors to our collective success.

TFS Executive

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

57  CATEGORY A: This conference expresses concern over Openreach's disregard for agreements, demonstrating disrespect towards the union and its members. This disregard is especially evident in their handling of changes to members' attendance patterns, which should adhere to the clear guidelines outlined in the SDT agreement of 2010. However, senior managers are flouting these guidelines by imposing unagreed attendance patterns that deviate from the SDT agreement, including attempts to introduce seasonal working patterns (winter working) through unauthorised means.

The TFSE is directed to engage with Openreach to ensure acknowledgment of the proper process. Once this acknowledgment is secured, the documented correspondence should be shared with telecom branches to support the enforcement of the terms outlined in the SDT agreement.

South London, Surrey and North Hampshire

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

 

58 CATEGORY A:  Following the changes to the provider of fleet services across BT Group, our members who drive company vehicles as part of their job role, have noticed a marked decline in service and response times for breakdowns, and other vehicle maintenance issues.

Some of our members have been left stranded for hours awaiting a breakdown response, causing unacceptable risk to their health, safety, and wellbeing. In addition, the lack of availability for general maintenance of vehicles necessitates them being driven with faults which may increase the breakdown risk.

Conference instructs the TFSE to enter into immediate discussions with BT Group to urge them to establish a vehicle maintenance service which ensures speedy breakdown response times and a significantly more robust minimum standard for the regular maintenance of vehicles.

Capital

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for

59  CATEGORY A: Conference notes that since the introduction of Electric Vehicles (EVs) as part of BT Group’s fleet, there has been a noted lack of training or comprehensive handover process for drivers allocated EVs. Most individuals given an EV have reported they were unceremoniously handed over their keys and told to be on their way, with little to no explanation of any differences between their old vehicle and new one.

There are multiple issues that arise from this as EVs are vastly different from Diesel & Petrol vehicles in several important ways.

 

These include but, are not limited to:

 

Vehicle checks – The standard vehicle check requires drivers to check their oil and other fluid levels before starting their day, this is reflected in the Pre-Use Inspection form that is required to be filled out on the Holman’s app. Due to the lack of options for EVs, drivers with vans are required to fill out a form for a Diesel/Petrol vehicle that results in them technically failing their Pre-Use Inspection due to the lack of oil and other engine related fluids in the EV.

 

How the vehicle is operated – EVs have a much quicker acceleration rate, even though they are generally much heavier than their Diesel/Petrol counterparts. This presents a danger to drivers unused to an EV as the chances of an accident or the seriousness of one is greatly increased. EVs are also all automatics, which can be an awkward transitional period for someone only used to driving a manual vehicle.

 

Safety knowledge & procedures – EVs have a very different set of safety knowledge that is needed in order to safely operate & care for one. EVs are well known for their uncontrollable nature in the event of a fire, leading to concerns for what drivers should do if their vehicle sets alight. In the event of a Road Traffic Collision (RTC) there is the possibility of the vehicle frame becoming “Live” with current due to battery contact, this creates the risk of “Earthing” through someone if they were to attempt to exit the vehicle themselves or recover someone else. There is also only a limited lifespan of the batteries used in EVs, generally 5 years, which presents the risk of acid leaks & other failures towards the end of this lifespan, drivers are given no instruction on how they should deal with this and who to contact to in that scenario.

 

Infrastructure availability – The lack of charging points in large portions of the country make EV drivers much more limited in their scope of travel, which can often impact on their work. Many EV drivers are reliant on charging points in supermarket, fast food restaurant & service station car parks due to a lack of readily available charging infrastructure in the BT Group estate. Many EV drivers were given no warning of this other than word of mouth rumours from other colleagues, leading to frequent issues of breaking down out of range of a charging point while they still adjusted to the new vehicle.

Conference instructs the T&FSE to talk with BT Group with the aim of establishing a comprehensive information pack to be given to drivers of Electric Vehicles before their hand over & to be readily available for drivers that have already switched over to an EV and updating their administrative processes to cover EVs i.e. the Holman’s app. The pack should include information on how to safely conduct a proper pre-use check; give drivers knowledge of how the vehicle handles differently to a Diesel/Petrol one; what they should do in the event of an RTC or other emergency situation (such as a Personal Escape Plan) and give drivers information on available charging infrastructure & how to avoid a breakdown due to a low battery.

 

This list is not exhaustive.

 

Greater Mersey Amal

 

                        Motion: Carried unanimously        Branch: Voted for