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”.
