Some 40,000 employees of the British telecom operator BT will strike for two days for wages in late July and early August. This is the first walkout in 35 years in the company, the Union of Communication Workers announced on Twitter on July 15.
The walkouts are scheduled for July 29 and August 1, specifies the union, which asks “a decent pay raisefor employees in the face of soaring inflation in the country and could exceed 11% by the end of the year. The announcement caused the title of BT to plunge by 7.65% to 175.65 points on the London Stock Exchange. “We tried to bring the company to the negotiating tablewithout success, denounced the general secretary of the union Dave Ward.
The company considers that it cannot grant a salary increase
The company, for its part, said in a press release:respect the choice to strikeof employees, but indicates that she will do everything to minimize the impact of this social movement for customers. The company, which has already granted in April a salary increase of 1,500 annual pounds for its employees, or 5% on average, believes that it cannot go beyond. BT had posted annual profit after tax down 13% to 1.3 billion pounds for its staggered financial year ended March 31. Patrick Drahi, boss of the telecoms and media group Altice, had also become in June 2021 the first shareholder of the British operator with 12.1% of the capital. In December, he increased his stake to 18%.
The discontent swells in the country in the face of inflation which is eating away at purchasing power and the announcements of strikes are multiplying in many sectors of activity. British railway workers, who had carried out their biggest strike in 30 years at the end of June, taking three days off for wages and jobs, will again go on strike for several days at the end of July and in August at the call of various unions, failing to obtain win. The strike of some 40,000 railway workers at the end of June had reduced train traffic to their minimum, but many Britons had opted for telework and the country had avoided chaos.
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In the middle of summer, this new walkout could greatly disrupt vacation departures. Walkouts have also taken place in recent weeks among criminal lawyers or postal workers. A strike notice has been suspended among British Airways ground staff at Heathrow Airport, after a wage offer deemed satisfactory by the unions.