BT gives workers £1,500 pay rise despite union rejecting deal amid cost of living crisis

theguardian.com:

BT has given 58,000 workers a £1,500 pay rise that it says is its biggest award in two decades, despite its biggest union rejecting the deal as soaring inflation fuels a cost of living crisis.

Last week BT had a £1,200 pay rise offer rejected by the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents about 40,000 of its 100,000 employees, with union bosses describing it as “insulting” and a “relative pay cut”.

The union has been pushing for a 10% rise in the face of rampant inflation, currently at 6.2% and forecast by the Bank of England to peak at 10% by the end of the year.

BT said the flat-rate pay rise – going mostly to its lowest-paid staff – worked out to a rise of between 3% and 8%. It has been backdated to 1 April to coincide with households being hit by multiple price increases, from council tax and VAT on hospitality to broadband and phone bills, and will cost BT about £90m.

“While we have continued to extend and strengthen our networks to support the country’s recovery, the pandemic has hit our financial performance, like that of most companies,” said Philip Jansen, the chief executive at BT. “We know that the cost of living continues to rise and by making this award, we’re ensuring that our lower-paid workers will benefit most and as soon as possible.”

The staff who will receive the pay rise are mainly those who work at BT’s retail stores, engineers who work at its Openreach subsidiary, and call centre employees, all of whom are based in the UK.

BT said talks with unions about a pay award for the remaining approximately 42,000 staff were ongoing. About 83,000 of BT’s total 100,000 workforce are based in the UK.

Last year BT awarded 59,000 frontline workers a special bonus of £1,500 in recognition of their work