BT's (NYSE: BT) workers aren't happy about the pay raise the company has put on the table and the incumbent service provider might have to deal with its first workers strike in over 20 years.
On Friday, Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), said he would advise the 50,000 BT members of his union to hold a strike ballot if BT would not raise its pay increase offer from two percent.
"We will have no alternative but to ballot our members for industrial action," Kerr said in an interview with BBC Radio.
What's perhaps more telling about the proposed strike is that it comes after it was announced that BT's CEO Ian Livingstone would get a $1.8 million bonus as a reward for making financial and customer service goals.
BT said it has contingency plans in place to remain operational if a strike occurs. However, since the majority of CWU members conduct network maintenance and in call centers, a strike could inhibit the service provider's phone and broadband service repair time in addition to holding up new orders.
"Strike action could cause severe disruption across BT services, including the provision of information to major customers, the laying and maintenance of phone and broadband lines and handling customer service and business calls," said the CWU in a Financial Times article.
For more:
- Reuters has this article
- Financial Times also has this coverage (sub. req.)
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