CWU accepts BT pay deal

BT pay deal backdated to 1 January 2010

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has voted by an 87 per cent majority to accept BT's three-year pay deal worth 9.3 per cent.

CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr on a CWU web site posting said, "CWU members backed this pay deal with a strong majority.

"It was a very hard set of negotiations including a ballot for strike action and the deal provides stability and security for both staff and the company," added Kerr.

The dispute had rumbled on for months, with CWU members balloted for strike action earlier in May, in response to BT's earlier offer of two per cent and guaranteed bonuses between £250 and £500.

Over 50,000 BT CWU employees will get a three per cent pay rise backdated to 1 January 2010, which they will see in their August payslips.

There will be a three per cent, "fully consolidated and pensionable increase to base pay" from 1 January 2011 and an extra three per cent increment from 1 January 2012, the CWU said.

However, should the November 2011 retail price index rise above 3.2 per cent or drop below 2.5 per cent, "then both sides agree to meet and to discuss the impact of this and seek to agree an optimum position," said the CWU.

The CWU is also in dispute with O2, and a ballot on CWU negotiations with the Spanish telco Telefónica-owned mobile operator closes on 19 August.

CWU's employees in O2, numbering about 3,000, will be voting on a 2.5 per cent pay increase this year, followed by 2.75 per cent in 2011.