The CWU is urging its members in BT, who last struck on 24 October, to accept a new offer on pay from BT management. The union says the deal includes “a £3,000 permanent increase” for the year 2022-3, with “a further review from 1 September 2023 to allow for further negotiations to resolve pay, grading and structuring issues.”
The reality is more complex. The proposal is in fact for a further £1,500 flat-rate increase, payable from 1 January 2023, to which the CWU is adding the £1,500 increase BT already imposed for 2022-2023 to get the £3,000 figure. As the new rate is payable from January, rather than the new financial year in April, BT workers will get three more months’ pay packets at the higher rate than they would if it were paid from April.
The cumulative pay rise over the two years represents an increase of between six and 16% depending on grade.
Pay rises formulated as flat-rate increases, which benefit lower-paid workers most, rather than percentage rises are certainly preferable. Unions in pay disputes should make specific demands for flat-rates equivalent to an above-inflation increase.
BT workers may also want to consider whether, having struck several times on the basis that the imposition of a £1,500 increase for 2022 was unacceptable, it now makes sense to agree on the basis of a 2023 increase which does not improve on that amount. The £1,500 figure only represents an above-inflation increase for some BT workers. For others, it will see their pay fall behind inflation.
If the deal is accepted, the 1 September 2023 review day for the pay settlement means CWU members can launch a renewed fight for a further increase in less than a year’s time, also seeking to ensure a pay rise is not made conditional on detrimental changes around grading and other conditions.