Thousands of BT workers walk out in strike over pay

Thousands of workers at telecoms giant BT will walk out on Friday in the first of two strikes in a row over pay.

Engineers and call centre staff voted in favour of industrial action after BT offered a £1,500 per year pay rise.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the action will be the first national telecoms strike since 1987.

It has warned the strikes will likely to affect the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband, and could cause issues for people working from home.

But BT has said it had "tried and tested processes for large-scale colleague absences" to minimise disruption.

More than 40,000 workers are to walk out with picket lines expected across the country on Friday, with a second strike planned for Monday.

BT has repeatedly said it made its best pay offer and would not be re-opening the 2022 pay review.

The CWU has previously criticised the deal saying company bosses had "stuck two fingers up" to workers.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said ahead of the strikes there would be "hundreds of picket lines" arranged across the UK on Friday.

"Our members kept the country connected during the pandemic. They deserve a proper pay rise, and that's what they're going to get," he said.

"Workers at BT Group will never accept their bosses using Swiss banks while they use food banks."

Prices are rising in the UK at the fastest rate for 40 years, prompting workers and unions to call for pay rises to keep up with the cost of living.

Several industries, such as the railways, have already seen strikes this summer and more are planned.

On Thursday, BT revealed its first sales growth for five years as the telecoms firm benefited from price increases for customers earlier this year.

The group said it was also boosted by more people signing up for fibre-optic broadband and strong trading in its Openreach network business.

The company said revenues increased by 1% to £5.1bn for the three months to June 30.

BT said it engaged in "exhaustive discussions" with the union, before finally deciding on a £1,500 payment which is said is its "highest pay award in more than 20 years" for workers.

"We have confirmed to the CWU that we won't be reopening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could," a statement said.

"While we respect the choice of our colleagues who are CWU members to strike, we will work to minimise any disruption and keep our customers and the country connected."