BT staff to strike on 29 July and 1 August

theguardian.com:

BT staff are to go on strike on 29 July and 1 August in the first nationwide action at the telecoms company in 35 years, with consequences for customers across the country having broadband services installed or faults fixed.

The two 24-hour strikes by BT engineers and call centre staff belonging to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) represents the majority of its 58,000-strong frontline workforce.

The CWU has said customers can expect disruption to services including repairs, having new phone and internet lines fitted or getting hold of contact and support staff.

It is the first strike action at BT since 1987, and the first national call centre workers’ strike. The UK’s largest telecoms company has been in dispute with the CWU, which represents about 40,000 of the firm’s 100,000 workforce, over pay as the cost of living soars.

“These are the same workers who kept the country connected during the pandemic,” said Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary. “Without CWU members in BT Group, there would have been no homeworking revolution, and vital technical infrastructure may have malfunctioned or been broken when our country most needed it.”

The union represents about 9,000 call centre workers and more than 28,000 engineers at the BT-owned Openreach, which maintains the UK’s broadband network.

The CWU members who work at EE, the BT-owned mobile operator, will not be part of the strike after the 2,000 who voted fell just eight short of the number legally required, even though 95.8% voted in favour of striking.

A spokesperson for Openreach, which employs more than 35,000 staff, mostly engineers, said the company has contingency plans if a strike goes ahead.

“We respect the choice of our colleagues who are members of the union to