BT faces first strike in 23 years amid anger over executive pay

The Communications Workers' Union (CWU) said it will ballot its members about strike action after BT failed to meet yesterday's noon deadline set last week by the trade union.

CWU leaders said they were driven to action after BT's annual report revealed hefty bonuses and 5-7 per cent pay rises for the company's executive team, including a total package worth more than 3 million for chief executive Ian Livingston.

Andy Kerr, CWU deputy general secretary, said the union was "very disappointed" that BT had not raised its offer.

He added: "We now have no option than to put the wheels in motion to ballot all appropriate members in BT for strike action, which would be the first action of its kind in over 20 year.

"We've made our position very clear – 2 per cent is not good enough when the company is making profits of over 1 billion, paying shareholders a 6 per cent dividend and paying out large sums to senior executives while inflation is at 5.3 per cent."

Details of the timetable for the ballot will be announced by the CWU next week. The union represents roughly 50,000 people working within BT, equivalent to about half of its UK workforce.

The union must give BT seven days' notice prior to beginning a ballot, which in turn would run for two weeks. If members vote in favour of striking, the union must then give BT a further seven days' notice before action takes place.

As the majority of the CWU's members at BT work either as engineers or in call centres, it is expected that industrial action would have the biggest impact on households and small businesses experiencing faults with their broadband or phones.

While queries could be shifted to BT call centres in India, replacing engineering staff would be more difficult.

BT says it is keen to resolve the impasse, but has also maintained its stance that its offer is "fair and realistic".