TELECOMS giant BT is facing its first national strike since 1994 as a ballot of 45,000 of its workers returned 97.9 per cent support for an official vote on a walkout in a dispute over jobs and conditions.
A consultative ballot of members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) returned the decision, with more than 74 per cent of its members across the BT Group taking part in the consultation.
BT is currently undergoing a major restructuring programme, cutting 13,000 jobs and shutting offices in a bid to find £2bn in cost savings each year.
The FTSE 100 telecoms giant, which is led by Philip Jansen, said the moves were an essential part of its modernisation programme.
But CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: "For a long time, BT Group have been claiming that our union does not speak for the employees and that people are happy with the direction of the company.
"This result shows how laughable those claims are and have always been. This moment should act as a reality check for management and it gives them one final chance to avoid a massive industrial dispute in 2021.
"Our members - many of them key workers - have made it crystal clear today that they will not support an agenda of compulsory redundancies, site closures and the race to the bottom on terms and conditions.
"The CWU will be seeking an urgent meeting with BT to resolve this dispute and avoid disruption to the great service our members provide and customers receive."
CWU general secretary Dave Ward added: "As with so many companies across the UK, BT are only interested in being in line with market competition, profit and shareholder dividends.
"Our union has a different vision - one of secure, well-paid, UK-based jobs, good terms and conditions and a service the UK can be proud of. We are today giving management the opportunity to return to the negotiating table with a serious offer to resolve this dispute.
"The message from our members could not be clearer - the ball is in BT's court."
BT has been moving to cut costs in an effort to get its profits back on track following disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.
While increasing its prices for customers by 3.9 per cent in recent months, it has also opened a redundancy scheme for its Openreach arm as it pushes through a new 'location strategy' where desk-based work is to be cut from more than 30 locations to nine sites, which the CWU said would hit at least 7,000 staff.
