News
Union cancels BT strike ballot
Published on 6th July 2010
The CWU was warned by its lawyers that 'technical breaches' meant BT would probably have overturned the result in the courts
The CWU said it would ballot its members again for a new strike vote at BT.
A ballot that could have brought more than half of BT's staff out on strike has been cancelled following legal advice, on the day the results were due to be announced.
The Communications Workers Union announced this afternoon that it took the decision to abandon the ballot after its lawyers warned that "technical breaches" meant BT would probably have overturned the result in the courts.
It is not clear how the CWU's ballot might have broken Britain's trade union law, but today's climbdown comes six months after British Airways's lawyers successfully overturned a strike at the airline.
The CWU indicated that it has received various letters from BT's lawyers in recent weeks, flagging up possible problems with the ballot.
The decision to abandon the ballot is a major blow to the CWU. Its deputy general secretary, Andy Kerr, said the decision showed that Britain's trade union laws are unfairly restrictive.
"We're bitterly disappointed that this ballot has had to be cancelled. It's devastating for our members and for trade union rights in the UK and of course it doesn't help to resolve the outstanding issues over pay which we have with BT," Kerr said.
The CWU had held the ballot after rejecting BT's offer of a 2% pay rise and demanding a 5% increase. BT's workers have not gone on strike since 1987. A walkout could have disrupted BT's services, making it harder for the company to handle customer calls or fix faults. The union has around 55,000 members within BT's overall workforce of nearly 100,000, mainly working as engineers or in its call centres.
The CWU said it would ballot its members again for a new strike vote. It also said it would reopen negotiations with the company.
BT said it welcomed the decision to drop the ballot.
"There were procedural issues regarding the ballot that we raised from the start and the union have now accepted this to be the case," said a BT spokesman.
"Our door remains fully open to the union and so we hope we can sit down and resolve this matter. An amicable agreement is in everyone's interest and the withdrawal of the ballot provides both sides with a window of opportunity in which to reach such an agreement," he added.
Source: guardian.co.uk