By a BT engineer
The strike by engineers in BT's Customer Service division (approximately 15,000 external and control staff) due to start on Monday 14 April was called off after the employers won an injunction under the anti-union laws.
At the time of writing it is unclear exactly how the employers managed to obtain the injunction. Claims from the employers' side that they were not properly notified by the union of who was to strike have caused amusement among the workers involved as everyone has received e-mails warning them not to strike!
The strike vote was against the imposition of the "Self Motivated Teams" productivity bonus scheme, Despite being an opportunity to earn extra, this bonus scheme is hated because it increases stress, is divisive and is unfair.
Despite two attempts at special telecoms Exec meetings over the past week to call off the strikes on the basis of pathetic gestures from BT management (brokered by Jeannie Drake, the lead telecoms negotiator in the CWU) the (Broad Left) engineering members of the Telecoms Exec have stood firm. They originally wanted to do a deal on SMT, but it has finally got through to them that the massive rejection at a delegate Special Conference in January, a nine-to-one consultative ballot result in February, and a positive industrial action result (just over 60%, on a 66% turnout) in March means No to SMT!
However we are not in an ideal position. Just after the Special Conference and just as the consultative ballot was taking place management offered a SMT scheme to the membership. It was based on the scheme recommended by the Executive (except Maria Exall) to conference - and defeated 61,000 to 750. The difference was this was voluntary rather than an immediate contractual change. Several thousand engineers initially took part (management said 5,000 plus but this was an exaggeration). Since then many members have opted out on union advice, but there is still a significant minority taking part. As the day of strike action approaches, it is make or break time with whole groups agreeing to opt out now action has been called and some serious rows within groups in other areas.
The other problem with the action is it is negative. The majority of staff have opted out - they have already told their manager to stuff SMT. Now they are being asked to take strike action and lose pay to stop a scheme that they have already walked away from, despite the bribes on offer. Central London branch had proposed we include calls for upgrading of staff in Customer Service in the demands of the ballot, as a way of uniting the workforce, and going on the offensive after what is a good vote in a key section of the membership, but couldn't even get a seconder on the Executive. The Customer Service division of BT has the worst management culture, it has the largest number of new engineering recruits especially in the South East, and they are mostly on the basic engineering grade - £18,000 plus London Weighting.
Nevertheless, despite the mess, this is an important dispute. BT are already on the back foot - the scheme only really works as they want with everyone in it (hence the desire for a union-agreed contractual scheme). The current situation is not a winner for them, with only a few thousand at most currently participating (and over 40% of them earning minimal bonuses), the opted out workforce becoming daily more embittered, and them throwing millions of pounds at the scheme (setting up the IT system, paying out megabucks in the initial trials etc) for supposed productivity increases which are either spurious or unsustainable in the long term.
There is a battle for hearts and minds going on. BT's propaganda is sophisticated, and the union's track record on the issue is blemished. Management have not won it, but we need to regain the initiative.
A start to regaining the initiative would be for the union to put upgrading on the agenda.
