__NOEDITSECTION__ Logo of British Telecom . The UK's Communication Workers' Union have effectively rejected a belated revised pay offer by telecoms giant British Telecom . Their statement, released early this evening, indicates a formal ballot on strike action is inevitable – unless the company revises their two percent offer for 2010. Last week, when their ultimatum was ignored, CWU deputy secretary general (DSG) Andy Kerr expressed deep disappointment, citing the substantial profits made by the company in the last financial year: "[w]e're obviously very disappointed that BT has not improved its pay offer of 2\% despite their healthy profits this year." Logo of the United Kingdom's CWU . The turnaround from losses of £ 244 million to a billion-pound-plus profit has, the union claims, galvanised their membership into seriously considering industrial action. Reports of senior directors receiving million-pound bonuses, and former Labour minister Patricia Hewitt landing over over £50,000 extra per-year, are characterised as "directors' 'snouts in the trough'". Hewitt was suspended from her parliamentary party in March over cash-for-access accusations, and works two to three days each month on BT's remuneration committee. The UK's Press Association described the now-rejected offer as being worth 2\% this year, and an additional 3\% in 2011 with staff bonuses of up to £250. The package supposedly contains pledges on no compulsory redundancies and the return of call centre and non-frontline work from outsource companies in India. Wikinews called both the Communication Workers' Union, and British Telecom, seeking clarification on a number of points. Richard Knowles, a BT press officer in London, forwarded their terse sub-400-word statement, refusing to be drawn on reports that the offer includes the repatriation of call centre and back-office jobs. When challenged on this work being carried out in a jurisdiction with less-stringent data protection, and computer misuse legislation, our reporter was referred back to the company's statement. Any sustained action by CWU members in BT's employ could have a major impact on the country's communication infrastructure. Millions of UK households and businesses are reliant on BT for internet access – in addition to telephony services. The structure of BT's privatisation, and breakup to permit level playing-field telephony and broadband competition, would see other Internet service providers who rely on the ageing, once GPO-owned, copper POTS infrastructure unable to resolve customer faults. According to the CWU, BT has been querying managerial staff on their skillsets – as a form of preparation for any industrial action. A union spokesperson described this as "laughable".
__NOEDITSECTION__ Logo of . The UK's have effectively rejected a belated revised pay offer by telecoms giant . Their statement, released early this evening, indicates a formal ballot on strike action is inevitable – unless the company revises their two percent offer for 2010. Last week, when their ultimatum was ignored, CWU deputy secretary general (DSG) Andy Kerr expressed deep disappointment, citing the substantial profits made by the company in the last financial year: "[w]e're obviously very disappointed that BT has not improved its pay offer of 2\% despite their healthy profits this year." Logo of the United Kingdom's . The turnaround from losses of 244 million to a billion-pound-plus profit has, the union claims, galvanised their membership into seriously considering industrial action. Reports of senior directors receiving million-pound bonuses, and former minister landing over over £50,000 extra per-year, are characterised as "directors' 'snouts in the trough'". Hewitt was suspended from her parliamentary party in March over cash-for-access accusations, and works two to three days each month on BT's remuneration committee. The UK's described the now-rejected offer as being worth 2\% this year, and an additional 3\% in 2011 with staff bonuses of up to £250. The package supposedly contains pledges on no compulsory redundancies and the return of call centre and non-frontline work from outsource companies in India. Wikinews called both the Communication Workers' Union, and British Telecom, seeking clarification on a number of points. Richard Knowles, a BT press officer in London, forwarded their terse sub-400-word statement, refusing to be drawn on reports that the offer includes the repatriation of call centre and back-office jobs. When challenged on this work being carried out in a jurisdiction with less-stringent , and legislation, our reporter was referred back to the company's statement. Any sustained action by CWU members in BT's employ could have a major impact on the country's communication infrastructure. Millions of UK households and businesses are reliant on BT for internet access – in addition to services. The structure of BT's privatisation, and breakup to permit level playing-field telephony and broadband competition, would see other who rely on the ageing, once -owned, copper infrastructure unable to resolve customer faults. According to the CWU, BT has been querying managerial staff on their skillsets – as a form of preparation for any industrial action. A union spokesperson described this as "laughable".
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British Telecom
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Communication Workers' Union
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British Telecom
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CWU
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£
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Labour minister Patricia Hewitt
minister
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Press Association
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data protection, and computer misuse
, and
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telephony
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Internet service providers
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GPO-owned, copper POTS
-owned, copper