Philip Jansen, BT Group's Chief Executive Officer, came under fire on June 23 after he told his staff that the company couldn't afford to pay them more because of the increasing costs of resources and the low growth of the company's revenue.
Because of his response, BT Group employees are now threatening to hold a strike.
BT Group Couldn't Pay Employees
According to Bloomberg, during the company's virtual town hall meeting, the employees asked Jansen about his opinion on workers who are struggling to pay bills.
After his negative response to the request for better pay for the employees, several of them pointed out Jansen's own pay, which increased 32% in 2022 to $4.3 million because of the share awards.
A spokesperson for BTGroup did not dispute the characterization of the call, which was shared by Bloomberg. The spokesperson for the company said that the raise that they have awarded workers is the highest in 20 years.
The spokesperson added that Jansen felt that being transparent with the employees during the meeting and answering their questions "was the right thing to do."
Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union is in its final days of deciding whether the BT employees will go on strike and join an acrimonious national debate on pay.
Employee Strike Across London
A rail strike has been organized in London this week and has affected traffic in the city after thousands of workers walked out.
In May, post office workers went on strike, and on June 23, the British Airways unions voted in favor of action, according to CNBC.
According to Jansen, BT Group's revenue has not increased for years now, while its energy bill has increased almost 50%. He also cited other expenditures like taxes, investment in fiber optic lines, dividends, interest payments, debt, and the company's pension deficit.
The CWU expects a result of the strike ballot on June 30. In April, the CWU failed to talk to the management of BT Group, and the company unilaterally awarded 58,000 front-line workers of its 100,000 total annual increase on April 1.
That is about 8% for the lowest paid workers and 3% for the higher paid in the group. That is less than inflation, which hit 9% in the UK in April.
At the town hall, Jansen said that he was willing to talk to "anybody" and he said that he has a really good relationship with the unions.
A CWU spokesman said that BT Group should make an offer that can keep pace with inflation and described the call as an embarrassment for the company's CEO. The CWU spokesman also said that Jansen is not in touch with working people.
BT Group analysts are now asking whether the political attention on the cost of living crisis could squeeze the company's pricing power in a retail market. The company rolled out a broadband price increase in early 2022 after the inflation rate increased 3.9%.
The Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has asked to have a meeting with Jansen to talk about how to mitigate higher costs to consumers, according to Sky News.
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Written by Sophie Webster
