BT Reaches New Staff Pay Deal With Union

9th Jul 2010 09:18

By Lilly Vitorovich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) said Friday it has reached a new pay deal for staff with its biggest union after weeks of wrangling, ensuring the U.K. telecommunications firm's 23 year strike-free record remains intact. BT staff will receive a 3% pay increase each year for the next three years, which the Communication Workers Union, which represents around 55,000 BT call center, engineering and retailer workers, will recommend to its members in a consultative ballot. The ballot will take place within the next few weeks. "This deal will provide BT with wage stability for several years," BT said. The deal comes just a few days after the CWU canceled its ballot for strike action on legal advice, and said it would resume talks with BT over the pay dispute. The CWU was demanding a 5% pay rise this year, while BT was offering a 2% pay increase this year and a 3% rise in 2011, plus additional one-off payments and guarantees on job security. Prospect, BT's second-biggest union with 30,000 members who are mainly managers, has already agreed to a 2% pay rise this year. The dispute over pay comes after BT Chief Executive Ian Livingston's bonus payments more than tripled, taking his total remuneration to more than GBP2 million in fiscal 2010 as he presided over a recovery in the company's financial performance. According to BT's 2010 annual report, Livingston's bonus payments rose to GBP1.2 million in fiscal 2010 from GBP343,000 the previous year, taking his total remuneration to GBP2.1 million from GBP1.2 million. Livingston accepted a 2% increase on his base salary of GBP850,000. At 0816 GMT, BT shares were up 3 pence, or 2.1%, at 139 pence in a slightly higher London market. -By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 09, 2010 04:18 ET (08:18 GMT)