Fuming British Gas staff vote to strike

23rd Mar 2010 15:00

More than 8 out of 10 workers at British Gas have voted in favour of strike action in protest at the company's "macho management" style.The GMB trade union, which has 8,000 members, says staff are also angry about changes to staff terms and conditions.It found 82% of members backed a walkout and 90% wanted industrial action short of a strike.British Gas claims it hasn't been told the reasons behind the dispute, but the union says the company wants to cut its frontline workforce by a quarter."The vote clearly vindicates what we have been telling the company. It is now time for them to sit up and take notice," said general secretary of the GMB, Paul Kenny."We are giving British Gas a week to give us a constructive response. We want an independent inquiry into the profit-at-all-costs culture at British Gas." "British Gas has turned from being a reasonable employer, where people had job satisfaction, into one with a culture of bullying, customer exploitation and profits at all costs. This change of culture is very much the result of recent management changes." Matthew Bateman, director of heating services at British Gas, accused the GMB of making "false accusations and reckless scaremongering"."We remain committed to talking with the GMB and avoiding this unnecessary industrial action," he said.