WORKERS in Birchwood have gone on strike against what they're calling a 'pay cut' during a cost of living crisis.

Those on strike are members of the CWU (Communication Workers Union), including call centre workers - the likes of which have never taken industrial action before.

One of the reasons that the workers are on strike is because they have received a below-inflation pay increase (a pay cut, in real terms) despite BT's CEO receiving a pay rise of more than 30 per cent this year.

Tracy Buckley has worked for BT for nearly four decades: "This isn't about workers being greedy, or being awkward - just pay us enough to feed our family, pay us enough to heat our homes."

Tracy works at the site in Birchwood, and is a union rep for the CWU: "I've worked for BT for 36 years, I've invested my entire working life in them; I deserve to be treated better."

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As a heavily-unionised company, BT has always taken proposed pay increases to the unions to see if the proposals are acceptable to workers - this time, the company did not do this.

The company has imposed a blanket £1,500 boost in pay for all workers in the company, without consulting workers.

Tracy said: "For the lowest-paid, this could be a five or six per cent increase, for the higher earners it could be two or three per cent - either way, it's below inflation."

Inflation currently stands at around nine per cent and is projected to rise to nearly 11 per cent.

Tracy added: "Workers have nowhere else to go.

"We just want them to come back to the negotiating table."

A BT spokesperson said: "While we're disappointed that the CWU has decided to take industrial action, we respect the decision by their members to take industrial action.

"We have a responsibility to all of our colleagues, including the many thousands who won't be taking part in industrial action, and to our customers."