Personal Contracts in British Telecom – the union response Up to 1988, 0.5% of M&P workforce on personal contracts (PCs) 1988 BT decided to move 6000 (15%)

Personal Contracts in British Telecom – the union response

• Up to 1988, 0.5% of M&P workforce on personal contracts (PCs)

• 1988 BT decided to move 6000 (15%) onto PCs in order to

• To deunionise• To individualise pay system• To cut pay bill• To test whether possible to extend PCs

across whole structure


• Methods• No prior warning to unions – secret, detailed

plans• Used incentives – money, car, private health• And threats – notion of career limiting

decision• Denied that strategy was to deunionise• Speed


• Union response

• Meetings

• Letters and pamphlets

• Ballots designed to show support for collective bargaining

• Despite massive support for union – over 90% signed


• Company strategy to extend PCs incrementally at first

• No-one could get promoted without accepting PC

• Those 10% opting to stay with collective bargaining suffered pay freeze

• Suspected targeting for redundancy• External recruits put on PCs


• Next large group were salespeople – around a further 10% of M&P workforce – in 1991

• Same tactics by company

• By 1992 25% on PCs

• By 2003 50% on PCs by a process of piecemeal regrading and recruiting


• Not genuine personal contracts – the same contract given to all

• No genuine individual pay negotiations – just a secret pay structure

• But accepted as normal

• Some evidence of reversal of trend in last year


• Union strategy

• To win the argument for collective bargaining in principle

• To maintain membership and continue recruiting

• To offer services

• To develop bargaining levers


• Effects on union – shock waves

• Division within membership

• Membership loss

• Confident employer

• Demoralised activists

• Problems of dual approach to Personal Contractors


• Strategy 1992 – 2003• Individual services• Pay research – key bargaining lever• Individual representation• Read across from collective agreements• Specialist publicity and structures• Organising


• Currently 40% of new recruits are personal contractors – around 40% membership

• 1997 – Labour government – hopeful of new legislation

• New business friendly government allows employers to bribe employees onto personal contracts

• But allows for recognition where majority wish it


• Market research – focus groups – to test “return to collective bargaining”

• By now – suspicious of “rounding down”

• Against “one size fits all” pay system

• A cautious union approach


• June 2002 pay freeze on all personal contractors but 2% increase for M&P covered by collective bargaining

• The campaign starts amid very positive signs

• Aim to build membership to 50% plus one by end 2003


• Lessons• Membership can be maintained but only

by taking special measures• Bargaining levers do exist• Needs flexible and patient union

approach• BT believes it failed – we’re now

confident

Documents

Personal Contracts in British Telecom – the union response Up to 1988, 0.5% of M&P workforce on personal contracts (PCs) 1988 BT decided to move 6000 (15%)