(Bloomberg) — BT Group Plc workers are set to strike nationwide for the first time in 35 years, the Communication Workers Union said Wednesday.
Its eligible members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike last month and a deadline set by the union for the company to make a better pay offer has now passed.
Some 40,000 workers could walk out, the union said at the time.
“BT Group CEO Philip Jansen has turned down our offer of talks to avoid the first national dispute since 1987,” the CWU said in a post to its Twitter account.
“We will now prepare to serve notice for strike action.”
A CWU spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for further detail. A BT spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In April, BT Group increased pay by an average £1,500 ($1,782) for 58,000 of its workers, falling short of compensating for high levels of inflation.
Jansen said in a tense internal call last month, reported by Bloomberg, that it couldn’t afford to pay any more.
The walkout could affect BT broadband and telephone installations including signing up new customers.
Internet outages could be prolonged because engineers aren’t around to fix them, which could affect people working remotely as well as harm BT’s effort to improve customer service.
The dispute adds to a growing list across the UK as inflation soars faster than paychecks.
Managers at postal service Royal Mail Plc are set to strike next week, and last month the country was hit by the biggest rail strike in more than three decades. Earlier in July a threat from the Unite and GMB unions yielded a better pay deal in talks with British Airways.
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