It's been a tough week for BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) public relations, as the company argued with its trade union over claims that call centre staff have set up a foodbank to help them during the cost-of-living crisis, while chief executive Philip Jansen told angry staff that the company cannot increase their pay.
The press office denied that a 'community pantry' set up by staff at the call centre of BT's EE mobile arm in Tyneside was a foodbank for staff.
According to a report in the Big Issue, the “Tyneside CommunitEE pantry” enables EE’s employees to donate and take food items such as pasta, instant noodles, cereal and baby food to help when staff “don’t have time to visit the supermarket” and it’s “those last few days before pay day, and you need something for tea“.
The CWU, whose members are currently being balloted over whether to go on strike, said this showed how employees were struggling on low pay.
But a BT Group spokesman said: “Some colleagues have set up donation collection points at several offices to pass on donations to local food banks.
“In addition, at our North Tyneside office, following an idea from frontline colleagues, a small collection of household items is available for colleagues who don’t have time to visit the supermarket or who are working outside of the canteen opening hours.
“Colleagues then replace the items for others to use and this shouldn’t be confused with a food bank.
“We’re proud of the proactive and generous actions our colleagues take to support each other and their local communities.”
A CWU spokesperson noted how BT Group recently announced post-tax profits of over £1.3bn this year and paid shareholders more than £700mln after reinstating its dividend, while CEO Jansen received a pay package of £3.5mln.
“These obscene figures are set against frontline workers struggling to get through the cost-of-living crisis.
“BT pride themselves on being a blue chip company. They can’t claim that whilst handing out charity rather than proper wages. This is why we are balloting for strike action and why CWU members are so angry.”
The FTSE 100 group held a virtual town hall meeting earlier this week called “PJ Live”, where Jansen, who saw his own pay rise 32% this year, said he didn’t want a strike to “damage the business in a way that isn’t helpful for the future” by harming customer relationships.
“Would I like to do more? Yes. Can we afford to do more? No,” he said, according to a Bloomberg account of the call.
He said this was because of soaring costs and low growth.
BT has argued that the £1,500 pay rise to 58,000 of its staff was the highest in 20 years, working out at a “salary increase of between 2.7% and 5.64%”, while the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said with inflation due to top 10% this year it worked out as a “relative pay cut”.