Christmas Wishes Members

On behalf of all the Branch Officers and Committee of the Northern Ireland Telecom Branch (NITB) can we first wish all our members, their families and friends, a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.

As this year comes to an end, unfortunately it has also come with the passing of some of our esteemed colleagues and retired members. We remember these lost friends dearly and send our thoughts and wishes to their families and friends, especially at this Christmas holiday period.

This year has been a difficult one in terms of industrial relations within the different lines of business we represent in BT and Openreach. We have had members dismissed in Openreach, Consumer, Enterprise, and Agency. We have witnessed compulsory redundancies and had members contact us with their concerns about health and safety issues - especially around Covid 19. We have listened to you, our members, and raised your concerns with senior management, over the last few years particularly. Unfortunately, the majority of these concerns appear to have been ignored.

The country is told we are essential workers, an important asset to the company, yet we have three tier levels of pay in the workforce, grade salaries have changed dramatically and long held agreements are being ignored. The common denominator throughout all of this lies in the current management style and behaviours, perceived by most as vindictive and petty.

These issues are well documented throughout our campaign, as we also glared in the face of a global pandemic, and this ultimately led to the CWU nationally and your local Branch, taking part in the hugely successful “Count Me In” Campaign. This led to a National YES vote of 97.7% which was amazing. We thank every one of you for voting and supporting your Union. Our Branch here in NI had a turnout that exceeded the national average and this is something to be commended, your Branch is so proud of you. These are the numbers that we will take with us into the new year to say, “we won’t accept this any longer”.

During all of this, we have continued to represent you to the best of our ability. This has been difficult and challenging for all of us within our Union, trying desperately to operate as effectively as we could. However, thanks to the hard work of our Officers and Reps, all of whom are volunteers, we believe we have steadied the ship and will soon be operating in as near normal waters as possible, on the back of these turbulent times. The campaign is currently paused while we speak to the company on the back of your ringing endorsement, so watch this space in the New Year.

The Good News is thankfully on the horizon for all of us, our families, and our future with the rollout of the Covid 19 Vaccine. We hope the vaccine will defeat this virus once and for all, and also that it grants us the return of the familiar family and working life existence we all crave.

The New Year will no doubt bring new challenges but your local Union will be there for you, side by side, all the way. We will continue to deal with your issues as always to the best of our ability.

Have a Wonderful Christmas folks, remember – Hands, Face & Space.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.

Erin Massey Branch Secretary 07525725114

Mark Feehily Branch Chairperson 07484347309

On behalf of the NITB Committee: cwunitb@btinternet.com