In what is the first national telecoms strike in nearly 35 years, 40,000 BT and Openreach workers have walked-out.
After members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) refused a £1,500 pay rise, thousands of BT and Openreach workers are to walk off the job today across the UK for the fist time since 1987 in what is the first of two strikes – with another being held on Monday.
The CWU said that the striking workers are from a number of different divisions within the UK’s leading telecoms companies.
There are expected to be 260 picket lines across the UK, according to the CWU.
Striking workers are believed to “run all of the maintenance on Britain’s broadband services”, according to the CWU, and they also work to “keep up national infrastructure” – including everything from the NHS, to the Ministry of Defence, to mobile phone masts.
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Strike action comes the day after BT revealed its first sales growth for five years, with revenues having increased by 1% to £5.1 billion for the three months to the end of June, which is boosted by price increases handed down to customers earlier this year.
Leaders at the CWU have claimed the BT Group is now “gaslighting our members”.
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Addressing the strike action, CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said in a statement: “Announcing hundreds of millions of pounds in profit on the eve of the first national strike since 1987 smacks of arrogance and complete contempt for frontline workers.
“Our members kept the country connected during the pandemic.
“BT workers have hundreds of picket lines arranged across the UK tomorrow, and will support the CWU in delivering mass strike action.”
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He added that BT and Openreach workers “deserve a proper pay rise – and that’s what they’re going to get.”
A spokesperson for BT Group said in response to the strike action called: “At the start of this year, we were in exhaustive discussions with the CWU that lasted for two months, trying hard to reach an agreement on pay.
“When it became clear that we were not going to reach an accord, we took the decision to go ahead with awarding our team member and frontline colleagues the highest pay award in more than 20 years, effective 1 April.
“We have confirmed to the CWU that we won’t be re-opening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could.”
The spokesperson claimed in the statement that the telecoms companies were “balancing the complex and competing demands of our stakeholders”.
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“That includes making once-in-a-generation investments to upgrade the country’s broadband and mobile networks, vital for the UK economy and for BT Group’s future – including our people,” the statement continued.
“While we respect the choice of our colleagues who are CWU members to strike, we will work to minimise any disruption and keep our customers and the country connected.”
Featured Image – BT Group
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Man United broadcaster FlexUTD responds after suffering ‘awful’ racist abuse on camera
Danny Jones
Manchester United content creator, YouTuber and digital presenter, FlexUTD, has shared a disappointed but defiant response following a racist incident captured during a video after the game this weekend.
Flex – real name Flex Alexander – is a familiar face among Man United fans and a well-known personality across the online English football culture, having previously worked with another popular fan channel in The United Stand before founding his own brand, United View.
Whilst recording his regular post-match analysis outside Old Trafford after the 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Sunday, the social media influencer was interrupted by a woman and fellow United supporter.
After seemingly giving someone a quick shout-out, she then proceeds to wander out of frame before appearing to utter a racial slur off-camera in the form of an offensive twist on the fan base’s famous anti-Glazer chant.
In the video shared to the official YouTube channel, he is visibly stunned by the racist outburst and members of the crew behind the camera can also be heard asking, “Did you just see what I think you said?”, adding “There’s always one or two.”
The identity of the female United fan is still unknown and although her face remains blurred for legal reasons, Flex himself did come out on social media to ask people to “find this woman” in order for the club to identify her and the authorities to punish her accordingly.
Still taken aback by the racial slur, Flex simply goes on to describe the off-hand abuse as “crazy” before insisting that the moment will be staying the full edit so as not to let the incident go unnoticed.
Ever since the video was released, other Reds, football fans and content creators alike have been sharing their support online.
One person wrote, “It’s 2024 and we’re still seeing people saying racist things and they think they can get away with it. Hope Flex gets justice for this.”, while another tagged the club and added: “Can’t be having these type of fans enter the stadium.”
Flex has since responded online in a separate video, thanking people for their heartfelt messages, but despite assuring that he has a “thick skin”, he quite rightly went on to add that people of colour shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of intolerable behaviour and he is simply “tired”.
Disgraceful. Hope your ok @FlexUTD we are all united together ❤️
Retired striker and former United coach Benni McCarthy also reached out online to offer some kind words, writing: “Hi mate, hope you [are] ok. That was absolutely unnecessary and you shouldn’t have to deal with such behaviour. Stay strong bro and behind you all the way.”
The club themselves are yet to issue a statement regarding the incident but with both current players and former staff responding, it likely won’t be long before the individual is identified and issued with a ban. United had to deal with similar incidents regarding racism and homophobia last season.
It goes without saying that we condemn discrimination in all its forms; our thoughts go out to Flex and everyone else affected by the incident and hope the incident is dealt with swiftly. The beautiful game is for everyone and there’s no room for racism in any walk of life. #KickItOut.
You can watch Flex’s full video addressing the situation, in which he urged people to “stay strong, keep fighting” and “stick together”, down below:
FlexUTD’s full response following the appalling racist incident on 4/11/2024.
Featured Images — United We Stand (via YouTube)/FlexUTD (via X)
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Family pays tribute to ‘big family man’ found dead 10 days after going missing
Daisy Jackson
The family of a man who was found dead in Wigan 10 days after he was reported missing have now paid a touching tribute to him.
David Edmonds, 55, has been described by his loved ones as a ‘big family man’ who loved sports, travel and his family.
David had been missing for nine days after last being seen in the Bodmin Drive area of Platt Bridge at around 11pm on Sunday 20 October.
Tragically after extensive searches, on Wednesday 30 October police found a body, later confirmed as David.
His wife has now released a statement on behalf of his family, describing him as a ‘happy chap’ who was well-loved by his family, friends and colleagues.
She said: “He was a hard worker and worked all his life. His first job was with his father at a local factory, and he worked there from a young age up until recently.
“He was a big Everton supporter and loved going to the matches. He held season tickets since he was a child. David liked all sports and watching anything with a ball, cricket, football, and rugby, especially Wigan rugby.
“He also liked horse racing; we would go to the races in York every year.
“He loved going on holiday and we travelled a lot together, we went to Australia, New York, Tenerife, and Benidorm.
“David was a big family man and adored his three nephews. He will be missed by all of us, he was so loved.
“We would like to thank the police and everyone who shared appeals on social media or went out searching for David.”
David’s family have asked for privacy whilst they grieve his loss.