Thousands of BT and Openreach have walked out on the first day of strike action.

There are around 260 picket lines expected across the UK, according to the Communication Workers Union (CWU), including some outside Dorchester telephone exchange.

Today’s strike will be followed by another on Monday (August 1) in a dispute over pay and conditions.

It’s the first national telecoms strike since 1987 with industrial action being supported by 95.8 per cent of Openreach workers (on a 74.8 per cent turnout) and 91.5 per cent BT workers (on a 58.2 per cent turnout).

Earlier this year, BT offered and implemented a £1,500 per year pay increase for employees.

In the context of RPI inflation levels already hitting 11.7 per cent this year, this represents a real-terms pay cut.

The CWU say they are striking in the context of BT reporting annual profits of £1.3billion and, CEO, Philip Jansen receiving a pay package of £3.5million.

Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU, accused the Group of “gaslighting” workers and said:  “For the first time since 1987, strike action will now commence at BT Group. 

“This is not a case of an employer refusing to meet a union’s demands – this is about an employer refusing to meet us whatsoever. The serious disruption this strike may cause is entirely down to Philip Jansen and his friends, who have chosen to stick two fingers up to their own workforce.”

“These are the same workers who kept the country connected during the pandemic. Without CWU members in BT Group, there would have been no home-working revolution, and vital technical infrastructure may have malfunctioned or been broken when our country most needed it. 

“Our members worked under great difficulty – and  got a real-terms pay cut as a reward.

A spokesperson for BT Group said: 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.”