BT boss Philip Jansen hit by threat of strike chaos

Tens of thousands of BT staff are set to vote on strike action in a fresh blow to beleaguered chief executive Philip Jansen.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Communication Workers Union – representing 45,000 BT staff – will tomorrow kick off the formal legal process to ballot members for the telecom giant’s first national strike since 1987. 

The union is furious at Jansen’s attempts to rapidly modernise the former state monopoly, with plans including the closure of about 270 offices and compulsory redundancies that could run into thousands. 

The Mail on Sunday understands the CWU expects a large majority of workers at BT, EE and infrastructure division Openreach to vote in favour of industrial action with walkouts likely from May. 

A spring strike would raise the prospect of internet outages before the Covid lockdown is fully lifted, and while millions of people are still being asked by the Government to work from home. 

The decision to launch a strike ballot tomorrow will deliver an untimely blow to Jansen after several weeks of damaging stories about boardroom unrest.

City veteran Jan du Plessis earlier this month announced plans to retire as BT chairman after just four years. 

It has since been claimed that Jansen prompted him to jump by threatening to resign unless a new chairman was appointed. 

Jansen, who was brought in as chief executive in February 2019 to modernise BT, is said to want a chairman who will support a much faster pace of change. 

BT has downplayed the unrest, denying any ‘misalignment’ between board and management and praising du Plessis. 

But it did not refute claims that Jansen had issued an ultimatum before du Plessis revealed plans to step down. 

The threat of strikes comes as regulator Ofcom this week publishes its long-awaited Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review, which will determine the pace – and financial returns – on BT’s £12billion upgrade of Britain’s broadband network. 

Jansen is also under pressure from a court case over an accounting scandal in Italy, which resumes next month, while a review of BT’s pension fund in May is expected to show a £9billion deficit. 

The CWU’s threats are a response to BT’s plan to slim down its operations from 300 to 30 UK sites. The plans have angered workers. Unions say staff face ‘postcode redundancy’ if they live too far away. 

CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said BT is in ‘denial’ at the prospect of strike action. 

‘People are at risk of redundancy, not because they’re not good at their job, not because their role is going, only because they live somewhere that it doesn’t suit BT for them to live,’ he said. 

‘Our argument is you could have these people working remotely. You’re a technology company that’s selling this technology to everybody else to allow them to work remotely, but you’re not using it as much as you should be in your own company.’ 

Kerr claimed BT is refusing to share the details of its plans, which meant negotiations could not begin. He also said staff had been refused pay rises. 

Kerr said du Plessis was ‘more accommodating and more cautious’ than Jansen, ‘who is used to moving quickly, at a private equity pace’. 

Before BT, Jansen was hired by payments giant Worldpay’s private equity backers and floated it, before later making an estimated £34million from its 2017 sale.

The CWU is a formidable opponent. Last year, Royal Mail chief executive Rico Back was ousted after a long-running dispute with the union. 

Kerr added: ‘Philip Jansen is underestimating the power of the union.’ 

He pointed out that the CWU had not considered significant industrial action since 2010. ‘We’re still willing to work with the company, but we need to be listened to,’ he added. 

In a consultative survey before Christmas – involving 74 per cent of the union’s BT members – 98 per cent voted for action. 

BT’s share price has collapsed from £4.47 five years ago to £1.37 today. 

A BT spokesman said: ‘BT needs to go through a period of immense change and investment to modernise itself. Once complete we will have a much simpler operating model with fewer people and we’ll be better able to serve our customers.’ 

Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC, said: ‘Industrial action doesn’t help anybody. If you go down that route, then both sides have lost.’