CWU agrees 5% pay deal with O2

The Communications Workers Union has claimed another scalp in the UK, after agreeing a pay deal worth more than 5% over two years with mobile carrier O2 late yesterday.
 
Staff will receive a 2.5% raise this year and a further 2.75% increase in 2011 in a deal that brings the curtain down on seven months of negotiations between the pair after union members rejected a previous 2% pay offer from O2.
 
Members must still approve the deal in a ballot, however deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said it was the best outcome that could be achieved without taking direct action.
 
“We’ve made a significant breakthrough on pay progression which we’ve been working on for the last five years.
 
“Potentially thousands of staff – especially those who work in O2 shops – could now benefit,” Kerr said in a statement.
 
A spokeswoman explained pay progression was a key element in the deal, telling telecomseurope.net that staff had previously been restricted in attempts to work up O2’s pay scale.
 
 
The union, which represents 3,000 O2 staff, hit the headlines after taking British Telecom to the brink of its first strike in 23 years during a similar pay dispute earlier this year.
 
It eventually secured a 9.3% pay deal with the UK incumbent last month, after a two month standoff, which it is urging members to accept in a ballot that closes Thursday, according to WSJ.com.