The Communication Workers Union, which represents around 55,000 of the British telecom firm BT Group's employees, has said that unless the company agrees to a 5% pay raise, they will ask their members to vote for a strike. BT has said that it is willing to work with the union to reach a settlement, but the CWU says that they are open, but that only an agreement for a 5% increase will end the dispute. This conflict comes after BT posted profits, and the CEO's bonus payments rose by almost a million pounds. If a strike does occur, it would be the first at BT in 23 years. The CWU has said that it will announce details of the ballot next week, and is expected to take around two weeks to complete.
See "BT's 23 Year Strike-Free Record Set To End", Lilly Vitorovich, The Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2010