Fresh strikes by British Gas engineers in pay and conditions row

Industrial action could continue if the deadlocked dispute is not resolved.
British Gas strikes
PA Wire
Alan Jones19 March 2021

British Gas engineers have launched a fresh wave of strikes in a row over pay and conditions, with a threat of more action if the deadlock is not broken.

The GMB claimed its members believed that changes to their contracts will affect safety because they will have less time to do their work.

British Gas denied the claim and said it led the industry in safety standards.

British Gas is insisting on ploughing ahead with punitive changes to people's contracts

GMB

The engineers walked out on Friday for four days, which will take the number of strikes this year to 38.

The union’s executive will meet next week to consider the next steps in the dispute, including the possibility of further strikes.

Justin Bowden, GMB national officer said: “British Gas is insisting on ploughing ahead with punitive changes to people’s contracts when their workers, customers and politicians of all stripes have told them it’s wrong and the engineering workforce have twice rejected them.

“Our survey results from the frontline show that the changes don’t just mean less pay or time at home with the family, but less safe working conditions too.

“More than 300,000 homes are in a backlog for repairs and 400,000 planned annual service visits have been axed.”

A British Gas spokesman said: “We lead the industry in safety standards and the changes to employee terms and conditions that we need to make to protect 20,000 jobs, do not compromise this.

“Asking people to work 40 hours per week, and compensating them, is not unreasonable. We used to reach on average up to eight customers per day but the current average is six.

“We are simply trying to get productivity levels back to where they were just a few years ago.”

The company added it was focused on ensuring work life balance for its employees.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT