Chris Heminway, Exec-Chair at Time To ACT, explains why now is the right time for the Group to IPO. Watch the video here.
I can understand members voting for strike action, in a bid that the union has somewhat more muscle in further negotiations, but another to actually go on strike. Am I wrong?
Reminds me, when I was reading about the Spanish conquests of the Americas, where they brought back ship loads of plundered gold. The mega hauls were shared by all in the home land and Spain got rich, within no time there was hyper inflation (even in the 15th C) with bread and the essentials costing a kings ransom. Giving people inflation busting golden pay rises only makes the problem worse.
(Sharecast News) - BT said it had requested an extension to the UK government's deadline for removing Huawei equipment from its network, after the Chinese company's equipment was banned due to data security concerns.
BT, which has said the removal of the equipment from its core network where personal data is processed would cost it Ā£500m, has lodged a request with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson banned the use of Huawei parts two years ago, calling the Chinese firm a "high-risk vendor". Telecoms operators in the UK were given until next January to remove all Huawei equipment from the most sensitive core networks and reduce use in non-core parts of the network to 35%.
"We are continuing to work towards the January 2023 deadline for that work to happen in our core, but have requested a necessary, short extension, to reflect significant Covid-driven impacts to the programme over the past two years," BT said.
A further ban, on the use of Huawei equipment in the introduction of the UK's 5G network, must be complied with by 2027.
"We continue to liaise with DCMS and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to ensure our programme can be completed as quickly and safely as possible, and remain confident that the final 2027 deadline for delivering new equipment throughout the 5G network is achievable," the Guardian newspaper quoted BT as saying.
"At the end of the day, not interrupting service for customers is the critical requirement here," said Howard Watson, BT's chief technology officer, speaking to Bloomberg.
Phat, Iām afraid youāve been taken in by the sensationalism of Daily Mirrorās and itās lazy journalism,
From Phat,ā¦ā¦āFleccy did you seethe front page of the Mirror today. It had a picture of Jansen and stated he had a 33% pay rise this year , which took his earnings to 3.5 million. They claimed this was 86 x the average BT worker pay. This is truly obscene remuneration , snout in the trough stuff.
You cant defend that -
Buy hey Phil thanks for the "comunitEE pantries" , (food banks), cute idea. ā
This was discussed earlier this monthā¦ā¦
āPhil Jansen earned 3.5 million last year , that's a 32% increase . SP still rubbish after several years of his stewardship so the hardworking staff who kept the company afloat during Covid have every right to be angry with what he has offered .
What a load of manure Simon, his pay had fallen to Ā£2.6m from Ā£3.2m because of pandemic, so for any subsequent salary it would look like a hefty pay increase which it isnāt, plus Phil gave Ā£650k to charity that year, all good by me.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9627211/IN-MONEY-BT-chief-exec-Philip-Jansen-saw-pay-fall-year.htmlā
About 82,000 former and current BT workers would lose Ā£2.8 billion in pension payments if the chancellor is allowed to go ahead with a planned change to the Retail Prices Index, the High Court was told yesterday.
Rishi Sunak was accused of unlawfully closing his mind to the interests of holders of RPI-linked government bonds as well as ignoring the adverse impact on people with RPI-linked pensions.
The UK Statistics Authority, which originally wanted to scrap RPI completely, was accused of trying āto achieve by the back door what it could not lawfully achieve by the frontā.
The allegations were made in the skeleton argument brought by the pension schemes of BT, Marks & Spencer and Ford UK on the first day of their legalā¦ā¦ā¦
Subs needed.
Anybody got subscription to the Times. For the remainder
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/retail-prices-index-rejig-to-wipe-billions-off-bt-pensions-0zfvjh5qt
Agreed Poker, UK as a nation is struggling to recruit and maintain staffing levels for Nursing and Teaching, proper payrise is overdue, call it a catch-up at a time when it needed. As for areas such as the over staffed civil service Iām less sympathetic. The COVID costs, we will be paying back well into the 2040s and beyond.
If the goods we buy are at an all time high, then VAT and duties are at an all time high, the government is coining it in on higher energy payments and the double taxes on petrol and diesel all since the last budget. There is plenty of wiggle room in the treasury coffers over and above our commitment to paying back the UK debt.
I guess if the government see Telecom providers especially BT as utilities then they should lower VAT to the same level as the energy providers, 5%.
Blimey, you couldnāt make it up, UK broadband was one of the cheapest in Europe a few years back, and one of the most competitive and over regulated in the world, with average monthly prices being charged between Ā£25-Ā£30, so even with 7.9% price increases this equates to less than Ā£3. If the HMG wants to help struggling households surely a VAT cut would go a long way to help.
Telecom chiefs summoned to Downing Street to discuss cost of living crisis
Industry leaders will be asked for suggestions on how to help struggling customers with rising bills.
Senior telecoms executives have been summoned to Downing Street to discuss the cost of living crisis after millions of households faced inflation-busting price increases for broadband services.
In a meeting hosted by Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, next Monday, industry leaders will be asked for suggestions on how to help struggling customers with rising bills.
Senior figures from BT, Vodafone, Virgin Media O2, Three, TalkTalk, Sky and others have been invited to the discussion at No 10, the Daily Telegraph understands.
It comes after some of the companies, including BT, Vodafone and O2, recently imposed above-inflation price increases on customers.
Ms Dorries wrote to broadband providers in April, urging them to get a larger number of low-income families on to so-called social tariffs.
While an estimated five million households in receipt of benefits are eligible to receive these cut-price deals, only 55,000 have taken them up, she said.
A DCMS spokesperson said: "We are looking at bringing together the UK's telecoms leaders to explore how the industry can work together with the government to support consumers through the global rise in the cost of living."
However, one industry source was dismissive, saying: āAll of this will probably result in a press release so the Government can say āwe are doing stuff on cost of livingā while not actually changing much.ā
Those set to attend the meeting include Ahmed Essam, chief executive of Vodafone UK, Tristia Harrison, chief executive of TalkTalk and Clive Selley, chief executive of BTās infrastructure business, Openreach, according to a list seen by the Telegraph.
Ofcom, the communications regulator, will also be represented.
Companies have been criticised for hitting customers with inflation-busting broadband price rises.
O2 added 3.9pc to Februaryās retail price index (RPI) inflation rate of 7.8pc, taking the total price increase to 11.7pc for customers who have joined since last March last year.
Meanwhile, BT and Vodafone are among those to have added 3.9pc to Decemberās consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation, which stood at 5.4pc, resulting in a price rise of 9.3pc.
It means a Vodafone customer who signed up after February 2 last year will see their Ā£40 monthly bill rise by Ā£3.72.
Price comparison service Uswitch.com branded the increases āexcessiveā, noting that many customers would not be able to switch away from their current provider without incurring penalty fees for ending their contracts early.
Good spot Magic.
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-affirms-BTs-Baa2-rating-and-changes-the-outlook-to--PR_467139
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Upward pressure on the rating could arise if underlying operating performance and cash flow generation substantially improve with growing revenues and stronger key performance indicators (KPI) trends leading to a sustainable EBITDA growth trajectory. Credit metrics that would support a rating upgrade include RCF/adjusted net debt sustainably above 22% and adjusted gross debt/EBITDA below 2.8x on a sustained basis.
Downward pressure on the rating could arise if operating performance remains weaker than expected, or the risks arising from the pension deficit significantly increases as a result of a widening in the deficit or actions that could be detrimental for bondholders, e.g. material subordination risks. Credit metrics that would support a rating downgrade include RCF/adjusted net debt sustainably falling below 18% and adjusted gross debt/EBITDA remaining above 3.5x on a sustained basis.
Thanks Fleccy, these were just the income less expenditure/profit and loss. I found the Accounts/Balance Sheet for the CWUs end of year submission to (what is the equivalent for Trade unions) Companies House. These were for YE 2020. Seems the running fund opened at Ā£12.4m adding Ā£6.1m transferred in for the year, plus the nett between the interfunds transferred in and out in the year (Ā£1.926 less Ā£1.039m = Ā£0.949m) giving a closing Ā£19.395m, see Page 3. Iām assuming this will have improved for YE 2021. Going back to your strike calculations, this fund canāt last more than 3 days. However Iāve never heard of anyone that Iāve known applying for strike payments in lieu of lost pay, it must be means tested for the less well off.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1056019/743_2020.pdf
Unions ābribingā workers to strike
Kwasi Kwarteng rails at doubling of payments to those taking part in industrial action.
Unisonās most recent financial statements show that the bodyās finance committee agreed to increase strike pay āfrom Ā£25 a day to Ā£50, payable from day one [of a strike] rather than day fourā, adding: āUnison must put itself and our members in the best possible position to win disputes.ā
According to its accounts, Unison had a āstrike fund reserveā of Ā£34.2 million as of December. Unite has a strike fund of at least Ā£35?million, which union officials cited to encourage members to support industrial action in ballots.
I wonder what the CWU has in reserves.
Rail union holds BP and Shell stakes despite attacks on āindefensible shareholder dividendsā
RMT revealed to have Ā£22m war chest from oil and big bank investments.
The rail union that will bring Britain to a standstill this week has built a Ā£22m war chest by investing in a hedge fund, big banks and the oil industry, despite its socialist campaigning.
The Rail, Maritime, and Transport union (RMT) has stakes worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in BP and Shell - two companies that its head attacked earlier this year for generating "obscene profits" and paying "indefensible shareholder dividends".
The union has also put money into Melrose, which recently completed a controversial takeover and break up of the engineering specialist GKN.
Meanwhile, it poured more than Ā£120,000 into a fund run by Man Group, the London-listed hedge fund and holds shares in HSBC and Lloyds, while campaigning for the banking system to be nationalised.
You couldnāt make it up.
āThis not all to do with a pay rise it is in fact about Jansen choosing to rip up the rule book and impose rather than negotiate terms and conditions.ā
How do you think the union negotiations would fare IF Drahi got more control? Serious question.
If I were earning circa Ā£20-Ā£25k, I wouldnāt be paying into a union, Iād have better and more pressing things to spend my money on. So who are the unions fighting for??
Phil Jansen earned 3.5 million last year , that's a 32% increase . SP still rubbish after several years of his stewardship so the hardworking staff who kept the company afloat during Covid have every right to be angry with what he has offered .
What a load of manure Simon, his pay had fallen to Ā£2.6m from Ā£3.2m because of pandemic, so for any subsequent salary it would look like a hefty pay increase which it isnāt, plus Phil gave Ā£650k to charity that year, all good by me.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9627211/IN-MONEY-BT-chief-exec-Philip-Jansen-saw-pay-fall-year.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cityfibre-secures-4-9bn-to-fund-broadband-cables-8ncfkzjhb..
Sounds like last throw of the dice for Cityfibre.
A broadband infrastructure group backed by Goldman Sachs has secured one of the biggest financings by a fibre company as it steps up competition with BT and Virgin Media O2.
CityFibre has received a Ā£4.9 billion debt finance package from a consortium of investors and banks that will be used to help to fund its rollout of broadband fibre to about eight million homes. The package also will enable CityFibre to participate in the governmentās Project Gigabit scheme to reach rural homes.
The debt-raising has been underwritten by banks including NatWest, SociƩtƩ GƩnƩrale and CrƩdit Agricole CIB, with M&G Investments, the asset manager, joining as a core lender.
The financing deal comes after almost Ā£1.3 billion in equity investments that CityFibre has raised in theā¦ā¦.
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āhope thereās another dip to 170-173p before ex date. I want to slurp another 1000 sharesā
Abject, thats a very strange hope/wish, the buy-in delta/benefit/opportunity of cost, can only be a few hundred quid. Your argument must then hold through in wishing the shareprice falls to a quid, then you can pick up 2000 shares, or why not 50p and youāll get a mighty 4000 shares. If you hold shares, youāll want the shareprice to increase handsomely.
āThank you Peter. And, with that, I am delighted to come out... I admit it. I can no longer wear white underpants. Thanks for listening :)ā
A Borat-esque Lime green mankini Rod?