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With more than 170,000 homes in repair backlog and 200,000 service visits axed the company claim it is catching up after 24 hours is bogus
Engineers and other staff in the field staff bargaining group in British Gas will follow twelve days of strike with a further four days on February 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the next stage of the fire and rehire dispute.
A meeting of the GMB Central Executive Committee (CEC) tomorrow, which follows the twelfth day in the current series of strikes, will receive a report on the dispute.
In deciding on the next steps the CEC will assess the following:
Justin Bowden, GMB National Secretary, said:
“These four days of strike will add to more than 170,000 homes in repair backlog and 200,000 service visits axed.
“British Gas’s claim that it is catching up after 24 hours is bogus.
“Staff in the field engineers bargaining group will not accept the new contract. 12 days of solid strike action shows this. British Gas is kidding itself using an 83% that is mostly staff in other bargaining groups. The only votes that count are the field staff so the 83% figure is not relevant.
“GMB started with town gas then moved to natural gas and on to digital technology. Change won't stop there.
“Members are not afraid to embrace a new future with investment in the latest in diagnostic technologies to pave the way for the ‘engineers of the future’ programme. But members will not be bullied in the new contract.
“For the CEC in deciding the next steps it is looking likely that a protracted dispute looms."