“Doing my duty in extraordinary times”

Prospect member Paul Fitchett is a BT engineering services patch manager at London Southbank. He shares what it’s like as one of the key workers keeping the UK connected during the coronavirus pandemic

“During the pandemic I am helping to keep our people safe and at work so they can repair, maintain and provide extra capacity in our network,” says Paul Fitchett of his role during lockdown.

It has been challenging  – the crisis has caused an increased workload and his team members have needed extra support and encouragement  as they face the challenges of continuing to come into work.

“My normal eight to nine-hour day has increased to 11-12 hours – of course without any recompense. However, I feel this is my duty in these extraordinary times and I don’t begrudge working the extra hours as I know what I’m doing is important and essential.”

Paul is counted as a key worker. In his role he can work from home and has done so because the decision was made to limit travel to reduce transmission of the virus.

I always pick up

While Paul tries to be self-disciplined, this makes it harder to switch off when the normal working day is over. “But I always keep my phone on because if one of my people calls me I will always pick up.”

He says it has been a strange time because the business decided to only focus on critically essential work, such as urgent repairs and maintenance. “It was frightening to begin with because we were asking our people who needed to come in, with an increased risk to them and their families.

“I have been focused on looking after our people and ensuring they have the correct safety equipment – things like sanitising fluids, wipes and other personal protective equipment when needed.

“My people are generally working on the equipment floors managing the local exchanges, rather than out in the streets. The numbers going in have been limited and social distancing observed. Wherever more than one person has to do a task, a risk assessment is carried out.

“My job has always been responsible, because if an accident happens I have to investigate, do safety checks and make sure lessons are learned. The buck stops with me.”

Backbone

Paul wants people to understand the vital work being done behind the scenes by IT and telecoms professionals.

“It’s a shame the only time they got into the news was all the silliness around 5G and the threats being made towards our people, which was a big concern.”

If BT engineers and others weren’t doing their jobs to keep the networks stable no one would be able to communicate during the crisis, he says. “If our backbone goes down, there will be no mobile phone network, or zooming, webchats and all the other ways people have been staying in touch.”

Dismay over pay

Paul and his colleagues are disappointed at the company’s decision not to give managers a pay rise this year – only performance-related bonuses – while their team members will get an increase.

“I was deeply upset by the email sent out by BT chief executive Philip Janssen on 6 April purporting to offer support. It was the most demotivating communication I’ve seen in a long time.

“He told us that BT managers would not get a pay increase in 2020. Once again, BT is sacrificing managers’ pay while whilst protecting the income of my engineers.

“At first line manager level, especially in Inner London where our team members get inner London weighting and the manager community does not, the very thin pay differential between the engineers and ourselves has, once again, been eroded.”

Their grading has improved as part of the People Framework changes, which will help younger colleagues and those who come after. “I’m pleased for them but because I’m approaching the end of my career, this will not help me and removes the potential to repair the differential.”

Though due to retire soon, for now Paul is working harder than ever. His three grown children have all left home. He and his wife have missed seeing them and the four grandchildren during lockdown.

For now his son’s old bedroom, earmarked for his post retirement hideaway den, has been transformed into a temporary office for the duration of the crisis.