BT and Digital Divisions’ Membership Gains and Losses August 2019

The pivot tables indicating the membership gains and losses across the two divisions for August for BT and Digital Divisions.

Please find attached the pivot tables indicating the membership gains and losses across the two divisions for August.

For the third month in a row the overall deficit across the two divisions is in excess of 100. The reduction in membership numbers of 151 is the second highest this year after a fall of 184 in July. Furthermore, whilst recruitment in August is usually lower than most other months of the year, the 53 members recruited is the lowest August figure for the past four years.

Without labouring the point unduly, the union continues to see a steady flow of members leaving in BT. As has been mentioned previously, this does bring in a not inconsiderable sum of revenue for the union, in the form of fees for providing legal advice to members leaving by way of a settlement agreement. However, this provides only a limited respite if we are not able to replace those members who are leaving Prospect, or retain them in membership if they change employer. There is some positive news on this latter point, as for the second month in a row we have seen in excess of 40 members transferring from the BT Division into Digital Branches. Hopefully, messages about the portability of Prospect membership are resonating, and we should continue to stress this point to any members we know who are leaving their current employer.

Finally, the intense nature of structural change in BT is not likely to lessen over the coming years. People Framework will continue to roll out and the company’s location strategy will develop. Experience tells us that it is long-serving members who are likely to leave the business when these changes are being implemented and our survey shows that the demography of our membership is heavily weighted towards the over-50s. Therefore, we are facing an existential challenge if we do not find a way to significantly increase the number of younger members joining the union.