Warning of 'serious disruption' as Greater Manchester 999 call handlers prepare to strike this week

Greater Manchester's 999 call handlers are preparing to go on strike this week, prompting warnings over potentially "serious disruption" to the region's emergency services.

The emergency workers will walk out on Thursday (October 6) alongside BT Group colleagues in the Communication Workers Union. For previous strikes, it was agreed between the union and the company that emergency service workers would be exempt, and that a certain number would be available to work at any given time.

However, 999 call handlers have now voted to join their BT colleagues amid outrage at the company's refusal to negotiate with union representatives. As well as this Thursday, members of the Communication Workers Union plan to walk out on Monday 10, Thursday 20 and Monday, October 24.

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Union bosses have warned that the strikes could cause "serious disruption" to emergency services across the country.

The latest wave of strikes include the 30,000 Openreach engineers and 10,000 BT call centre workers who have taken action in previous months in opposition to BT Group management imposing a flat-rate pay rise of just £1,500. The CWU says the offer represents a "dramatic real-terms pay cut" amid soaring inflation levels.

The striking workers look after the vast majority of Britain’s telecoms infrastructure, from mobile phone connection, broadband internet and back-up generators to national health systems, cyber security and data centres.

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “This dispute is modern Britain in a nutshell: lives are at risk because a company’s top brass won’t listen to workers.

“This decision was not taken lightly, but our union’s