O2 workers accept pay deal

Workers at mobile phone giant O2 have voted overwhelmingly to accept a two-year pay deal worth 5.25%, it was announced today.

The Communication Workers Union said its members backed the offer by 4-1, with the rise taking effect from this month.

Andy Kerr, the union's deputy general secretary, said: "This is a strong result for a good pay deal. The majority of staff in O2 can now look forward to decent pay rises for this year and 2011 and bank on that stability.

"This year's pay negotiations with O2 were protracted and further complicated by our insistence on making progress on pay progression. We're really pleased with the breakthrough on this issue, which will now benefit potentially thousands of O2 staff.

"This two-year deal provides stability for both the company and our members at a time of economic uncertainty."

The pay deal is worth 2.5% for the majority of staff from April this year and 2.75% from next April.

The CWU represents more than 3,000 staff at O2 in call centre, retail and engineering jobs.