BT staff at Adastral Park, Suffolk met today to discuss the threat to their jobs

BT staff at Adastral Park, Martlesham met yesterday to begin the fight to save their jobs - as it was revealed BT boss Gavin Patterson had a £1m hike in his annual pay.

BT has announced plans to shed 13,000 jobs, two-thirds of them in UK and with the axe most likely to fall on back office and middle management jobs.

Staff at the BT research centre at Adastral Park, where 3,000 are employed, have expressed their concerns and yesterday the Prospect union held its annual general meeting on site.

National secretary Philippa Childs said: “People are very anxious, angry and upset. There is a lot of uncertainty.

“People are fearing for their jobs. Obviously people have heard about the big numbers, but there is not detail at all about who or how it will impact on individual members or across the business.

“We had such a big turn-out we had to have two sessions. We are focused on impact on our members and the future of the business going forward.”

The news of Mr Patterson’s pay was a distraction, she said.

“It is a matter for the board and shareholders. We are focused on our members and their best interests.”

Prospect had a campaign committee, she said, which would be working closely with BT staff to try and identify where job losses could occur.

“We are also worried about how these job losses might impact on the business and the strategy going forward.”

They would be campaigning with members, she said, and externally in the wider community.