Members voted to hold a ballot on industrial action if BT shifts any more jobs from the UK to India, where staff are paid 80p an hour, according to reports, compared with 拢6 an hour in the UK.
Union activists are saying that as many as 200,000 jobs could be moved abroad, although BT has said that it has no plans to move more jobs after 2,200 are shifted to Bangalore by the end of 2004.
The union was also critical of BT's attitude to call workers in India, saying that they are forced to shed their national identity and take on a British persona.
Staff in BT's Indian call centres are reported to watch UK soaps 'Coronation Street' and 'EastEnders' to help with their accents. They are also said to take on anglicised names while working and are prompted with local weather conditions so they can chat easily with customers.
BT has defended the moves, saying that no permanent employees will lose their jobs as the result of work moving to India.
Mark Taggart, a member of the CWU executive, said: "There's no altruism here, it's crude exploitation and it's about making more money."
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