A TRADE union has said BT workers will collect items for foodbanks at picket lines when they go back on strike on Monday.

Openreach engineers and BT call centre workers are taking a second day of industrial action following last Friday's strikes across the country.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said its members were taking to picket lines over "real-terms pay cuts" after a £1,500 raise was imposed that the union said was "unacceptable" given recent inflation.

BT workers on strike in Newport last Friday said they felt compelled to walk out because of the "bad deal" the company had put forward.

But BT has called the strikes "disappointing" after it awarded the new pay rates, which it said was the biggest the company had awarded "in more than 20 years".

The union said the first day of strikes received "overwhelming" public support, and urged people to support the foodbank initiative.

Dave Ward, general-secretary of the CWU, said striking workers "care about the contributions they make to the society they serve and the country they live in".

He added: “We urge all sympathetic members of the public to attend picket lines in their area and chip in to help out others.”

Andy Kerr, the CWU's deputy general-secretary, said its members last Friday "showed their strength, but on Monday they will show their generosity".