Last week Starmer sacked Sam Tarry, a junior transport spokesman, after he joined rail workers on a picket line and gave a series of unauthorized media interviews that deviated from the party line. Starmer says he wants Labor to be “a party of government” but some Labor leaders have ignored his edict not to join picket lines and sided with strikers demanding higher wages regardless. BT Group is one of many private and public companies facing staff anger and strikes over pay rises deemed too low to meet the needs of low-wage workers in an environment of soaring inflation. Nandy’s allies say she told Starmer’s office in advance that she intended to visit striking workers from BT and its Openreach subsidiary in her Wigan constituency, but did not say whether the Labor leader had approved the move. Starmer, asked last week whether other shadow ministers would be sacked for joining the picket lines, said: “We take each case as it comes.” His office said Tarry was fired for violating collegial responsibility and giving “freelance” media interviews, not for standing in line. Nandy’s presence on the picket line shows the divisions in the Labor movement over the party’s approach to strikes. A Labor official declined to comment on the episode, but said: “Of course MPs can still meet their constituents and respond to issues affecting their constituency.” Earlier Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, met the leadership of the Communications Workers Union behind closed doors and urged BT to sit down with the union to “agree a fair pay deal”. Lisa Nuddy attends the queue in support of striking BT and Openreach workers in Wigan © Twitter Several opposition members joined CWU rallies across the UK on Monday to speak to BT workers, including Nandy in Wigan, Imran Hussain in Bradford, shadow employment rights minister Justin Madders in Birkenhead and Labor whip Navendu Mishra in Stockport. Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, told the Financial Times that the strikes had received “a lot of support from members of the shadow cabinet and Labor MPs”, adding that “Starmer will have to come to terms and develop a position that the party agrees with him”. Meanwhile, Ward said the union would press ahead with further “rolling” industrial action across the BT group, possibly focusing on specific areas and departments of strategic importance. The union is protesting the £1,500 pay rise given to 58,000 frontline workers at BT Group in April, which is between 3 and 8 per cent depending on their basic pay, with an average rise of 4.8 per cent. Ward called on Philip Jansen, BT’s chief executive, to “get your hands dirty, get in the room and start negotiating”, adding that the CWU would convene a summit with Jansen, BT chairman Adam Crozier and other members of senior management in the coming weeks. According to Ward, negotiations with BT management could look at a number of things beyond the “key elements” of pay offered earlier this year, including additional and possible consolidated pay deals. BT said in a statement: “At the start of this year, we were in exhaustive discussions with the CWU lasting two months, trying hard to reach an agreement on pay. When it became clear that we were not going to reach an agreement, we made the decision to move forward with awarding our team members and frontline colleagues the highest pay award in more than 20 years, effective April 1.” “This was an iconic company, employees would be proud to work for,” Ward added. “What Jansen underestimates is . . . how much anger there is.” Jansen received a 32 per cent pay rise to £3.5m in the last financial year due to previous share awards.