I always opposed privitisation of the core utilities. But there is nothing new about asking people to sign up to new contracts if they want to keep their jobs.
It started in the 1980s, when companies first began shedding jobs and having major reorganisations. Usually the organisation changed so much and were rebuilt that if you wanted to stay with the company you needed to reapply for a job - and the contract you were offered - would be less advantageous. At the time the companies were so changed this was understandable, and redundancy terms were often very generous. I left BG in the mid 1990s, when it split into three, lost its monopoly of gas supply and had to reduce staff numbers by 35,000. The redundancy scheme, was almost unrefuseable, especially if you were over 50.
However now companies are using it for trivial schemes, like this one. On the other hand, if you are unable to compete in the market because your prices are too high, the alternative is shutting that part of the business down and making the employees redundant.
Doodledog you are unduly pessimistic about unions and meetings. As an ex-nationalised industry, the unions were always strong and well-organised and the whole country from top to toe has been running on Zoom and other meeting software for nearly a year so I am sure the unions are being as well organised and as efficient as any other business keeping running in today's exceptional times. I am still a union member and they seem to be running as normal.