Amicus reps today met Fujitsu Services management to seek a resolution to the current dispute at West Gorton. The dispute is over breaches of the union recognition agreement and the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA), and the union's claim for Sick Pay, Equal Pay and Fair Pay. Further talks are planned for Tuesday and Wednesday, as much remains to be resolved. A more detailed report will be issued once jointly agreed.
It is the intention to present an offer from the company to a General Meeting of members on Thursday 4th September. At this meeting, members could decide either to accept the offer, or proceed with the industrial action planned to start on Monday 15th September.
Yesterday the company announced that all helpdesk staff will now get company Sick Pay from day one, and their annual leave will be increased to 25 days. This is an important step forward, that would not have happened without the Amicus campaign and the threat of industrial action. However, the company have failed to make any meaningful offer on the other vital issues in dispute. Is it an attempt to divide the workforce by making a concession to one group? Or maybe an attempt to distract attention from the other vital issues in dispute?
After consulting members as widely as possible, the Amicus reps committee decided this morning to postpone Monday's strike until 15th September, in response to the Sick Pay concession. This will allow a short period for negotiations before action would begin if necessary. We've sent the following email to management:
-----Original Message-----
From: Allinson Ian
Sent: 28 August 2003 09:59
To: Evans Alan
Cc: Brearley Victoria
Subject: AMICUS: Industrial action postponed from Monday 1st September
Importance: HighAlan,
thanks for your note yesterday. We had hoped for an offer which could be the basis of meaningful negotiations, but the letter clearly doesn't come anywhere near that.Our dispute is over the company's breach of our union recognition agreement and the Security of Employment Agreement, and over our pay claim.
The pay claim covered Sick Pay, Equal Pay and Fair Pay. The only specific proposal in the letter related to Sick Pay. The other issues are equally important to our members, and were not addressed in any meaningful way. These include:
* Honouring our existing agreements, essential if members are to have any faith in new agreements with the company
* Rights to individual union representation and collective bargaining, in support of which over 500 MAN05 Fujitsu Services staff have signed a petition which we'll present tomorrow
* Imposing decisions before hearing grievances
* Denying staff 90-days warning of redundancy
* Fair Pay - the 2003 pay review
* Equal PayThe decision to extend company Sick Pay to helpdesk staff is a very welcome gesture from the company, as is the increase in annual leave from 20 to 25 days. Despite the total inadequacy of the proposals contained in your letter, the reps committee has decided to reciprocate this gesture by asking Amicus to suspend the notice of industrial action starting on Monday 1st September, postponing it until Monday 15th September.
We want to make clear that we will not be delaying action again - this dispute has already dragged on far too long. For this reason we don't require any extension to the legal timeframe for start of industrial action based on our ballot. We will recommend that action goes ahead from the 15th unless a General Meeting accepts an offer from the company to settle the dispute.
We hope that the company will have more substantial proposals for us on Friday.
Ian Allinson
Amicus
We believe this delay will give us time to ensure everyone understands the reality of the current situation, and that we keep the workforce united behind the campaign.
The company's actions don't give us high expectations for tomorrow's negotiations. Members made it clear at a General Meeting last year that they saw maintaining union recognition as even more important than the pay claim. The problems of people getting paid far below the pay scales, paid unequally, and getting no pay rises of years remain. We must begin preparations for the 15th now, in case our fears are realised, and action proves necessary. We intend to hold a General Meeting between now and the 15th to report back on negotiations and to consider any offers from the company.
Remember:
* We only won the sick pay because we had a union. The company is still trying to undermine our union recognition. To mangle the old analogy, they're trying to give us a fish and take away our rod.
* The company only made this concession under threat of action.
* The company making this concession shows that they recognise the power of the threatened industrial action.
* We won this important concession, which benefits some of the workforce, by all sticking together - we need to stay united to win gains for all the members.
Management have not provided any offer that could be the basis of realistic negotiations, so the reps committee today did NOT decide to suspend the notice of industrial action.
Management did write to us, but the letter contained no offer of any kind. The company claim they haven't had time to make a considered response, but would do so at Friday's meeting. We've pointed out that we've been raising the issues in dispute for many months.
We will, of course, consider any offer made, but the closer we get to the strike day, the harder it will become to call off the action.
Meanwhile, plans for Monday's strike are coming together. We've booked the hall in the Pakistani Community Centre in Longsight for a members' meeting, and approached the police to discuss a route for a march to the meeting.
We're starting to put together lists of members for picket duty - please get in touch and choose your times.
You can listen to Friday's interview with Roger Jeary on BBC GMR radio if your PC can play an MP3 file. Apologies for the poor quality of the recording!
Amicus National Secretary Roger Jeary will be interviewed on BBC GMR local radio this evening.
Events are moving fast following the 75%+ YES/YES vote by members in the industrial action ballot at West Gorton.
NEGOTIATIONS
The company have offered formal negotiations, which will take place at West Gorton on Friday 29th August. This is great news, and entirely the result of the determination of our members. Amicus has provided the company a draft agreement to settle the dispute, to assist the negotiations. We expect to be presenting the petition for MAN05 Employee Rights to management at the meeting - it already has over 500 unique signatures from Fujitsu Services staff at MAN05.
The company requested that notice of industrial action be suspended while we talked. Your reps pointed out that the issues have been on the table for many months, and that we are not willing to be "strung along". We have therefore given the company until noon on Tuesday to come up with an offer that could be the basis of meaningful negotiations. The reps committee meeting on Tuesday afternoon can then consider their request.
ACTION
While we are hopeful that the ballot result will be sufficient to bring the company to its senses, we also have to be prepared for the possibility that the company may still be unwilling to cooperate. We are therefore making arrangements for action, should that be necessary. The action can be called off at any time if a settlement is reached.
Amicus has sent notification to the company of industrial action beginning on Monday 1st September.
The form of action (for the first phase) was decided by the Extraordinary General Meeting back in June:
1. A one-day strike on the first day of action
2. Action short of strike, consisting of:
a. Withdrawal of goodwill. This means stopping all the extra things we do to help the company run smoothly, over and above what is formally required of us. Examples (not exhaustive) include stopping:
i. Doing work prior to being given a charge code or call number
ii. Using our own cars for company business (except where in receipt of an allowance in lieu of a company car)
iii. Overnight stays away from home
iv. Working outside our normal hours (including travel)
v. Responding to ?out of hours? requests when not being paid for standby and overtime
vi. Making ourselves easily contactable by mobile phone or pager
b. Taking full breaks. This means taking appropriate breaks away from work, stopping work for lunch, and VDU users ensuring that they have at least 10 minutes every hour not using their VDU.
c. Helpdesk staff ensuring all calls are logged carefully and thoroughly, making appropriate use of Make Busy and Do Not Disturb.
d. Setting up an Out Of Office reply to cover the strike day and non-work periods such as overnight or weekends. This should be based on ?Fujitsu Services staff at West Gorton are currently taking industrial action because the company is breaking its union recognition and redundancy agreements, and over a pay claim. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you want more information or to join AMICUS, see www.ourunion.org.uk. Please send messages of support to support@ourunion.org.uk.?
For the avoidance of doubt, subsequent General Meetings can change or extend this plan, but we must give at least seven days notice to the company before any action.
Amicus is also making plans for a protest march and members' meeting on 1st September.
The company have approached Amicus for formal talks on our dispute. We have sent them a draft agreement to settle the dispute. We have asked them to send us an offer that can form the basis of negotiations before we take any decision on postponing industrial action.
Talks are expected to take place on Friday 29th August.
We've just received the result of our ballot on industrial action, which is as follows:
Q Are you prepared to take part in strike action?
Number of votes cast: 119
Spoilt Voting Papers: 1
Number voting YES: 90
Number voting NO: 28
Q Are you prepared to take part in industrial action short of a strike?
Number of votes cast: 119
Spoilt Voting Papers: 2
Number voting YES: 101
Number voting NO: 16
Thanks to all our members who participated in the ballot.
This is a resounding (75%+) YES/YES vote - let's hope the company are now willing to negotiate.
With the industrial action ballot due to close next Tuesday (19th), today reps held informal "exploratory" talks with management. The talks only related to the issues arising from the breaches of our union recognition agreement and the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA).
The talks were useful, as far as they went. They were purely exploratory, and the company has yet to offer a meeting to begin negotiations for a settlement of the dispute. We assume they are still waiting for our ballot result.
Given that these were the first talks on the breaches of our agreements for many months, they are very much to be welcomed.