Our Dispute With Fujitsu Services @ West Gorton

Petition launched - "Negotiate Now!"

Amicus have launched a petition for staff to sign, with the following wording:

We the undersigned agree with Peter Hutchinson that the current dispute and the associated publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services.

We call upon Fujitsu Services to reopen talks with Amicus to negotiate a settlement to the current dispute.

Print off a copy and get your colleagues to sign it.

Photos from the "motorcade"

Well done to everyone who took part in this morning's strike, and particularly those who joined the "motorcade". Photos are now available here.

The company are still refusing to meet Amicus reps, despite complaining that the dispute is very damaging.

How can they settle the dispute without talking? Let's hope they see sense before more action is necessary.

Spot the difference?

Members have pointed out a certain shift in tone...

Company Announcement, 12/9/2003:
"the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide"

Company Announcement, 26/9/2003:
"What we aren’t seeing as good value is being forced into negotiating with Amicus under duress and against some unreasonable and immovable positions."

What makes this all the more remarkable is that NO TALKS took place between these dates. Presumably this means that the company were close to accepting our "unreasonable and immovable positions"? Or maybe we just weren't that unreasonable?

Company Misinformation

The Company misinformation machine has gone into overdrive. How do you match up these facts?

1) The Company says the differences between the negotiators aren't that wide
2) The Company says the action and publicity is very damaging
3) The Company refuses to negotiate
4) The Company says hardly anyone supports the action
5) We get email notices today from both Roger Leek (company HR boss), and Peter Hutchinson (boss of Core Services, which employs most of us)

The notices are full of misinformation and untruths. We had a quick skim through one of these notices and produced this cull of corrections.

* One of the major contracts missed its SLAs on the week beginning 15th September.

* Amicus have NOT claimed that the majority of employees went on strike on the 15th. We said that the majority stayed away from MAN05, and that far more than the Amicus membership took strike action. Indeed, our "Avoiding Further Strikes" leaflet acknowledged that some people worked elsewhere. Unlike the company, we believe in telling it how it is.

* A number of units had a clear majority of people taking part in the strike.

* The Company is refusing to talk, not trying to resolve the issues.

* Amicus is NOT claiming that everyone is entitled to SEA severance terms. Look at our redundancy calculator for goodness sake - how many sets of terms are there?

* The Company ARE trying to redefine who the SEA applies to, to reduce redundancy rights dramatically.

* The "rules" on individual representation WERE clear, and had worked perfectly well for many years. The only reason there's any discussion on this issue is because the company didn't like them, and just started ignoring them. They wanted to hold crucial meetings with individuals and deny them representation.

* The Company aren't TRYING to welch on the existing agreement. They ARE welching on it. Look back at our correspondence with the company such as this. The Company refused even to discuss these issues until members voted for strike action.

* It's NOT about affordability. If the company wasn't being so unreasonable on other issues, perhaps their pleas of poverty would be more credible. We'd proposed options for addressing our pay claim that used already budgeted money. The company rejected these options out of hand. Even now, management have shown no willingness to really look for solutions on pay.

* Union subs are NOT £12 a month.

* The majority are NOT silent - they signed the petitions in support of the pay claim, individual representation, and collective bargaining. It's the company that doesn't want to listen.

Make the company negotiate - strike on Monday.
Join in the picketing and motorcade.

Leaflet for Fujitsu Services staff

A leaflet is going out at West Gorton. Employees can access the artwork on CafeVIK here.

Computer Weekly coverage

Computer Weekly continues to cover our dispute in their paper edition, though their web site is not keeping pace. The 23 September edition (page 5) includes a report & photo from the strike on the 15th.

29 Sept Strike Plans

Plans for Monday's strike are taking shape.

We'll be on strike from 1am to noon on Monday 29th September. We're planning an unusual protest on the day - a "motorcade".

MOTORCADE
We’re asking everyone to arrive at the “motorcade preparation area” (see map below) between 10:30 and 11:30. If you’ve got a car, we’ll help you decorate it with posters and balloons highlighting the campaign. If you’re on foot, we’ll arrange a lift.

From 11:30 we’ll drive around the perimeter of the site, and then all go in to work together at 12:00.

This is an unusual (weatherproof) protest, that we hope will attract more media coverage for the campaign – and persuade the company to negotiate a sensible settlement.

Company won't talk - next strike announced

The company is still refusing to negotiate a settlement to our dispute - no meetings have taken place since Thursday 11th September.

This is quite disgraceful when you consider Peter Hutchinson's comments that:
* "the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide", and
* "Stoppage action and adverse publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services and even worse for people in Manchester"

The company seem to be trying to "act tough" - cutting off their nose to spite their face. It has always been, and still is, the view of your reps that a negotiated settlement of this dispute is achievable. However, we're clearly going to have to take more action to convince the company to talk.

AMICUS has now called a further strike:
All Fujitsu Services staff based at West Gorton (including those who are home-based with a West Gorton admin base) are called upon to strike for half a day from 01:00 to 12:00 on Monday 29th September.

This is in addition to the "action short of strike" already announced.

Amicus plans further activities on the day - details to be announced.

Messages of Support

Messages of support keep coming in - in fact we've got so many we've had to split them into four different files: 1 (1 Mb), 2, 3 (1 Mb) and 4.

Messages of support can be emailed to support@ourunion.org.uk,
faxed to 0870 705 2814,
or posted to Ian Allinson, Amicus, Fujitsu Services, Wenlock Way, West Gorton, Manchester, M12 5DR.

Many thanks to everyone who's sent us a message so far.

Mathematically challenged?

It's interesting to note that the BBC report has been updated. It now includes a claim by the company that "less than 100" people took part in the strike! This number was presumably supplied by the same person who's worked out our pay rises in recent years...

This also offers a novel way for us to fund our dispute. Presumably the company will only be docking pay from a minority of the strikers, so the rest can chip in to help those whose pay is docked?

In reality, the majority of staff stayed away. We know that a few worked from other sites, and some worked from home, but the numbers were clearly far larger than the Amicus membership.

It can't be good for an IT company to be publicly displaying such a lack of numeracy. Perhaps they confused the numbers striking with the smaller numbers who came along to our rally? It can't be due to lack of information - the company went to extraordinary lengths to find out what Amicus was doing. One senior manager was even spotted trying to hide in the bushes near the front gate!

Legal protection for strikers

Some non-members reluctantly went in to work yesterday, as they weren't clear that they were legally protected if they joined the strike.

The relevant legislation is the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by Schedule 5 of the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Membership or non-membership of a trade union has no bearing on the legal protection for striking employees.

Just to spell out what this means:

Fujitsu Services employees based at MAN05, including home-workers with a MAN05 admin base, are protected from dismissal in connection with the official industrial action, for a period of 8 weeks from Monday 15th September.

Pickets can lawfully ask everyone not to enter the site on strike days, and the union has immunity from being sued for damages arising from the action. People who aren't in the group above (Fujitsu Services employees based at MAN05, including home-workers with a MAN05 admin base), but who choose not to cross the picket line, do not have the same legal protection.

Strong support for action

Before our strike, the company claimed that only 10% of the workforce supported it. In fact, the majority of the workforce stayed away, as this photo of the car park (at its busiest) shows:

It was also interesting that many of those going in supported the campaign, weren't confident enough to take part in the action. After all, who can remember a strike at MAN05? Some of those going in wore Amicus stickers, others offered to donate their day's pay to the campaign. One brought refreshments out to the pickets.

It was clear that many of those who weren't union members hadn't realised that they too had legal protection if they took part in lawful industrial action.

As well as the majority of MAN05 staff, pickets turned away food deliveries, the post, and even the window cleaners. We've received many more messages of support and donations from across the labour movement. People recognise that we're fighting for vitally important rights that we should be able to take for granted.

If we do need to take further action, we're confident that the support would be even stronger than yesterday.

The strike day

We've been on strike today - picketing since the early morning. Far more staff stayed away than just the Amicus membership - the car park was less than half full, and there were even plenty of spaces in the managers' car park.

In the morning, we had good coverage on local radio - Century and BBC GMR. The BBC web site also carries a report.

We have photos available from our rally and march here on our website.

Plans for Monday

Amicus is calling industrial action for all Fujitsu Services staff based at MAN05, including home workers with a MAN05 admin base, starting on Monday 15th September.

The full version of this entry includes an email we've sent out to most MAN05 staff in response to the propaganda from Roger Leek and Peter Hutchinson.

Here's what you need to know:

1) We'll be picketing MAN05 from early morning - lend a hand if you can.

2) We won't be parking on site. There are a few nearby parking places within view of the pickets.

3) We'll be assembling on Wenlock Way for a rally at 10am. Amicus North-West Regional Secretary Kevin Coyne is now confirmed as a speaker. Bring along friends, family and supporters for the rally and march.

4) You can park free at the Longsight Asda, and we've arranged a minibus to ferry you up to Wenlock Way. Please arrive well before 9:45am, as we can't fit in everyone on one trip.

5) We'll be marching from the rally to the Pakistani Community Centre, Stockport Road, Longsight. This is next to the parking area. We'll be holding a General Meeting for members there at 11am, to take decisions on the next steps in the dispute.

Now that we're taking action, we have to make sure we win. Otherwise the company will treat it as a green light to make more attacks on our rights. Please don't stay at home on Monday - come and join in the activities. We're already getting significant media interest in the dispute, and a big turnout for the rally and march will make a real difference.

The march route and details are already available on this dispute web page, and further updates will be posted here in coming days.

We've set up two phone numbers for queries in the coming days:

* 0701 740 3216 to hear a recorded message about the action.

* 0701 740 3105 to speak to a rep with any queries on the action.

[unfortunately, calls to these numbers will cost approximately mobile phone rates]

Don't forget to set up your Out Of Office reply. We suggest the following wording:

"Fujitsu Services staff at West Gorton are taking industrial action from Monday 15th September 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"

This is the text of an email we've sent out to most MAN05 staff in response to the propaganda from Roger Leek and Peter Hutchinson:

AMICUS Notice to Staff - 12th September 2003

MAN05 INDUSTRIAL ACTION

You may have read Roger Leek's announcement yesterday, and Peter Hutchinson's announcement today, concerning the industrial action which begins on Monday 15th September.

The company only began serious negotiation once our members had voted to take industrial action, despite months when Amicus was raising the issues in dispute. We acknowledge that progress has been made in the last few weeks on a number of topics. Indeed, we'd describe certain aspects of the company offer more positively than Roger did.

A ship only needs to be holed once below the waterline to make it unseaworthy. So it is with the company offer. However positive some aspects of the offer may be, if other parts are fundamentally flawed, the whole deal becomes unworkable. The Amicus members involved in the dispute were sent the full text of the company offer. We then held an Extraordinary General Meeting of members which discussed the offer in detail. In full possession of the facts, not just some company spin, Amicus members unanimously rejected the offer, and confirmed the decision to take industrial action on Monday.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE OFFER?

1) The company are seeking to restrict individual's right to representation, despite the fact that we've presented a petition to the company, signed by the majority of their MAN05 staff, which said "If employees choose to be represented in a meeting, managers should not deny them that right". The company want a veto on when people can be represented, and to worsen the individual grievance procedure in other fundamental ways.

2) Reducing their commitment to consult, set out in the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA). They want to narrow the circumstances in which they'd consult, and avoid collective consultation for smaller number of job cuts.

3) The company refuse to give any guarantee that they will continue the past practice that all staff get 90-days warning of potential redundancy - they want to exclude better-paid staff.

4) No offer on Fair Pay.

5) We and the company want to agree a clear definition of who gets SEA redundancy terms. Their offer includes a definition which is wrong, and would threaten the redundancy terms of many staff.

6) The company want us to give them more power to break employee's contracts and make them redundant with Pay In Lieu Of Notice (PILON) instead of notice, regardless of the individual's wishes.

7) Banning the use of the individual grievance procedure in relation to redundancy, but not defining the alternative appeal process

Amicus didn't enter these negotiations to give away your rights.

AFFORDABLE?

The company would like to present the dispute as if the issue was affordability. That's not true. Many of the key questions in dispute are not financial - they're about the company treating employees with respect, and letting you have a voice.

Even the issue of pay needn't have been an issue of affordability - we'd proposed using some of the bonus money to fund pay rises, but the company turned that down.

A THREAT TO OUR OWN JOBS?

The company wants to present industrial action as a threat to our own jobs. We recognise that the action will harm the company, and are taking it as a last resort, after months of trying to get the company to negotiate seriously. But the alternative is almost like blackmail - if we allow the company to attack our rights because we always fear the alternative, there would be no end to the attacks. We have to draw the line somewhere. The company has a responsibility to avoid damage to its business - if only management took that as seriously as we do.

The company want us to believe that the result of action would be to move work away from Manchester. This would be no answer to the issues we're raising, many of which are shared by staff across the country. Every day we receive membership forms from other sites. Staff elsewhere are hoping to benefit from what we win - just as helpdesk staff nationally gained Sick Pay already.

The company has a responsibility to avoid damage to its business - if only management took that as seriously as we do.

ACTION

Nobody takes industrial action lightly. But our members know that if we don't resolve the major outstanding issues, we'd be giving up rights that staff have cherished for many years. If we do nothing, we believe that matters will get sharply worse for employees.

The company is keen to encourage the myth that the industrial action is for Amicus members only. This is not true. Every Fujitsu Services employee at MAN05 (including home-based workers with a MAN05 admin base) has the same legal protection for taking lawful industrial action. The company would like to pretend that only 10% of MAN05 staff support the planned action - where on earth do they get that figure from?

If you think the issues we're fighting for are important, please support our action. You need to make this important decision for yourself, not be fooled by company "spin".

Industrial Action plans

This leaflet (162k file) gives details of the plan of industrial action.

March route for 15th September

Members reject offer - strike on for Monday 15th September

This afternoon's Extraordinary General Meeting passed the following motion without a single vote against:

This group rejects the company offer as it now stands. We will begin industrial action as planned on Monday 15th September, and continue negotiations.

We recognise that the agreements have been drafted in haste, and instruct our reps to work with the company to improve the agreements, and seek our approval for a revised version.

This means that the industrial action planned for Monday will go ahead.

The meeting recognised that the offer was substantially better than the one considered last week. However, we identified ten key points where the offer from the company was still so seriously flawed that it was unacceptable:

1) Restricting the right to individual representation to certain types of meetings (worse than our current union recognition agreement)

2) Allowing the company to unilaterally make "exceptions" from the Individual Grievance procedure (worse than our current union recognition agreement)

3) Allowing the company to implement decisions before hearing individual grievances (worse than our current union recognition agreement)

4) Restricting collective consultation to redundancies, rather than redeployments and reorganisations, as required by the existing Security of Employment Agreement (SEA)

5) Stopping collective consultation where less than 11 people were to be made redundant (worse than the existing SEA)

6) Giving no guarantee on 90-day redundancy consultation periods for those earning over £35,836 (unlike SEA or past practice)

7) No offer on pay

8) An inaccurate definition of who was covered by the SEA, which would threaten the redundancy terms of many members

9) Changed wording on Pay In Lieu Of Notice (PILON) that allows the company to dismiss members without notice

10) Banning the use of the individual grievance procedure in relation to redundancy, but not adequately defining the alternative appeal process

Amicus is calling on all Fujitsu Services employees based at West Gorton (including home workers with a MAN05 admin base) to strike on Monday 15th September. Action short of strike starts on this day too.

WHAT ABOUT NON-MEMBERS?

Non union members can take part in the industrial action. They have the same legal protection as members - they cannot be dismissed for taking part in lawful industrial action. To offer them further reassurance, the EGM agreed that we would defend non-members who joined in. If they support what we're fighting for, they should support our action.

What the members said

We held an Extraordinary General Meeting of members this afternoon.

The meeting considered the offer from the company. There were problems with the content of the proposed agreements, and the fundamental problem that they required the union to make major concrete concessions (for example giving up the Security of Employment Agreement as a collective agreement) in exchange for points which would not be finalised at the time of signing.

Members passed the following motion unanimously:

* We reject the company?s offer, and resolve to begin industrial action on 15th September.

* We instruct our reps not to delay the action again.

* We instruct our reps only to call off the action if the company has made an offer that members have indicated they wish to accept, or if that decision is made by a further General Meeting.

* We recognise that the agreements have been drafted in haste, and instruct our reps to work with the company to improve the agreements, and seek our approval for a second version.

Reps will continue negotiations with the company, and the two sides have agreed that if an improved set of draft agreements are produced, it will be brought to a further Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday 11th September. Reps will hold an initial meeting with the company at 9am tomorrow, to report on the General Meeting.

Computer Weekly coverage

Computer Weekly continues to cover our dispute.

What next?

Talks with management continue tomorrow and Wednesday. We don't want to spend a lot of time agreeing a report on Friday's talks with management, only for things to change tomorrow. We aim to have an agreed progress statement after tomorrow's talks.

At Friday's meeting we presented a petition, signed by 535 Fujitsu Services West Gorton staff. The petition read:

The General Meeting for members will be:

3pm-4:30pm, Thursday 4th September

MAN05 restaurant

This meeting will consider any further offer from the company, and either accept that offer, or reaffirm the industrial action planned for Monday 15th September. It is therefore vital that all members based at West Gorton (including home workers with a West Gorton admin base) attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, plans for the 15th are taking shape, with most of the route for the march already agreed with the police.