This week the talks between Amicus and Fujitsu Services took place on Wednesday 29th October and Thurs 30th October.
The company gave us a new version of the Redundancy agreement on Wednesday and we provided initial comments so that we were aware of the principles and issues that needed discussion on Thursday.
On Thursday, the company provided an updated statement on pay, which we will be providing comments on before next week's talks. Amicus provided an updated version of the new union recognition agreement which the company have now provided comments on, and we are presently updating this agreement.
The majority of Thursday's talks then concentrated on continuing discussions on the principles and the more difficult issues in the redundancy agreement. During these discussions a new issue came to light and so the company negotiating team have taken this issue back to their redundancy experts and have agreed to provide clarity on the company's position on this issue by Tuesday next week (4th Nov).
The parties have arranged to continue talks on Thursday next week plus one other day (still to be arranged).
Talks were held between Amicus and Fujitsu Services on Friday 24th October..
Updates to the new union recognition agreement were swapped between the parties. There was a discussion on the statement from the company on pay, and they are now working on an updated statement on this.
Much of the day was spent discussing the principles on the more difficult issues within the redundancy agreement. The company are now discussing these issues with their experts in this area and we expect more clarity on the company's position on these issues mid-week this week.
The parties had arranged to continue talks on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
At today's meeting the members voted for the following motion:
We recognise the progress that has been made in negotiations. We are concerned that the relevant people have not been involved in the discussions on a new redundancy agreement, which involves most of the remaining sticking points. We instruct our reps to continue to push for their full participation.
We welcome the offer from the Company to extend the 8-week protected period for industrial action to allow talks to continue. We resolve to suspend the industrial action scheduled for next week to allow more time for negotiations.
We instruct our reps to report back to us on progress in negotiations within 3 weeks, to seek our approval for an agreement or to decide on further action.
If the Company break off negotiations, or refuse to further extend the 8-week period, we authorise our reps to call action short of strike and up to four days further strike action.
This means that the strikes planned for next Monday & Tuesday (27/10/03 & 28/10/03) are OFF.
Negotiations continue on Friday (24/10/03).
Talks between Amicus and Fujitsu Services continued today.
Good progress continues on a new union recognition agreement. Some progress was made on pay. A lot of work remains to be done on the redundancy agreement.
The parties are now considering a variety of issues and will meet again on Tuesday.
There will be a meeting for Amicus members on Wednesday to hear a detailed progress report from the negotiating team and decide on next steps.
Yesterday talks reopened between Amicus and Fujitsu Services, with ACAS providing advice and facilitation.
The talks made good progress, but much work remains to be done.
Yesterday's talks focused on union recognition. Both parties are now looking into some key points. Formal negotiations on Thursday will focus on redundancy issues.
In response to the company's offer to reopen negotiations, today's General Meeting agreed a proposal from the reps committee to call off industrial action. This will allow formal negotiations to restart on Monday.
Reps will be contacting Amicus officials to withdraw the action - this includes both the strikes planned for Monday and Tuesday, and the ongoing action short of strike.
The meeting agreed:
Motion 1 - Issues in dispute
Providing the offers on the other issues were positive, and the company agreed a distribution of the April 2004 pay review which addresses the Fair Pay issues, we would agree to take no further action in pursuit of the 2003 Fair Pay claim.
Motion 2 - Plans for action
The aim of our campaign has always been to secure a sensible negotiated settlement to the dispute.
Given that the company is now prepared to negotiate again, we resolve to call off our industrial action to allow intensive formal negotiations to take place for a period of one week, which should be sufficient to know whether the company is serious about an agreement.
To prepare for the possibility that the negotiations are unsuccessful, we authorise the reps committee to call action short of strike and up to four days further strike action during the remainder of the eight weeks from 15th September. An EGM must be held before the first of these days, to give the members the opportunity to assess the outcome of the week of formal negotiations, and call off this action if appropriate.
Motion 1 prevents the company claiming that the dispute is about affordability, focuses us on defending the rights and benefits we already have, while still ensuring that the "Fair Pay" issues are not ignored.
Motion 2 means we have a short period to find out whether the company is serious about negotiations and assess progress before further action is taken.
The meeting was clear that the campaign goes on until the ink is drying on a new set of agreements - we need to keep explaining the issues to our colleagues and building up support for the campaign.
A big thankyou to all the trade unionists inside and outside Fujitsu who've been sending us messages of support and donations. They really do make a difference.
We'd already posted many messages here.
We've now created part 5 with the latest (printable) ones. We've also had many other messages we can't print because people are concerned about management reprisals.
Following Monday's informal talks, the company have now contacted us to propose a second stage of formal negotiations. Thanks to everyone who's been taking part in the action, and helped with the "negotiate now" petition for making this possible. Unity and determination gets results.
Reopening negotiations is an important and positive step forward, but not the end of the campaign.
What happens next?
Your reps are discussing with the company a timetable and format for the second stage of negotiations.
Important decisions will need to be made at Thursday's EGM:
* Instructing reps for the next stage of negotiations
* Deciding whether the planned strike goes ahead on Monday and Tuesday
* Deciding what plans to make for future industrial action, should that prove necessary
It's vital that every MAN05 member is at the EGM to have their say:
3pm-4:30pm
Thursday 9th October
MAN05 restaurant
Strike
While your reps are working with the company to see what proposals can be brought to Thursday's meeting, it's important that we don't take the eye off the ball of preparing for the 2-day strike planned for Monday and Tuesday. It's up to the company to convince the members at the EGM to call it off, not a decision for reps to make on your behalf.
This morning's "informal meeting" with the company was inconclusive.
We presented the petition calling on the company to negotiate. It had over 400 signatures collected at MAN05 in under a week - thanks to everyone who helped.
The company have gone away to consider what we said. They made no requests of Amicus, nor any proposals to reopen negotiations.
In the meantime, notice has been served on the company of the two-day strike planned for 13-14 October. We have a members' meeting on Thursday, which could call off this action - if the company gave our members a reason to do so. Let's hope wise counsels prevail!
We pointed out to management that members have already decided on two further days of strike action in the first two weeks of October, if this was necessary. The latest this action could take place would be 13-14 October (Monday and Tuesday). We suggested that we should make the maximum use of the time before the next planned action for talks.
INFORMAL TALKS
Though the Company is currently refusing to hold formal negotiations with Amicus, they have approached us for an informal meeting on Monday morning. We expect this meeting to discuss the prospects for reopening negotiations and settling the dispute.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Your reps have taken the initiative of writing to Roger Leek (Fujitsu Services HR boss) to set out our view of the way forward for negotiations. We've published the letter on our "MAN05 Union" CafeVIK intranet community.
It's important that we keep up the pressure on the company to reopen talks, and to reach a sensible settlement to this dispute. You can help by signing, taking round and returning the "negotiate now" petition as soon as possible.
MEMBERS MEETING
We are arranging an Extraordinary General Meeting for Thursday 9th October to discuss the dispute. Because the company are dragging their feet in reopening negotiations, we don't anticipate a formal offer being on the table by then.