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Amicus members at Fujitsu Services West Gorton held a lunch-time Protest Rally on Thursday 17th July 2003 outside the site.
The rally was:
Around eighty workers took part in the lunchtime rally, which was addressed by Debbie Brannan (Amicus Regional Officer), Sue Bond (chair of the PCS union branch at the Equal Opportunities Commission, and Vice President of the PCS, speaking in a personal capacity), and Ian Allinson, the senior Amicus rep at the site.
Debbie Brannan, Amicus Regional Officer said:
"The Government's agenda is progressing employees' individual and collective rights in the workplace including a right to be properly represented, a right to have grievances heard before decisions are made and a right to real consultation before any job losses. These are basic rights in the 21st century. It would appear Fujitsu don't agree as they are trying to undermine Amicus members' use of these rights"
Sue Bond explained the importance of an Equal Pay Review to eradicate discrimination in pay systems. There is a particular risk of discrimination in Performance Related Pay systems which are not transparent. Fujitsu Services staff are not allowed to see their own pay scales.
Ian Allinson explained how the dispute had arisen:
"We were tackling long-standing grievances. The lack of Sick Pay for many staff. A secretive and arbitrary pay system. And the company paying people less than their own pay scales, and then giving people zero. Our campaign was building up when the company attacked the union, breaking our union recognition and redundancy agreements. If a company intends to treat employees well, it has nothing to fear from a union. Employees can only draw one conclusion when a company attacks the union."
Amicus is about to start balloting members at the site for industrial action. Few people at the site can remember industrial action in the past - IT workers are hardly renowned for their militancy! Ian Allinson said:
"People have had enough. Last year we had no pay rise at all. This year the company imposed a pay deal during negotiations, leaving around a third of us with no rise again. Employees wanted the company to listen to them. Instead the company tried to undermine the union. Our members have been pushed too far."
Pictures of the protest are available here.
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