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).
The next meeting of Greater Manchester IT Branch is:
6pm-7:30pm, Thursday 6th November
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA
All branch members are encouraged to attend.
From the TUC:
Commenting on the CBI's call for the Government to rethink plans to protect workers whose pension funds become insolvent, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"The CBI is crying crocodile tears. Let's not forget it was employers who took pensions holidays, and didn't pay in when times were good, and employers who've been retreating from their pensions obligations, closing decent schemes, reducing their contributions, shifting the burden to their employees and leaving many workers high and dry.
"The idea behind the Pension Protection Fund is a sound one. It's simply an insurance scheme, with contributions based on risk. If employers don't want to pay a high premium, then all they have to do is manage their pension schemes well. It is quite wrong for employers to demand that workers bear all the risk for the poor management of pension funds."
The negotiating team reported back to members at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) this afternoon, saying they were "cautiously optimistic".
Overall the talks are making better progress than those that took place before our industrial action, but much remains to be done.
The meeting passed 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 Monday and Tuesday are OFF.
Thanks to everyone who attended the EGM.
Negotiations continue on Friday. Lynne Hodge will be leading the negotiations after the end of this week, supported by Wahid Iqbal and Zahid Ramzan. On Friday we expect Debbie Brannan (our Amicus Regional Officer) and Frank Sullivan (from ACAS) to join us for part of the day.
The intention is to work towards a set of agreements to settle the dispute. Though the negotiations are concentrating on the documents one at a time, we anticipate that the company would offer them as a package, not separately. This means we should be able to circulate drafts as progress is made, but they are unlikely to be "offered" until we are at the end of the process.
Don't forget to bookmark the dispute web page for updates: http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute
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.
The latest minutes of the MAN05 Health & Safety Committee are available here.
We have significant concerns about the management of health and safety, which has deteriorated significantly in the last few years.
We plan to ensure that these issues are addressed once the current dispute is settled.
This week is European Health & Safety week. We are encouraging Health & Safety reps to carry out inspections of the workplace. The right to inspect the workplace is a key right of H&S reps, which helps keep your working environment healthy and safe. If you'd like to become a H&S rep, please get in touch.
A number of members have asked us for an update on the legal cases arising from the big redundancies in ICL in 2002.
The second set of cases to be heard are individual claims for Unfair Dismissal or Breach of Contract. These are listed to be heard at the Employment Tribunals in Manchester between 4th and 7th May 2004. Not all the cases people lodged will be heard - Amicus and the company agreed a set of test cases (Blundell, Upson, Wood and Wortley) which would cover all the issues in dispute. The other cases should then be able to be settled quickly out of court, in the light of the judgements in these cases.
Please note that some members around the country didn't lodge their claims via the MAN05 group, and they may have their claims heard at other times and/or places.
Negotiations began yesterday, and made good progress. After a session covering a range of issues at a high level, we had a good discussion on what the motion passed at Thursday's EGM meant for our claim for "Fair Pay". Most of the day concentrated on the draft union recognition agreement. Agreement was reached on many points, but there are still some areas of disagreement or confusion. Formal talks continue on Thursday, which we expect to be dominated by work on the draft redundancy agreement.
The company has repeatedly highlighted the difficulties of negotiating "to deadlines" or "under duress". We have pointed out that the deadlines Amicus faces are not of our own making, but imposed by the anti-trade union legislation. We thought that the suggestion from ACAS that the company could agree to extend the deadlines the law imposes on Amicus was helpful, and are disappointed that the company are unwilling to do so at the moment.
Consequently, in parallel to working hard on the negotiation process, we are having to prepare now for the possibility that the negotiations don't make sufficient progress. In line with the decision of the EGM on Thursday, your reps are:
a) Asking Amicus to call a two-day strike later in October
b) Organising an Extraordinary General Meeting for Wednesday 22nd October. This will hear reports on the progress of negotiations, and can call off the strike if sufficient progress is being made
Remember what we're fighting for:
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.
In response to the company's offer to reopen negotiations, today's MAN05 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 well-attended meeting heard reports from the reps and there was time for questions and discussion.
Three motions were passed:
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 3 - Involvement
a) It was unity that won Sick Pay for helpdesk staff.
b) Throughout the dispute, all decisions have been taken openly and democratically by the members.
c) Each of us stands to gain or lose by the outcome of this dispute.
d) Each member has an equal vote, and an equal responsibility to carry out decisions.
e) Success comes from unity and the involvement of the maximum numbers of employees.
f) We congratulate those who took part in the picketing, rally and march on the 15th September. We congratulate those who took part in the picketing and motorcade on 29th September.
g) We resolve to use branch funds to make strike pay available to those who turn up and take part in the activities on any future strike days.
h) We resolve to once again make hardship payments available to those in particular need on any future strike days.
i) We resolve to play a full part in the activities on any future strike days.
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, before further action is considered.
Motion 3 draws some of the lessons from the action we have already taken, and how we would organise future action if that proves necessary.
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.
[name removed] was elected to fill one of the two vacancies on the reps committee. [name removed]was previously a rep, but resigned when he was off work for a long period of illness. He will not be able to take up full responsibilities until the end of the month, when he is working full-time again.
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.
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:
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.
If we have to go ahead with next week's strike, it's important we have as many people taking part in the strike and associated activities as possible. At the moment, plans are at the outline stage:
Some level of strike pay will be available to all members on this occasion. Hardship payments will also be available to those in particular need.
We expect every member to take part in at least some of the picketing, and payments will only be made to those who do so. You wouldn't expect the company to pay you if you didn't show up, why should you expect the union to do the same? Do you expect your colleagues to do all your work for you - why expect that on a strike day?
Payment levels will be set by the reps committee once we know the numbers of people requiring payments.
To arrange which times you can take part in picketing, please email Rep Phil Tepper.
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!
Thursday, 9th October, 2003.
3pm-4:30pm.
MAN05 Restaurant.
This meeting is for ALL Amicus members employed by Fujitsu Services at MAN05 (including home-workers with a MAN05 admin base).
It is important that you take the time to attend this meeting.
Make sure you're there, and your views are heard. Your Reps strongly agree with the head of Core Services that every member should attend this meeting, have their say, and listen to the debate.
An agenda for the meeting will be circulated nearer the time.
As always, any member can submit a motion to the EGM. If you wish to do so, please submit it by noon on Tuesday 7th October by sending an email to Rep Phil Tepper.
If your manager will need to arrange cover for you to attend, please inform them straight away. If you have any difficulty getting release for this meeting, please contact your rep promptly.
As well as reports, discussion and voting on the issues around the dispute, the meeting will be able to elect new reps to fill our vacancies. If you want to make a nomination, please send it in by noon on Tuesday 7th October. For each nominee, we need:
Please send nominations to Rep Phil Tepper.
This morning your negotiating team (Ian Allinson, Lynne Hodge, Wahid Iqbal) had an informal meeting with the company to discuss how the dispute could be resolved.
Amicus are pushing for the reopening of negotiations, and presented a petition with 405 signatures collected at MAN05 in under a week. Your reps made clear that this represented a groundswell of opinion that it was unacceptable for the parties to be refusing to talk. Thanks to everyone who signed or helped collect signatures on the petition.
Your reps explained to the company which issues we believed there were real differences on, and which problems were due to hasty drafting of the agreements. There were a number of issues where your reps couldn't say, as the company had inserted significant points without discussion, so we don't understand their position.
The company would not commit to restarting negotiations, but are taking away our points to consider. While we obviously hope that the company will come to its senses, we have to proceed on the assumption that more pressure will be required until we learn otherwise.
The next key steps are:
Your reps intend to present the "Negotiate Now!" petition to management at the informal meeting on Monday. Filled sheets are coming in quickly - please make sure everyone in your area has been asked to sign it. Who could object to calling on the company to talk?
You can get copies of the petition from:
a) The union noticeboard, near the cash machine, between phase 2 and 3, downstairs in the main building
b) The union office, m.f1a, upstairs, phase 2 in the main building
c) Your rep
d) here on CafeVik
Don't forget, you need to return the petitions in time for them to be presented on Monday morning.
We need to move the company from informal talks to proper negotiations if the dispute is to be settled before we take the next strike action. In line with the decision of the members at the last EGM, we expect this to be called for 13-14 October.
The informal talks will discuss the prospects for agreement, and what formal negotiations would be conducted. Amicus has always been willing to talk without preconditions, but we believe the company wish to make some. The informal talks on Monday will not be working on a new offer - that would be the business of the formal negotiations. These are "talks about talks".
We will be able to report to you on progress at the Extraordinary General Meeting:
3pm-4:30pm, Thursday 9th October
MAN05 restaurant
Your reps strongly agree with the head of Core Services that every member should attend this meeting, have their say, and listen to the debate. If your manager would need to arrange cover for you to attend, please let them know as soon as possible.
An agenda for the meeting will be circulated nearer the time, but there are two items which you should start considering now:
1) Rep nominations
By next week we will have two vacancies on the reps committee, due to Saiqa Karim leaving the company and Patrick Hayes changing to work part-time. It's important we have a full complement of reps, so please think about making a nomination for someone, or standing yourself. We intend to put nominations to the EGM, so we need them in by noon on Tuesday 7th October. For each nominee, we need:
Please email nominations to Rep Phil Tepper.
2) Motions
As always, any member can submit a motion to the EGM. If you wish to do so, please submit it by noon on Tuesday 7th October by sending an email to Rep Phil Tepper.
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In Friday's notice, we focussed on the importance of defending our redundancy rights, and just how much employees stand to lose if the company gets away with their attacks. Today we highlight some of the issues around union recognition.
1) Treating us as individuals
The company portray the union as "interfering" in the relationship between employees and their managers. They claim they want to treat everyone as individuals when the alternative is a genuine collective voice. It's interesting that this isn't consistent though.
Think of some of the things the company does:
Think of some of the things the company doesn't do:
Amicus doesn't disagree with all these, but they do illustrate the hypocrisy of the company's objections to union recognition. They don't object to treating people as a group when it suits them, but they do object to their employees having any significant control over their working lives. The company wants to divide and rule by isolating staff. The union offers the strength of collective action, where members can actually influence the company policies that affect them.
2) What's a union?
a) Unions have to be legally certified as "independent" of their employer by the Certification Officer. To achieve this, they have to be financially and organisationally independent of the employers, so that they can properly represent their members. For many years, employers who don't want their employees to have an effective voice have tried to set up bodies under their control to act as a fig-leaf for their plans.
b) Unions have many years of experience in dealing with a wide variety of employers and situations. No matter how experienced your reps, employees need the backup of the union behind them.
c) Unions provide extensive training for both reps and members, and there are legal rights to back this up. The company train their own representatives, why shouldn't employees do the same?
d) Unions have independent money and other resources to back up the members when they need it e.g. legal representation, trained specialist advisors, researchers, pensions expertise, the resources to run a campaign
e) If the worst comes to the worst, unions have legal immunity for calling industrial action.
f) Unions are the members, and (for all their faults) are among the most democratic organisations in the world.
g) The trade union movement is the biggest voluntary organisation in the UK, with millions of members.
3) Legal rights
There are a host of legal rights that come from union recognition. These include:
4) Union recognition
Our existing union recognition agreement gives us:
Don't forget, the dispute around the attacks on our agreements started because the company is breaking our existing agreement, not because we were asking for more!
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.
Chestertons Workplace Management provide "facilities management" for MAN05 - keeping the site running. They in turn outsource various tasks such as maintenance, cleaning and security to other companies. The maintenance staff were working for Dalkia, who have lost the contract. The work has now being outsourced to another company, and the staff transfer with the work. Their terms and conditions are protected by the "TUPE" regulations as part of the transfer. One of the main concerns was that Chestertons intended to divide the work between two suppliers, but move all the staff to one, leaving members concerned about their job security. Members in the unit tell us that the issue was resolved prior to transfer, and that all the work has moved with the people.
You'll have an opportunity to discuss the dispute at our next branch meeting, and there will be a talk (from Derek Wise) and discussion on "Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures". All members of the branch are welcome to attend:
6pm, Thursday 2nd October
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub
Shudehill, Manchester city centre, M4 4AA
We've had a phone conversation with the Core Services HR boss, who is leading the negotiations for the Company. We pointed out that members had 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.
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.
Your reps have taken the initiative of writing to the 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 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. This means it's vital that you:
We are arranging an Extraordinary General Meeting for Thursday 9th October to discuss the dispute. Watch this space for details. Because the company are dragging their feet in reopening negotiations, we don't anticipate a formal offer being on the table by then.
Thanks to the generous donations that have been coming in, we were able to make hardship payments available for Monday's half-day strike. We had said that members needed to sign-in at the motorcade preparation area on Monday morning to qualify. As this was the first time we'd offered hardship payments, and there seemed to be some confusion about the process, the reps decided yesterday to slightly relax that rule on this one occasion. As few members applied for the payments, on this occasion we'll be able to provide 75% of loss of earnings for those who did sign-in, and 50% for those who didn't.