Worried about pensions? Have you lost out as firms close their pension schemes?
Or are you just starting in work, and wondering if there will be anything left when you retire?
Members in many companies know the problems caused by the inadequate legal protection for occupational pensions. Meanwhile the value of the state pension continues to be eroded. Now you have your chance to let the Government know how strongly you feel about your (and your children's) pensions. In the biggest push ever on the pensions issue, the TUC has called a national rally in defence of pensions (part of their ongoing campaign in defence of pensions):
Why not join us for (hopefully) a nice sunny day, walk and talk in the capital!
Amicus is working to make this demo as large as possible.
For more information, see the TUC's website about the rally: <http://www.tuc.org.uk/pensionsrally/> which includes lots of information about the route (unusually we'll get to march past Parliament) as well as posters and leaflets.
While Amicus have been successful in defending the "final salary" scheme in Fujitsu Services from the sorts of attacks seen in many other companies, we know that pensions are a long-term issue. Newer employees are barred from joining the scheme, and the trend to close such schemes leaves existing members worrying about the future.
Coach transport to the event is free to AMICUS members and coaches will run from a variety of locations - see <http://www.tuc.org.uk/pensionsrally/> for your nearest pickup location. In Manchester for example the coach is leaving from Chorlton Street bus station at 07:30.
We would like to send a sizeable delegation from all parts of the country on the rally to make sure our voices are heard. If you'd like to go, please email Rep Dave Francis so he can reserve seats on the appropriate coach for you. Dave can also supply posters for the rally.
You can read more Amicus information here: <http://www.amicustheunion.org/main.asp?page=265>.
This is only applicable to members of the ICL Defined Benefit Pension Scheme and specifically if you have NOT yet signed your contract amendment.
A reminder - a note was sent out to all AMICUS members about the fact that the company had answered the outstanding questions regarding the pension consultation and that it was now up to you as an individual whether or not you signed your amendment to contract.
If you do not sign you effectively terminate your employment. I've attached a copy of this note for reference.
You were requested to sign your contract amendment within your notice period and most people have done so.
The minimum notice period for affected employees, which is 13 weeks, has almost expired, time is now running out. If you have signed, that is the end of the matter.
If you have NOT signed you will lose your job.
If your notice period is greater than 13 weeks you need to sign your contract amendment prior to the expiry of that period.
This is NOT a redundancy situation. Do not inadvertently allow your employment to be terminated in this way.
Please contact PensionConsult or any UKPCF Rep for further advice
Thousands of jobs in manufacturing, many of them belonging to Amicus members, are disappearing every week. This is not only an issue for members working in manufacturing, for two reasons:
Amicus is running a major campaign in defence of manufacturing jobs - its success will benefit members in every industry. The North West has always depended on manufacturing for its prosperity. Whether it is engineering, aerospace, car making or any one of a thousand other jobs manufacturing is crucial for the North West.
Many of you will have seen the news coverage of the Amicus protests on manufacturing at last year's Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and the May Day rally in Burnley.
The next key step in the Amicus campaign will be a North West regional march and rally in Manchester - please join us there:
Saturday 5 June
Assemble 10am, Whitworth Park
Manchester
March leaves 11am
Rally at 12 noon, Manchester Town Hall, Albert Square
Speakers will include Derek Simpson, General Secretary and Kevin Coyne, North West Secretary.
For a poster advertising the event see http://www.amicustheunion.org/PDF/north_west_a4_leaflet.pdf.
[a TUC press release]
Commenting on the government's announcement that workers who have lost pensions are to be compensated, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'This is an important victory for union campaigning, and the ministers who have been working hard for a just deal deserve praise. The task now is to make sure that each individual who has lost out gets a fair deal from the funds announced today.
'Yet this is not the only pensions issue. The retreat from good salary-related pensions continues, fewer people have any access to a pension at work and the state pension is not keeping up with earnings. Today's victory will spur unions to step up our campaign for a new pensions settlement.'
Worried about pensions? Have you lost out as firms close their pension schemes?
Or are you just starting in work, and wondering if there will be anything left when you retire?
Members in many companies know the problems caused by the inadequate legal protection for occupational pensions. Meanwhile the value of the state pension continues to be eroded. Now you have your chance to let the Government know how strongly you feel about your (and your children's) pensions. In the biggest push ever on the pensions issue, the TUC has called a national rally in defence of pensions (part of their ongoing campaign in defence of pensions):
"Pay up for Pensions"
Saturday 19 June
London.
Transport by Coach is free from central Manchester for AMICUS members
Why not join us for a hopefully a nice sunny day
walk & talk in the capital!
Amicus is working to make this demo as large as possible.
For more information, see the TUC's website about the rally: <http://www.tuc.org.uk/pensionsrally/> which includes lots of information about the route (unusually we'll get to march past Parliament) as well as posters and leaflets.
While Amicus have been successful in defending the "final salary" scheme in Fujitsu Services from the sorts of attacks seen in many other companies, we know that pensions are a long-term issue. Newer employees are barred from joining the scheme, and the trend to close such schemes leaves existing members worrying about the future.
We would like to send a sizeable delegation on the rally to make sure our voices are heard. If you'd like to go, please email Rep Dave Francis so he can reserve seats on the coach for you. Dave also has posters for the rally.
You can read more Amicus information here: http://www.amicustheunion.org/main.asp?page=265.
This year the MAN05 Amicus group achieved a negotiated pay deal for the first time for many years. While the overall 3% pot was not adequate to address the serious pay problems ICL/Fujitsu has built up over many years, we were pleased that the criteria used at MAN05 were fairer than the company's approach elsewhere. In particular, avoiding zero rises for almost everyone and giving priority to those below the bottom of the 2003 pay scale were important achievements.
HR have promised us data by the end of this week so that reps can analyse the impact of the April pay review. The analysis is complicated, but we hope to be able to report some of the results within the next couple of weeks.
The agreement in March also covered the vexed issue of Professional Community (PC) "remapping". Over the last year or so there have been a number of changes to the Professional Community structure. Old roles have disappeared and new ones have been created. In some cases the company didn't notify employees that their role had changed. The "mapping" process sometimes resulted in employees moving onto a PC role/level lower than their old one. In other words, some employees had been demoted without even being told! Even where employees were told their old and new codes, they often wouldn't realise they had been demoted, since the company keeps its pay scales secret. It is also true that some employees could have been "promoted by stealth" - if they have been moved up a grade without it being recognised as a promotion, they may have missed out on a pay rise to go with their promotion. The agreed statement read:
The Company has begun to conduct an analysis of current Community coding against the mapping exercise carried out from the previous Community codes. Any employee can access their personal details via Café VIK or HRDirect. The Company will write to each employee, informing them of their new code. Any non-standard mappings will be identified and reasons for the decision given. An appeal process will be established to allow for the correction of inappropriate coding. Where the appeal process identifies incorrect mappings, the employee will be moved to the correct role and detail code. Where this has resulted in a lower pay rise for the individual in the 2004 pay review, this will be addressed. Any such increases will be backdated to 1 April 2004.
It's apparent that the company have done nothing on this since members agreed the pay deal. However, reps had a phone conference with HR on Monday 10 May, and agreed a timetable for sorting this out. The company has promised that affected employees will get their "remapping" letter by the end of June.
The other area of work outstanding covers those employees still left below the bottom of the pay scales. It was important that we secured agreement to use the 2003 pay scales, as these were based on the external market rates. The so-called scales used outside MAN05 in 2004 (and also circulated within CCTS) were based on what Fujitsu Services paid its own staff - reflecting under-payment rather than challenging it. The MAN05 agreement said:
For employees who are paid below the bottom of their benchmark range, the company will document and discuss with the individual a plan to bring them up to at least that level.
This was also discussed at Monday's phone conference. Again, the company had made no progress since March. However, we were again able to agree a timetable for progress. HR will come back to your reps with a proposal by 3 June. The company has promised that plans will be discussed with individual employees who are below benchmark by the end of June.
You will remember that Amicus had proposed allowing MAN05 employees to "convert" part of their bonus entitlement into pay as a way of helping to fund (and so accelerate) tackling the under-payment problem. The company rejected this plan, so employees are not being given this option. The bonus scheme affecting the majority of employees - "Sharing in Success" is based on the 2003-4 results. HR could give us no indication of whether the scheme will pay out, but your reps do expect it to be paid in June. Will Sharing in Success pay out the standard 5%, 6% like last year, or more to reflect the company's strong performance?
We are limited by the lack of union recognition in what we can do on pay for staff beyond MAN05. We are raising many of the key issues through the UK Consultative Forum (UKCF), but this is no substitute for effective union organisation. We need to continue to build up union membership and organisation across the company to deliver real gains for employees.
[A TUC press release]
Driving for a living can be a hazardous occupation, every year over 1,000 workers are killed in work-related road accidents, and an additional 7,500 suffer serious injury. Today (Wednesday) to coincide with International Workers' Memorial Day, the TUC is publishing a new 'safer driving pack' to encourage employers to take their responsibility for employees on the road more seriously. Quite apart from the obvious pain and suffering experienced by families who lose a loved one, the TUC is concerned that the high number of work-related fatalities and serious injuries on UK roads represent a huge cost to the UK economy. Official statistics put the annual cost of workers killed or injured on the roads at a massive £3.5 billion (that's in addition to the £14 billion cost of poor health and safety in the UK's shops, factories and offices).
The TUC believes that employers are simply not doing enough to protect the health and safety of their employees who are out and about on the country's roads. All too often, says the leaflet, employers seem to think that if they've asked a member of staff to 'drive safely' then that's their health and safety responsibilities met.
Of course, not all work-related road accidents are preventable, but the TUC thinks that employers could be doing much more. Carrying out a proper risk assessment for all mobile employees to cover factors like the regular and proper servicing of company vehicles, sensible route planning and the setting of achievable deadlines would help cut the number of sales reps, delivery drivers, and HGV drivers killed or injured each year.
The TUC training pack aims to bring the issue of occupational road safety to the attention of the 200,000 or so union safety reps across the country. It gives tips on how reps can bring road safety to their employers' attention, suggests what a good company road safety policy should look like, and states the legal responsibilities of employers towards their driving staff.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'Tired, stressed drivers with too many drops to make in too little time are not going to be particularly safe drivers. Bosses have a real responsibility for the safety of their roving staff and reducing unrealistic and unmanageable workloads for their drivers must become a top priority. Because many work-related road accidents are treated like any other road accident, many employers are never called to account.
'The UK does not have a fantastic health and safety record and early indicators suggest that the number of employees killed at work this year is likely to rise. Yet our worsening safety record comes at a time when we are seeing less enforcement of safety laws and a reduction in the level of fines handed out to bosses committing health and safety crimes. This can only have a detrimental effect on all workplace accidents.
'The TUC would like to see the Government marking Workers Memorial Day tomorrow by announcing extra resources for the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities so that they can throw the book at those employers with scant regard for the safety of their staff.'
Thousands of jobs in manufacturing, many of them belonging to Amicus members, are disappearing every week. This is not only an issue for members working in manufacturing, for two reasons.
Amicus is running a major campaign in defence of manufacturing jobs - its success will benefit members in every industry: http://www.amicustheunion.org/main.asp?page=251
Many of you will have seen the news coverage of the Amicus protests on manufacturing at last year's Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and this week's May Day rally in Burnley which focused on the same issue.
The next key step in the Amicus campaign will be a North West regional march and rally in Manchester:
Saturday 5 June
Assemble 10am, Whitworth Park
March leaves 11am
Rally at 12 noon, Manchester Town Hall, Albert Square
With the announcement that "7799" support is being transferred to South Africa, many employees have been concerned that Fujitsu Services is following the fad for "offshoring" - transferring service delivery to countries where wages, employment and environmental standards are lower.
The issue was on the agenda for last week's Fujitsu Services Consultative Forum (FSCF) meeting. Amicus reps believe this issue is one of the biggest facing FS employees in the next few years.
The discussion at the FSCF shed more light on management thinking; reps are now considering their response. We would welcome ideas from members.
Offshoring has already hit the UK Finance sector hard - and Amicus has been at the centre of the campaign to stop it. We welcome economic development in poorer countries, but oppose companies profiteering by moving jobs to reduce terms and conditions, whether the move is 2 miles or 2000 miles. You can read more Amicus information here: http://www.amicustheunion.org/main.asp?page=219
Members in many companies know the problems caused by the inadequate legal protection for occupational pensions. Meanwhile the value of the state pension continues to be eroded. The TUC has called a national rally in defence of pensions, for Saturday 19 June in London. Amicus is working to make it as large as possible.
The TUC have set up a web site to help build the rally: http://www.tuc.org.uk/pensionsrally
While Amicus have been successful in defending the "final salary" scheme in Fujitsu Services from the sorts of attacks seen in many other companies, we know that pensions is a long-term issue. Newer employees are barred from joining the scheme, and the trend to close such schemes leaves existing members worrying about the future. We would like to send a sizeable delegation on the rally to make sure our voices are heard. If you'd like to attend, please email Rep Dave Francis. Dave will soon have posters for the rally which you can display at your desk.
You can read more Amicus information here: http://www.amicustheunion.org/main.asp?page=265
Amicus is organising a forum for all retired members in the North West. It will be taking place at 12:30pm on Tuesday 25th May at the Claremont Hotel, Blackpool.
If you're interested in going, you can get more details from our Branch Secretary, Derek Wise.
The next meeting of the Amicus Greater Manchester IT Branch is:
6pm-7:30pm, Thursday 6 May
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester city centre, M4 4AA
(near Shudehill tram stop and the spiral ramp to the Arndale car park)
All members of the branch are encouraged to attend.
As well as discussion on workplace issues and normal branch business, we hope to be joined by Gary Owen, our new Regional Officer.