Unite Fujitsu News

Threshers

Because Fujitsu is a Corporate Business Partner of Thresher Group, Fujitsu staff qualify for a 40% discount on wine and champagne from Thursday 30th November to Sunday 10th December inclusive. This applies at Thresher, Wine Rack, Bottoms Up and Local store outlets, except Main Line Stations, Petrol Forecourt and Franchise partner outlets.

If you’re a Fujitsu employee but haven’t received your voucher from the company, let us know and we’ll send one on.

The fact that we’re circulating this information doesn’t imply that Amicus is endorsing Threshers or indeed that their offer is cheaper than alternative suppliers – make up your own mind.

Scottish UKCF Election

We understand that there will be a contest for the vacant Scottish UKCF seat. Please support Alan Black, Amicus Rep in Glasgow, in the election.

For more information, see our web site.

Access to Pay and Benefit Information

Our first win was providing some pay and benefit information to members across the UK using rights arising from union recognition in Manchester. We’ve built on that using the Data Protection Act to gain access to more information – using rights available to members across the country.

Amicus sent members a model letter individuals can use to gain access to the pay and benefit information which applies to them. For background information, see our web site.

If you sent your letter as soon as Amicus explained how to do it, you should now have your response from the company – legally they have to respond within 40 days.

If you have received a response, please enter the results here so that your Reps can collate the results.

If you didn’t receive a response within 40 days, please contact us for further advice, providing a copy of the original request.

The information provided by Amicus in the (hardcopy) briefing mailed to members in March will help you to interpret the information you receive.

Warrington Meeting

Don’t forget the Amicus meeting for Fujitsu staff in and around Warrington:

1:00pm on Wednesday 29th November
The Noggin, Warrington Road (just around the corner from WAR07/08/12/13)
The meeting is open to members and potential members, so please bring a friend or colleague.

The main business will be:

· To discuss issues affecting members in Warrington, including offshoring and the warehouse disciplinary code

· To discuss the impact of the dispute in Manchester on Fujitsu staff across the UK

· To discuss how we can build the union and move towards winning union recognition in Warrington beyond the existing UES group

· To elect Reps for the members in Warrington

We will be joined by Sarah Holden (Amicus Organiser) and Ian Allinson (senior rep from Manchester and UKCF member).

It would be helpful if you could let Wilf (Robert) Williams know if you will be attending this meeting by email or by phone.

For more information, please contact any of the existing Warrington reps: Wilf Williams, Kevin Isaacs or Chris Price.

Wakefield Meeting

Members in Wakefield held a lunchtime meeting last week. John Garvani, who is HOM99 based but linked to the WAK01 site, was elected as a Rep and it was agreed to seek further nominations. If you’re interested in being a local Rep or point of contact, or want to suggest a colleague, please get in touch.

A number of issues of concern to Wakefield staff were discussed:

• Despite the commitment given by the company at the UKCF, many Wakefield staff are still not being reimbursed for car parking charges. It was agreed to send any information about who was and wasn’t being paid to John Garvani.
• Due to redevelopment, it is expected that the current parking will cease to be available in the future. The company needs to make alternative arrangements, particularly given the number of staff working unsocial hours and others who need a car for their job.
• 0% “pay rises”.
• Many Wakefield staff were on “D1-4” helpdesk pay systems, but many of the scales were not published so staff had no confidence they were being paid fairly. The fact that staff can get access to this information through Amicus (see other blog entries on this day) needs to be made more visible to Wakefield staff.
• Many people were getting little or no pay increase on promotion. In some cases managers were claiming they “couldn’t” give the rise required to bring someone up to the appropriate level.

Members began to make plans for tackling these issues – if you want to get involved, please contact John Garvani.

Out Of Hours Payments

The company used to have a standard policy on out of hours payments, called the Unsocial Hours Policy (UHP), which was negotiated with the unions and offers a fair deal.

The company has gradually chipped away at the UHP, introducing a variety of packages, usually less generous. The predictable result was the current chaos, where some get paid UHP rates, others get nothing at all, with every variation in between. This is unfair for staff and hinders managers finding resources or predicting costs.

The company now wants to “harmonise” out of hours payments. This would mean contract changes for many staff, so HR plan a big “consultation” exercise.

Those who have been through “harmonisation” before know that companies rarely want to level up all the benefits to the best – they see an opportunity for cost cutting.

It’s obvious that we’ll get a better deal if we have a stronger union. If staff are to have a real say in any new arrangements, we need strong union organisation throughout the company. Can you talk to a colleague about this and ask them to join?

Manchester Dispute

The outcome of the dispute in Manchester will affect us all, so we all need to help our Manchester colleagues win.

The news that the company has committed to moving its position for fresh talks is welcome, but there is no deal yet and the campaign continues.

After advice from the Amicus legal department, we can now temporarily suspend the industrial action (see notice here on CafeVIK) pending talks. This means both the ongoing action short of strike, and the 2-day strike planned for Thursday and Friday.

If you’re based outside Manchester, you can help by:

• Sending a message of support to us. You can read messages already received on the web site.

• Make a donation – the campaign costs money and the company doesn’t pay people while they’re striking. Cheques payable to “Manchester IT Workers Group” can be sent to John Wood, 301 Bolton Road, BURY, BL8 2NZ. You can download a collection sheet from our web site. Alternatively you can donate online – the Account Number is 00980539 and the Sort Code is 30-91-48.

• Ask for a members’ meeting for your own workplace, to support Manchester members and to get better organised where you are. Meetings have already been held in Staines and Wakefield and Warrington is booked for tomorrow (see other entries in this blog for details).

You can keep abreast of the campaign at www.ourunion.org.uk/news and read the latest “One Per Desk” leaflet being distributed in Manchester here.

If you are in Manchester tomorrow (Wednesday 29th), please wear something red to show you want better pay and fair treatment on union recognition, redundancy and redeployment.

Industrial Action Suspended

This is the notice suspending industrial action at Fujitsu Manchester, pending talks.

The campaign continues with everyone encouraged to wear something red to work on Wednesday (29th November).

Fujitsu Manchester dispute: Background and Input

The Amicus negotiating team is accountable to the members, and the output from the talks will come back to the EGM for approval or rejection.

It would be helpful if you could give any input you have for the talks as soon as possible, so that it can be properly considered. Please ring Ian Allinson, Lynne Hodge or Sulayman Munir if you have input.

Comments that would be particularly useful include:

• What do you think are the most important and least important issues?
• Where do you want our negotiators to stand firm and where could they give ground?
• What aspects of the 2006 pay claim do you most want to see implemented now?

For reference, you’ll find various key documents relating to redundancy, redeployment, union recognition and the failure to implement the 2005 pay claim here:

• Letter to Roger Leek, October 2005, requesting works conference (identifies many of the issues in dispute)
• Report on dispute talks to 6 June 2006 (includes links to draft documents)
• Documents from July 2006 dispute talks (password is available from your Reps), includes updates on redundancy, redeployment and deployment, as well as agreed notes from meetings

Key documents relating to the 2006 pay deal are here:

• Amicus Manchester 2006 pay claim
• Company pay guidelines for those it accepted were in the bargaining unit
• Company pay guidelines for those it excluded from the bargaining unit

An explanation of union recognition and collective bargaining can be found here.

Wear Something Red Day

Wednesday (29th) is the day to wear something red to work, to show you want better pay and fair treatment on union recognition, redundancy and redeployment.

The timing has proved ideal, both because it will be the day before talks, so everyone can help ensure our negotiators have the strongest hand possible, and because Ray Clarke, the Director of Infrastructure Services, is visiting Central Park that day.

Please make sure you’ve sorted out something red to wear – a tie, scarf, lanyard, whatever. Lanyards are available from the union office desk (desk 55, rear of MAN34-G-E) or from your Rep.

Please make sure you’ve talked to your colleagues about joining in – this is something everyone can do, whether or not they’re already an Amicus member. Some people won’t have agreed with strike action, but surely everyone will want our negotiators to get the best deal possible.

Members Vote To Talk - It's Not Over Yet

Thanks to all the members who managed to respond quickly to Friday’s email. Reps need to act on the result and are now confident that those members who haven’t yet been able to vote wouldn’t affect the outcome.

Members agreed with the recommendation from Reps to suspend the industrial action to allow talks with ACAS, which are now expected to take place on Thursday and Monday.

Please note that the action is not suspended until an official notice is issued. In the meantime, staff should continue with the action short of strike.

Not Over Yet

The fact that the company has agreed to talk is encouraging, both because they’ve given a commitment to move their negotiating position in the interests of agreement, and because it demonstrates that our action was effective and they didn’t feel able to “sit it out”.

However, talks are no guarantee of a deal that will be acceptable to members, so we need to keep up the momentum of the campaign and ensure all our colleagues are ready to resume the action if necessary. The course of the dispute has already demonstrated that firm resolve is the best way to achieve a settlement.

The company has now confirmed that they’re happy for Amicus to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) before Xmas to consider the output of the talks.

Peace By Xmas? Manchester newsletter.

To see an electronic copy of our paper one-per-desk leaflet called "Peace by Xmas?", on Cafevik, click here (a local version is here). This leaflet was produced for our Manchester Central Park and West Gorton sites.

On a recommendation from the Reps, members have asked to suspend industrial action to allow talks with ACAS - the action continues until a formal notice of suspension is issued by the union's legal department. There is no guarantee that the talks will be successful, so the campaign continues with a "wear something red" day on Wednesday.

Dispute media coverage roundup

The Sun 17/11/2006
North East Manchester Advertiser 24/11/2006 (includes photo)
Computer Weekly 10/11/2006
The Register 7/11/2006
Socialist Worker 25/11/2006 (includes photo), 14/11/2006, 31/10/2006
Personnel Today 13/11/2006

Next Manchester strike days set

Amicus has issued the official notice calling a two-day strike on Thursday 30th November and Friday 1st December. This is in addition to the action short of strike already called.

Dispute Benefit, Hardship Payments and Exemptions

Dispute Benefit

Your Reps have requested that members receive Amicus dispute benefit and should be able to provide an update on this soon.

Additional Hardship Payments

We don’t want a situation where members find it difficult to fight for their rights because of their personal circumstances. If the company doesn’t settle and the two-day strike goes ahead, the need for hardship payments will clearly be greater than before.

You should apply for a hardship payment (as opposed to dispute benefit) if your financial circumstances would otherwise stop you taking part. Reps won't be "means testing" payments, but would ask members to remember that we all want to win this dispute. If you can manage without, please do so - it means more money going where it will help our campaign most.

If you will need a hardship payment, please email your reps before the strike begins, including your name, full contact details and net monthly pay. If you've any particular factors you'd like taken into account, include them as well. Your Reps will decide how to allocate the money available once they’ve reviewed the applications received.

Eligibility

Because the strategy for winning the dispute quickly depends on being active and visible, dispute benefit and hardship payments will only be available to members who actively participate (e.g. picketing, delegations, rallies), apart from exceptional circumstances. Please ensure that whoever is organising the picket or delegation records that you were there.

Fundraising

Keeping the money coming in is vital to ensure victory. If you’re willing to help with fundraising or the administration of our funds, please get in touch.

Exemptions

As before, anyone who needs to be exempted from any part of the industrial action should complete and return an exemption request form as soon as possible, so that it can be considered before the action takes place.

Delegations to Other Workplaces

The agreed strategy for winning our dispute has three elements:

1. The industrial action itself
2. Visibility of the campaign (e.g. media coverage, raising support across the trade union movement, political pressure)
3. Demonstrating that the company's failure to settle the dispute will increase union strength across Fujitsu, rather than weaken us

On Monday we were able to leaflet Warrington, Wakefield and Salford, in addition to picketing at MAN05 and Central Park. Sending delegations to other workplaces helps build support for our campaign and helps members there strengthen their own organisation. The effectiveness of this tactic was a factor in members’ decision to go for a two-day strike next.

The visit to Wakefield helped build a successful members’ meeting there today, which identified several issues (car parking, secret pay system, zero pay rises, poor rises on promotion, out of hours “harmonisation”) to campaign around.

If you are willing to be part of a delegation to another workplace, please let us know as soon as possible. It would be helpful if you could indicate any preferences you have (e.g. don’t want to stay overnight, would like to go to ABC01, have family I could stay with in Timbuktu, work on the XYZ account and would like to visit somewhere that works on that too, prefer local).

The more people that take part, the greater the pressure we can build up on the company, and the quicker we can win the dispute. Everyone who has taken part so far has found it a very positive and encouraging experience.

Wear Red on Wednesday

At the members meeting it was agreed that everyone who wants decent treatment and better pay should wear something red on the day before our next strike – this means Wednesday.

This will be a visible message that everyone can send to the company – even those colleagues who haven’t felt able to join in the industrial action yet.

If your wardrobe doesn’t include a red tie, scarf, shirt or skirt, don’t worry – Amicus can provide a snazzy red lanyard – see your rep for one.

To maximise the effectiveness of this protest, we need every member to talk to their colleagues about it. After all, not wearing red could be interpreted as telling the company that you’re happy with your pay and don’t mind losing your rights at work – who would want that?

Support Pours In

Every day your reps are receiving messages of support and donations, which we are publishing every few days. People across the IT industry and beyond realise how important it is that we win, and are stepping up to help.

Since our last notice went out on Tuesday, we’ve had donations including from several Amicus members in EDS, Amicus Liverpool Construction Branch, Amicus Manchester & Salford Branch, Amicus Colchester Central Branch and the Fire Brigades Union in East Anglia, as well as personal donations and many messages of support.

Powerful companies can’t bully individuals into submission if we stick together and back each other up – that’s what a trade union is all about.

Seeking a Settlement

Prior to the notice of action being sent, Amicus reps wrote to the company as follows:

From: Allinson Ian
Sent: 22 November 2006 14:03
To: Upton Larry
Subject: AMICUS: Resolving the dispute

Fujitsu Manchester

2-Day Strike Called

In line with members’ democratic decision, Amicus has issued the formal notice for a two-day strike on Thursday 30th November and Friday 1st DECEMBER.

You can read the notice on union noticeboards, CafeVIK or our external “ourunion” web site.

As before, those involved are employed by Fujitsu Services with a contractual base of MAN05/33/34/35, and those contractually based at home (i.e. HOM99) who are more closely associated with one of those sites than any other Fujitsu site.

This is in addition to the action short of strike that is already getting underway. Details of this can be found in the report of Monday’s members’ meeting.

Fujitsu Manchester Strike Day Report, Further Action

Congratulations to all our members on a successful strike day yesterday, particularly to those who took part in picketing, leafleting, the rally, march and/or EGM.

Summary

Not only did we stage a successful strike at Central Park and West Gorton, members leafleted Wakefield, Warrington and Salford (MAN23) and we held a rally, march and members' meeting - not bad for the first day of action!

Support pours in for our campaign.

Action short of strike begins - what can you do? How you can get paid more by taking action - getting paid for unpaid overtime.

Members decide to escalate action with a 2-day strike unless the company settles.

The day's events

The three-pronged strategy to apply pressure to the company to treat staff more reasonably is:

1. The industrial action itself
2. Visibility of the campaign (e.g. media coverage, raising support across the trade union movement, political pressure)
3. Demonstrating that the company's failure to settle the dispute will increase union strength across Fujitsu, rather than weaken us

Our campaign has already started to get considerable media coverage, ranging from the Sun to the trade press. Yesterday we had reporters and photographers from the local press along too. Predictably, some of the coverage is far from accurate, but it does add to the pressure on the company.

Members picketed Central Park and West Gorton (where many council workers contributed generously to our campaign fund).

Members also leafleted Warrington, Wakefield and MAN23 to assist staff there in getting organised and to explain the dispute. Members at Warrington and Wakefield are holding their own members' meetings over the next couple of weeks.

You can read all the leaflets used on the day on our web site. The Central Park leaflet highlighted many of the issues at stake:

What We Want:

* Decent treatment on redeployment and redundancy
* Fair treatment for all through union recognition
* Fair pay

Why We're Striking

The company are breaking our agreements on union recognition, redundancy, redeployment and pay. What do you think of the results of their breaches:

* Is it fair if a manager can invite you to a crucial meeting, have HR in tow, but refuse to allow you to bring a rep with you?
* Is it fair if the company can go ahead with a decision affecting you without listening to your grievance about it first?
* Is it fair that pay rates for helpdesk staff haven't gone up at all this year?
* Is it fair that typical pay rates for many other jobs in Fujitsu have actually gone down in recent years?
* Is it fair if the company can get rid of your job, but refuse you a trial period if you manage to get redeployed?
* Is it fair for some people to get made redundant without 90-days warning?
* Is it fair to cut redundancy payments now that the company is more profitable?

Photos from the day are available on our web site. Speakers at our rally ranged from the Chair of Manchester TUC pensioners to the General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students Union - both organisations have given excellent support to our campaign.

Members' Meeting

After the march we held a members meeting which was extremely positive about the success of the day's activities. Members also heard some of the many messages of support we had received.

For example, we received a touching message of support from GMB union members at JJB Sports in Wigan. We had given them support in their recent dispute, which they have now won. Alan Black, an Amicus Rep at Fujitsu Glasgow, and a candidate in the forthcoming UKCF by-election in Scotland, wrote:

On behalf of all AMICUS members in Glasgow please be aware we are all watching your dispute with interest and wishing you every success in your campaign to defend hard fought for Union recognition. There is a growing groundswell of support for the type of action you are currently engaged in as Fujitsu staff reach the end of their tether with duplicitous management behaviour.

Your struggle and eventual success will be the first of many more witnessed across this organisation.

We've received even more messages in the last day or so - the document will be updated in due course.

Members heard about company attempts to put pressure on several of their Reps in various ways. There was a discussion about attempts by the company to halve the time available for Ian Allinson, our Senior Rep, to work on our behalf. Members felt strongly that a reduction in time for Reps was completely inappropriate in the middle of a dispute, and that this was an attack on the union, rather than just on Ian as an individual.

Action short of strike

There was a discussion about the action short of strike which is now underway. The formal call for action set out what this is:

The action will be continuous and consist of withdrawal of goodwill commencing on Monday 20 November 2006. This will include (not exhaustive):-
- Stopping doing unpaid work (including travel) outside of contracted hours, including responding when not being paid for standby and overtime;
- Stopping doing work prior to being given a charge code or call number;
- Members not making themselves easily contactable by mobile phone or pager;
- Members not using their own cars for Company business except if they are in receipt of an allowance in lieu of a company car;
- Stopping overnight stays away from home;
- Submitting separate expense claims rather than batching them up;
- Taking full breaks;
- Taking appropriate breaks away from work, stopping work for lunch and VDU users ensuring that they have at least 10 minutes every hour not using their VDUs;
- Helpdesk staff ensuring that all calls are logged carefully and thoroughly, making appropriate use of "make busy" and "do not disturb".

Many members had been shocked by the company notice, which suggested that the company now felt it had a right to demand that we continue to work beyond our contracts if we've voluntarily done so in the past. If the company adopted this approach, it could discourage staff across the whole company from routinely exceeding their contacts - behaviour the company relies heavily on.

It was agreed that all members should talk to colleagues in their department about the action short of strike to work out how to make it effective in each area. The examples had been given to help people understand what the action meant, but it was important to remember that the aim was to cause disruption and cost to the company in order to get a speedy conclusion to the dispute - pragmatism is required in applying the action.

Many of us are in the habit of going the extra mile for the company and our customers, and are proud of this, even though it often goes unappreciated and unrewarded.

There was considerable discussion about the ban on unpaid overtime, which the company has come to rely on in many areas. This ban does not jeopardise the business - it merely forces the company to take responsibility for deciding whether the work is important, rather than each of us automatically taking that responsibility ourselves.

It was agreed that reps should circulate an example note someone could send to their manager. Here is one example:

Dear manager,

As the company policy is that all overtime has to be pre-authorised, I will assume you don't want me to do the work until I hear from you otherwise.

Reps reported that the company was looking at using overtime to cope with the impact of industrial action, so it seemed only fair that those taking part in the action should get their share! This could be a rare example where staff are actually better off while taking industrial action.

Members commented that the company could end up permanently changing the culture around unpaid work if they allowed the dispute to continue for long - once people realised the advantages of having the extra money or having their lives back.

Exemptions, hardship payments, picket expenses

Reps reported on the small number of exemption requests they had received. There was a discussion about Reps' decision to approve requests where contracts were at a critical stage and the tasks members had planned for the strike day could be decisive. Whereas senior management had jeopardised the business by failing to resolve the dispute, Amicus Reps had approved some exemptions in these cases. The members involved were asked to donate their pay for the day to the dispute fund and to highlight the risks to their management. Members endorsed the decisions to date.

The action short of strike could put disproportionate pressure on a small number of employees - this is not the intention - we rely on collective strength, not individual martyrs. Anyone with concerns should discuss them with a Rep to explore alternatives and if necessary consider making an exemption application for appropriate parts of the action.

Reps reported that there had been a small number of applications for hardship payments by the deadline. All have since been approved by the Reps and payments will be made shortly.

Expenses for those involved in early-morning picketing and leafleting will be paid shortly. If you took part but didn't leave your details on the attendance list, please contact the Rep you were with as soon as possible. Note that this doesn't apply to those who only turned up later for the rally, march and EGM.

Future action

As well as the action short of strike, members decided to ask the union to escalate the action by calling a two-day strike, to take place unless the company has resolved the dispute by then.

The two-day strike would mean we would have taken three non-consecutive days strike, which means payment of Dispute Benefit is at the union's discretion rather than automatic, but members wanted to request this.

Dispute Benefit is only £12 per day, but as long as we continue to build support, we should be able to supplement this with additional hardship payments from our campaign fund where necessary.

To date, Reps have been able to agree hardship payments to ensure that people are not prevented from participating because of their personal circumstances. To sustain this support, we need to keep raising funds. If you're willing to help with fundraising, please contact your rep.

It was agreed that on the working day before the two-day strike, we would make a visible protest by all wearing something red to work. This is the Amicus colour and the Fujitsu colour. Reps feel sure that even City fans can cope with this by wearing something blue as well!

Note that no industrial action (except the action short of strike already called) should be taken until a further official "notice of action" is issued.

Leaflets from the strikers

As part of today's strike, Amicus members picketing gave out this leaflet at Central Park which highlights many of the key issues in dispute.

The leaflet given out at West Gorton (MAN05) was rather different, as there are few Fujitsu staff left there and most users of the building are council staff who aren't part of our dispute.

Amicus believes that the company is attacking the union in Manchester in response to growing success and the growth of union organisation across the rest of the company, which doesn't generally recognise unions. To counter this, Amicus members have started going to other Fujitsu sites to leaflet staff there.

You can read the leaflets distributed at the Warrington, Wakefield and Salford (MAN23) sites.

Pictures from today's strike at Fujitsu Manchester

(Click on the links for pictures)

[Smaller versions of the pictures are viewable here. They are in the order given below.]

After picketing in the morning and sending teams to leaflet Warrington and Wakefield, strikers and supporters assembled for a rally.

The rally was addressed by Jimmy Carter (Amicus Regional Officer) and Ian Allinson (Amicus Senior Rep, Fujitsu Manchester)

We welcomed support from Tommy Walsh, Chair of Manchester TUC Pensioners Association, who had given a £150 donation to our fighting fund, and Rob Owen, General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students Union, who had been so helpful with our event with Tony Benn.

We marched through local streets before arriving at St Luke's Social Club where a members' meeting decided on next steps for the campaign.

The results of the members' meeting won't be posted here until they have been reported to the full membership.

Fujitsu Manchester Appeal For Support - UPDATED

You can download a leaflet appealing for support here.

Planned route for Monday's march

AMICUS: RE: Monday's industrial action

A number of staff have asked Amicus to respond to the company
announcement (which was attached to our original email, but we can't post here as it is marked Confidential), as well as their previous notice about arrears for
out of hours payments. To keep this notice short, we will focus only on
the key points - if you want more information, please speak to one of
your Reps.

1. Richard Bull and Ella Bennett, two unelected senior managers,
neither of whom works in Manchester, want us to believe that the result
of the democratic and legal ballot process is unrepresentative. They
play with figures on the ballot result, but you can read the actual
result, in the format required by law, here.

2. Most of the company notice focuses on who is entitled to the
SEA, but this is a complete red-herring - Amicus reps have no issue with
recommending the approach - there is no issue here and Amicus explained
this to the company again on Wednesday. This is simply not the issue. They are trying to cause confusion because this notice talks about what they would be prepared to offer on one point - what they are actually doing is totally different, and was reflected in their notice during the ballot.

3. The company wants you to think that making things worse is good,
just because they might still be above the bare legal minimum.

4. Their notice about "Arrears of Overtime" says that "non-union
employees" had complained. In fact, Amicus had complained last month
about the company's failure to backdate pay properly, and had pointed
out that it was probably illegal. Amicus welcomes the company's belated
decision to give people their money.

5. HR dress up their attempts to divide the workforce in the
language of "choice", but they don't believe in offering such choice to
employees across the UK.

6. Recent company notices make clear their aim - to create a
divided workforce so that they can push through worse pay and
conditions.

There is no big difference between union members and non-members. We
all want the same things - to be treated fairly and with respect, to be
paid adequately, job security, career opportunities etc. We all want to
be able to turn up to work and get on with our jobs without having to
worry about employment law, what our contracts say, or how the company
will try to reduce our rights next. The only difference is that union
members have taken the first steps to achieve these goals.

The company wants to scare people from standing up for their rights by
talking about "breach of contract". The legal position on this was
clearly set out on the ballot paper, and is also explained in our latest
leaflet.

We understand that some staff will feel under too much pressure to take
part in Monday's industrial action. This in itself is an indication of
how much the company culture needs to change. It is surely no
coincidence that David Courtley's recent announcement said, in
commenting on the Reflecting Survey:

"The areas requiring further consideration are around listening, reward,
career development, organisational bureaucracy, quality of our service
delivery and competitive information."

Everyone is welcome to join our protest rally outside Central Park at
12:30pm on Monday, to make clear that we want:

* Decent redundancy and redeployment rights
* Fair treatment through union recognition
* Fair pay

You will find updates on our news web site: www.ourunion.org.uk/news.

Practicalities for Monday

You may already have read our notice to staff in response to this
morning's Company Announcement. This notice deals with the
practicalities for Monday.

Basic information

Please make sure you've read our latest leaflet, which is available here
on CafeVIK or here externally.

Picketing

We will be picketing from early on Monday morning at both Central Park
and MAN05 - please lend a hand at your own workplace.

Rally

We will be holding a protest rally outside Central Park at 12:30pm.
Please ensure you take part - Amicus has issued a press release and it is
important that we have a good turnout.

We expect to be addressed by Jimmy Carter, Amicus Regional Officer.

March

After the rally, we will be marching to St Luke's Social Club, Sulby
Street (just off Lightbowne Road). A map showing the route is here.

Extraordinary General Meeting

After the march, the members' meeting will take place in St Luke's
Social Club. It is important that you attend, so that discussion and
decisions are fully representative of all points of view.

As well as discussing the campaign so far, the meeting will decide on
plans for further action if necessary.

Parking

Parking is available at and around St Luke's Social Club. We will be
running a shuttle service between the parking, picket lines etc.

Hardship payments

We've already received several applications for hardship payments.
Remember that you must take part in picketing etc to qualify for a
hardship payment, not just turn up for the lunchtime rally, march and
EGM.

Security Staff

We are informed by the Operations Manager for Pegasus Security Group
that they will not take any action against their staff if they do not
want to cross official picket lines provided that they were members of
the same Union.

SST Booking

The time-booking system is managed by Fujitsu, not Amicus, so it's not
up to Amicus to decide how you should book your time while on strike.
So far, plausible suggestions appear to be:

a) Book no time for the strike day

b) Unpaid leave (Project 141, Task 4)

Deadlines

It's becoming apparent just how heavily the company relies on the
dedication of our members. A number of key deadlines, contracts and
projects are under threat from the strike.

The company often tries to persuade employees that their failure to
properly resource projects is our problem, not theirs. Many feel under
pressure to work extra hours or put themselves out to prevent senior
management decisions damaging the business. The purpose of industrial
action is to remind senior management that we are the ones who make all
their profits; to make the problems they are creating their problems,
rather than ours; and to apply pressure to reach a sensible settlement.
This cannot be achieved without giving senior management tough choices
about whether a strike goes ahead or they settle the dispute, rather
than us giving in.

Members who find themselves in such situations are encouraged to write
to their management highlighting the importance of settling the dispute.

Updates

If you have any questions, please contact a Rep. Updates will also be
posted on www.ourunion.org.uk/news.

Clarification on SEA

Some members have (unsurprisingly) been confused by the company's
statement today on the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA), which so
massively contradicts what they put out during the ballot.

The company's position in talks is completely different to their
position in "real life" (e.g. MAN05 closure, HMRC). Their notice during
the ballot reflected their "real life" position, whereas today's is
their "negotiating position" (along the same lines as in many draft
agreements Amicus has made available to members). Reps would have no
problem with recommending agreement on this particular point, if the
company wasn't tying it to other attacks on redundancy and redeployment
rights that members have rejected on several occasions.

On Monday, Reps will be able to clarify further if required.

Action Called - Manchester newsletter

To see an electronic copy of our paper one-per-desk leaflet called "Strike Or Deal?", on Cafevik, click here (a local version is here). This leaflet was produced for our Manchester Central Park and West Gorton sites.

Fujitsu WARRINGTON Meeting

Meeting for Amicus members and friends in Fujitsu in and around
Warrington

Amicus membership is growing rapidly throughout Fujitsu, and it is time
for us to get better organised here too.

We have organised a meeting:

1:00pm on Wednesday 29th November
The Noggin, Warrington Road (just around the corner from WAR08/12/13)

The meeting is open to members and potential members, so please bring a
friend or colleague.

Ian Allinson, who is the secretary of the Amicus group at Fujitsu
Manchester, a member of the National Executive Council of Amicus, and a
member of the UK Consultative Forum in Fujitsu, will be attending. We
hope one of our Amicus Regional Officers can also join us, but this is
not yet confirmed.

The main business will be:

* To discuss issues affecting members in Warrington, including
offshoring and the warehouse disciplinary code
* To discuss the impact of the dispute in Manchester on Fujitsu
staff across the UK
* To discuss how we can build the union and move towards winning
union recognition in Warrington beyond the existing UES group
* To elect Reps for the members in Warrington

It would be helpful if you could let Wilf (Robert) Williams know if you will be attending this meeting.

We hope to see you there!

Wilf (Robert) Williams, Kevin Isaacs, Chris Price
Amicus Reps, Fujitsu Warrington

Pay Backdataing

You will remember (see notice 10th November) that Amicus complained to
the company last month about their failure to backdate out of hours and
other payments when they backdated pay rises, and pointed out that this
was probably an unlawful deduction of wages.

We're pleased to report that the company has now decided to pay up,
though you may find their way of telling people a little odd:

Over the past few weeks we have had representations from non-union
employees in the Amicus bargaining group about the non-payment of
arrears of overtime etc based on the new pay rates from 1st April. They
felt it was unfair that, having had their pay rise delayed because of
the failure of Amicus to reach a settlement, they were now suffering a
financial loss as well.

We have a lot of sympathy for that view and have therefore decided that
calculations of these arrears will now be made for all affected
employees in the bargaining group (union members and non-members). The
calculations are complex but payment will be made as soon as possible.

***STRIKE GOES AHEAD***

1) Talks Fail To Avert Monday's Strike

Today Reps met with company representatives to discuss the dispute for
the first time since the before the ballot.

Company representatives claimed not to understand why members had voted
for industrial action, or what the issues were. This after over three
years of intermittent negotiations! Reps reminded them that the key
issues were grouped under:

* Union recognition
* Redundancy and redeployment rights
* Pay

Reps reminded them that the talks had broken down over the company's
insistence that staff gave up the principle agreed in our Security of
Employment Agreement (SEA) that all staff whose jobs were at risk of
redundancy benefited from a 90-day consultation period.

The company made great play of the fact that the draft documents under
discussion would have kept the 90-day period for large redundancies or
for certain people. Reps reminded the company that Amicus had made
drafts available to members throughout the process as well as reporting
and discussing the issues at General Meetings.

The company accepted that its negotiating position was unchanged, and
that it was not saying anything new.

The company did suggest that they might issue a statement to employees,
based on the negotiated drafts, stating who is entitled to the Security
of Employment Agreement (SEA). This would mean them stating that all
those employed before a certain date in 1999 were entitled to the full
SEA unless they had TUPE terms or other express terms in their
contracts.

This would be an important step forward from the absurd position that
the company has been adopting (in real life, rather than in talks) that
only the tiny minority with the SEA expressly mentioned in their
contracts were covered by it. This was the position set out in the
company email before the ballot. We wait to see what they send out.

Though welcome, such a statement would only be bringing what the company
says outside the dispute talks into line with what they say in the
talks. It would still mean breaking the SEA without agreeing a
replacement, and would do nothing to resolve the dispute itself.

This means that the strike on Monday 20th November is going ahead.

The plans are:

* Picket at MAN05 and Central Park (let us know if you can help)
* Protest Rally at 12:30pm outside Central Park
* March (From Central Park to Oldham Road via Transport Interchange. Left onto Oldham Road. Left onto Thorp Road, across roundabout and along Lightbowne Road. Left at Sulby Street to terminate at St Luke's Social Club)
* Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) for members at St Luke's
Social Club

Parking is available at and near St Luke's and we intend to run a
shuttle service from there to Central Park. If you're picketing, please
remember to wrap up warm!

This is your campaign and it is vital that every member plays a part -
there are many ways you can help. Please contact your Reps to discuss
what you can do or email them.

Everyone can help by:

* Explaining the dispute to colleagues and making sure they're
joining in the industrial action
* Asking colleagues to help out
* Asking colleagues to come on the rally and march

There may be some exceptional circumstances where it is not appropriate
for someone to take part in some of the industrial action. Amicus has
produced an "exemption form"
which individuals or their managers can complete. If you need to
request an exemption, please do so as soon as possible, so that reps
have time to consider requests.

Manchester Dispute

You will have seen that members in Manchester have voted for industrial
action to defend their union recognition, redundancy and redeployment rights, and to push for a better pay deal.

Unless the talks tomorrow (Wednesday) produce a breakthrough, industrial
action will go ahead from Monday 20th November.

The outcome of the dispute is extremely important for staff right across
the company. The company is trying to "level down" employee rights, but
staff need them "levelling up".

Gains won in Manchester have often led to improvements nationally. For
example:

* Sick pay from day one for helpdesk staff
* Raising the minimum holiday from 20 days to 25 days
* Access to pay and benefit scales / comparators
* Stopping the company paying the bare minimum statutory
redundancy payments

The company is attacking the union in Manchester in order to worsen pay
and conditions there. This would inevitably lower the standard
nationally.

You can read updates on the dispute on our news web site:
www.ourunion.org.uk/news.

Members outside Manchester can help win the dispute by:

* Explaining the issues to colleagues
* Asking a non-member to join Amicus
* Asking for a meeting of members at your own site, to get better organised
* Sending a message of support. You can read the messages already
received.
* Making a donation or regular contribution to the fighting fund

While only members contractually based at MAN05/33/34/35 (and some HOM99
staff) are called on to take part in the industrial action, members
elsewhere will want avoid being asked to visit these locations during
any industrial action or doing anything else to undermine the
effectiveness of the action being taken by members in Manchester.

Rest Periods

Reps often get asked about rest periods, particularly by staff on
shifts, working overtime or being called out on standby.

The Working Time Directive is intended to protect your health and safety by providing a minimum standard for rest periods and holidays.

Key rights (for adult workers) are:

* A rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period
* An uninterrupted rest period of at least 24 hours in each seven-day period

The UK government guidance on the Directive said that "employers must
make sure workers can take their rest, but are not required to make sure
they do take their rest".

Amicus objected to the guidance, which seemed to give employers the nod
and the wink to fail to implement the directive properly. This
objection eventually resulted in a case at the European Court of Justice
(ECJ), which ruled that the directive requires workers to "actually
benefit from the daily and weekly periods of rest provided for".

If your working patterns are not allowing you adequate rest periods, you
should take this up with your manager in the first instance. If this
doesn't resolve the issue, please contact your Rep.

Bullying

A recent survey conducted by the TUC showed that not only is bullying a
major workplace issue, but it is on the increase. If you witness
bullying, or are on the receiving end yourself, don't suffer in silence.

You can find useful information and advice:

* On the TUC web site
* From the Andrea Adams Trust
* On the resources page of the "ourunion"
web site
* From your Amicus Rep

UKCF Election in Scotland

A vacancy has arisen in the Scottish UKCF Constituency. Nominations are
open until 20th November.

In order to ensure that there was a single candidate trade unionists in
Scotland could support, Amicus asked who intended to stand, including
contacting other unions with members in Fujitsu. One candidate was
agreed - Alan Black from GLA15. We urge all employees to support him in the election.

If there is more than one candidate, an election will be held under the
Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.

Alan's election address (which will be circulated by the company if the
election is contested) reads:

"Alan is a Software Developer at GLA15. As a Union activist has
negotiated on Pay, T&Cs, Harmonisation of Contracts, representing
individuals in grievance, disciplinary and redundancy appeals hearings.

UKCF no substitute for Union representation. Anyone seeking to influence
company's direction to the benefit of workforce should join AMICUS. That
said all opportunities to voice legitimate staff concerns must be
grasped."

Trades Unions across Europe have fought hard for and won changes to the
law giving workers more rights to be consulted about a number of
decisions affecting their employment. You have a legal right to be
consulted over redundancies, transfers from one company to another, and
over Health & Safety matters.

The UKCF is the body Fujitsu Services uses to meet the requirements of
the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations. For more
information, see:

* http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=338
* The UK Consultative Forum CafeVIK
Community

The UKCF reps elect four of their number to sit on the company's Fujitsu
Services Consultative Forum (FSCF), which is
the international equivalent, governed by the legislation on European
Works Councils.

Amicus wants to make sure that these forums don't just become a legal
fig-leaf for the company, a talking shop, or a rubber stamp. We want to
use them to increase workplace democracy, and to make sure every
employee has a say in their future.

Please support Alan in the election.

Maternity, Adoption, Flexible Working

Pressure from trade unions played an important part in persuading the
government to introduce the "Work and Families Act 2006".

The following will apply from 1 April 2007 and for all working women
whose babies are due on or after the 1 April. The Act:-

* Extends the period of maternity and adoption pay from 26 weeks
to 39 weeks initially with a commitment to extend to 52 weeks. The pay
period will be extended to 39 weeks in April 2007.
* Will allow all women who are currently entitled to ordinary
maternity leave to qualify for additional maternity leave which means
that all women will have the opportunity to take twelve months leave for
all babies born after April 2007.
* Notice of early return from maternity leave will be extended
from 4 weeks to 8 weeks.
* Keeping in touch days will be introduced which allows women on
maternity leave to work for certain number of days without losing their
entitlement to statutory maternity pay.
* Extends the right to request flexible working arrangements to
employees caring for sick or disabled adult dependents from April 2007.

Within Fujitsu, Amicus pressed the company to exceed the new standard,
and to bring the improvements in before the legislation comes in to
force.

Amicus produces an occasional "e-equality newsletter". If you want to
be added to the distribution list, please contact Bridget Clemson,
Equalities, with your e-mail address to be added to our contact list.

Amicus names first Fujitsu strike date - Monday 20 November

Amicus has named Monday 20th November as the first strike day. You can read the official notice of action here.

December Branch Meeting and Meal

The next meeting of Amicus Greater Manchester IT Branch is:

6pm - 7:30pm, Thursday 7th December 2006
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA
[near the Shudehill Metrolink station and the spiral ramp to the Arndale car park]

All branch members are encouraged to attend.

After the meeting, we intend to go out for a meal. If you want to come along, please email rep Lynne Hodge saying how many places you want. Friends & family are welcome too.

2007 Amicus Diaries

The Amicus Greater Manchester IT Branch normally orders some Amicus diaries for members who want them.

Reps, Health & Safety Reps and Union Learning Reps and branch officers should already have received one with "The Activist" magazine.

If you would like a 2007 diary, please let us know as soon as possible. If there are a large number of requests, diaries will be distributed on a first-come-first served basis.

Members of other branches should approach their branch to see if similar arrangements exist. In previous years individuals have also been able to order one direct via www.amicustheunion.org and we assume this facility will be available soon.

Fujitsu Manchester, 13th November 2006 - INDUSTRIAL ACTION CALLED

Following the strong YES vote in the industrial action ballot, we are maximising the pressure on the company to settle the dispute.

Amicus has now issued the formal call for industrial action. Copies are on union noticeboards, as well as on CafeVIK and on www.ourunion.org.uk/news.

The company still has the opportunity to avert the action in the talks on Wednesday.

In line with the decision by members at the EGM in August, there will initially be a one-day strike followed by action short of strike.

The first strike day will be Monday 20th November 2006

The action involves those:

employed by Fujitsu Services with a contractual base of MAN05/33/34/35, and those contractually based at home (i.e. HOM99) who are more closely associated with one of those sites than any other Fujitsu site

We will circulate a paper newsletter this week, to explain what this means in more detail for both members and those who haven't joined us yet. Copies will also be made available on the "Amicus The Union" CafeVIK community and www.ourunion.org.uk/news for those who are off site.

This initial action is a warning shot to the company, so it is important to make it as loud and visible as possible, with everyone involved.

A small minority of members did vote against industrial action, but it is important that they respect the democratic decision, just as others would have if the result had been the opposite. Whatever we do over the coming weeks, we must do it together if we are to achieve a successful outcome. Unity is Strength!

The outline plan for the day is:

1. Picket from early morning at MAN05 and Central Park
2. Rally outside Central Park at 12:30pm
3. March to...
4. Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) for members

You can help by:

1. Making sure all your colleagues, whether they're already members or not, know about the strike and are going to take part.
2. Volunteer to help with picketing. We have several entrances to cover and much else to organise, so we need plenty of volunteers.
3. Ask a colleague to join the union

Hardship Payments

We don't want a situation where members find it difficult to fight for their rights because of their personal circumstances.

Union strike pay is not available if less than 3 days' strike is taken, but because of the impressive support our campaign is receiving, we are in a position to offer hardship payments for members whose financial circumstances are particularly difficult.

Hardship payments will only be available to members who actively participate in picketing etc. You should apply for a payment if your financial circumstances would otherwise stop you taking part. Reps won't be "means testing" payments, but would ask members to remember that we all want to win this dispute. If you can manage without, please do so - it means more money going where it will help our campaign most.

If you need a hardship payment, please email your reps by the end of this week, including your name, full contact details and net monthly pay. If you've any particular factors you'd like taken into account, include them as well. Your Reps will decide how to allocate the money available once they've reviewed the applications received.

Fujitsu WAKEFIELD Meeting

Meeting for Amicus members and friends in Fujitsu in and around
Wakefield

Amicus membership is growing rapidly throughout Fujitsu, and it is time
for us to get better organised here too.

I have organised a meeting:

1:00pm on Thursday 23rd November
Amicus Office,
Citrine House,
Borough Road,
Wakefield

[This is the single-storey building just the other side of the car park
behind the bus station.]

The meeting is open to members and potential members, so please bring a
friend or colleague.

Our Amicus Regional Officer, Dick Croft, will be attending, along with
Ian Allinson, who is the secretary of the Amicus group at Fujitsu
Manchester, a member of the National Executive Council of Amicus, and a
member of the UK Consultative Forum in Fujitsu.

The main business will be:

* To discuss issues affecting members in Wakefield
* To discuss the impact of the dispute in Manchester on Fujitsu
staff across the UK
* To discuss how we can build the union and move towards winning
union recognition in Wakefield
* To elect Reps for the members in Wakefield

It would be helpful if you could let me know if you will be attending
this meeting by emailing John Garvani.

Yours,
John Garvani
AMICUS Rep
WAK01

Messages of support for Fujitsu Manchester staff - UPDATED

You can read many of the messages of support we have received here.

Out Of Hours Grievance, Manchester

Following our success on Out Of
Hours payments in IS-Compute Services late last year, the company
threatened to remove one team from its standby rota.

After the company failed to resolve the issue informally, Amicus helped
the team with a grievance. While the official response was rather
unhelpful, the grievance does seem to have created space for local
management to solve the problem by merging two rotas together. This
protects the earnings of the team under threat, while sharing a heavy
workload more fairly.

Safety Progress

After warning the company several times, Amicus Health & Safety Reps
finally resorted to contacting the Health & Safety enforcing authorities
about the lack of proper safety management at Central Park and West
Gorton.

You can read our letter on CafeVIK.

Since the letter was sent, the company has finally sent draft local
"arrangements" for safety - something that is legally required and
should really have been in place before Central Park opened.

It is sad that Fujitsu only seems to respond to pressure.

Your H&S Reps have published the draft on CafeVIK for your comments. As usual, it is
protected with a password to prevent it being indexed by
the CafeVIK search engine and mistaken for a "live" document. Please
send us your comments.

In general, we believe that the safety issues on other sites which don't
have the benefit of union recognition (and hence Health & Safety Reps)
are even worse.

Fujitsu still has a long way to go.

HMRC jobs, NHS jobs

Following a recent Amicus meeting for Manchester HMRC staff, Amicus
highlighted the following points about the plan to redeploy staff to the
new NHS contract:

1. People are obviously pleased that Fujitsu is able to guarantee
a job for everyone at current salary etc

2. It needs to be clarified that each person will be offered an
equivalent job within NHS (i.e. PSEs get PSE jobs), unless they are
promoted

3. Some people are currently working above their formal position.
They should be offered jobs equivalent to what they're actually doing,
rather than being penalised for the company not getting their paperwork
sorted out. (As an aside, some need their responsibility allowances
sorting out)

4. The uncertainty around out of hours work caused concern -
people feel they don't know what the jobs really are, making it
impossible to make an informed decision until this becomes clearer.

5. There is concern about the lack of technical content on the NHS
jobs. In some cases this is a major concern.

6. Given the difficulty staff have in judging whether the new job
will be acceptable at this stage, there was a strong feeling that the
company should offer everyone a trial period of 6 months on the NHS
contract. In all likelihood, most people would stay at the end of this,
or have found other jobs in the meantime. However, it would avoid a
situation where they are forced to decide in advance whether the NHS
jobs are really suitable for them. For any small minority for whom
Fujitsu couldn't find suitable alternatives, the result would be
redundancy. We believe it might be possible to ask Capgemini to fund
any redundancies that arose, as this would be saving them the cost of
redundancies earlier in the process.

7. Many of the temps have been with Fujitsu a long time, and
should be offered permanent jobs without further delay - it is clear
that there are enough jobs for everyone who wants one.

8. People were pleased that you made clear that they would still
have access to other job opportunities. In order to encourage people to
move across to NHS, and to avoid penalising early movers, staff want the
company to continue to give them priority in job applications for a
period after they move across. Similarly, they should continue to have
facilities for job search etc. This would help avoid those who are not
entirely happy with the new jobs simply leaving Fujitsu.

9. We explained that the company would identify numbers for each
phase of people to move from HMRC to NHS, broken down by phase and by
job group (i.e. CST, PSE, team leader). We explained that the company
intended to ask staff which phase they wanted to move in, and
accommodate preferences as far as possible. We explained that the
company intended to consider the preferences of permanent staff above
those of temps. We explained the constraint of keeping back at least 5
SC cleared staff for April. We asked what method should be used to
select staff where there wasn't a perfect match between the preferences
and the company timescales. There was not a strong feeling about this,
but the fairest approach seemed to be random selection (after using
volunteers / preferences).

Reps subsequently confirmed that Sirius jobs were also available to HMRC
staff.

Our recent "One Per Desk" newsletter highlighted the concern caused by the formal
company response to these points. HR were unwilling to guarantee that
people would be redeployed to an equivalent job, opening up the fear
that (for example) a team leader on HMRC would be moved to a first-line
CST role on NHS. We're pleased to report that after further
discussions, this has been resolved - the company now says that staff
will keep not only their Professional Community role, but move to
equivalent jobs and preserve their D1-4 rating too.

Manchester Pay Review - arrears

The recent "One Per Desk" leaflet included
an article about the company's failure to backdate pay rises properly
for those whose increases they delayed until October. Amicus has taken
this up with management:

From: Allinson Ian
Sent: 06 November 2006 09:54
To: Upton Larry
Cc: Morgan Howard
Subject: AMICUS: Backdating of out of hours payments

Ian Allinson
Amicus Rep

If any of your payments haven't been properly backdated, please contact
Rep Dave Francis as soon as possible.

This example really goes to highlight the risk a few line managers run
of damaging their reputation with staff by peddling misinformation. As
Amicus has highlighted previously, line managers have as much to gain or
lose from the current dispute as anyone else. HR should be discouraging
such behaviour, rather than promoting it.

Ballot Result - What Now?

The Fujitsu Manchester industrial action ballot closed yesterday, and
the result has been officially announced. The notice is displayed on
union noticeboards, CafeVIK and our external web site.

In summary, we achieved a 65% turnout with a 73% majority for strike
action and an 87% majority for action short of strike.

Well done to all our Manchester members on sending such a strong message to the company.

The company may try to belittle the turnout, but this is really very
impressive, considering the hurdles we have to overcome. The anti-union
laws require the union to conduct a fully-postal ballot, which reduces
turnout. By comparison, the company ran elections to the UK
Consultative Forum (UKCF) in 2004, but only achieved a 34% turnout,
despite using electronic voting and the company actively encouraging
people to vote.

More people voted YES in this ballot than voted at all in 2003.

During the ballot, Amicus offered to meet the company today. The
company turned this down, but has agreed to meet on Wednesday 15th:

From: Allinson Ian
Sent: 31 October 2006 15:51
To: Upton Larry
Cc: Bull Richard; Morgan Howard
Subject: RE: AMICUS: Dispute talks - 10 Nov?

Ian.

Despite the delay, this still gives the company the opportunity to
settle the dispute before any industrial action takes place - if the
will is there.

Preparations for action continue, both to put maximum pressure on the
company for a settlement, and in case it proves necessary to go ahead.
As the old saying goes "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst".

No industrial action should be taken unless it is called for in a Notice
of Industrial Action issued by Amicus Legal Services.

The response to our "appeal for support" is
impressive and growing. You can read many of the messages of support
and donations on our web site. The Register recently carried a (not
very accurate) news report about
our ballot.

Over the last few months, the company has adopted increasingly
far-fetched positions on a range of issues. It is possible that HR have
been "posturing" rather than "straight talking" and that they will now
offer apparent concessions that do little more than tone down the
attacks on employees rights a bit. It is important that we all remember
what this is all about:

The company is trying to divide the workforce and attack the union in
order to drive down pay and conditions.

A good example of this is around redeployment. The company is breaking
the SEA but refuses to specify what process it wants to follow instead.
In recent talks over the MAN05 closure, HR said "each redeployment is
different and it is the company's view to be bound by a stipulated
framework is not how the company approaches this activity. Issues will
be addressed as and when they occur".

It is obvious that dealing with issues in this way, instead of following
negotiated agreements, would allow the company to treat individuals far
worse, as well as increasing inconsistency and unfairness.

Amicus Fujitsu Manchester industrial action ballot result

The formal notification of the ballot result is available here.

There were two questions on the ballot paper, the first on strike action, the second on action short of strike. In summary, the results were:

Strike: 146 YES, 53 NO (i.e. 73%)
Short of strike: 174 YES, 26 NO (i.e. 87%)

No industrial action should be taken unless it is called for in a Notice of Industrial Action issued by Amicus Legal Services.

Manchester Ballot Update

Votes must be received by the scrutineer by noon on Thursday 9th
November. If you haven't voted yet, please do so as soon as possible.

If you've already posted off your vote, please let your Reps know. This will enable your Reps to focus on encouraging other members to vote.

The latest "One Per Desk" leaflet gives an update on the dispute. If
you're off site and haven't seen it, you can see a copy on CafeVIK or the Internet.

Amicus also offered talks with the company on Friday 10th November, when
the ballot result will be known. The company turned this down, but has
agreed to meet on Wednesday 15th:

From: Allinson Ian
Sent: 31 October 2006 15:51
To: Upton Larry
Cc: Bull Richard; Morgan Howard

Ian.

Despite the delay, this would still give the company the opportunity to
settle the dispute before any industrial action took place. A high
turnout and a high YES/YES vote gives the best chance of success.
Please use your vote.

Colleagues across the trade union movement can see the justice and the
importance of our campaign. We've already had financial contributions
or messages of support including:

* Robert Dimmick, Amicus rep, STN02 and Chair of the Employee
Representatives' Committee of the UK Consultative Forum, Fujitsu
Services (writing in a personal capacity)
* PCS Branch Committee, Fujitsu Swansea
* Manchester TUC
* Amicus Electrical Engineering, Electronics & IT National
Sector Committee
* Amicus North-West Region
* David Lawrence, PCS Rep, Capgemini Telford
* Dave Badminton, ex-employee
* Neil James, ex-employee
* Amicus Greater Manchester IT Branch
* Manchester TUC Pensioners Association
* Fire Brigades Union, North West Region
* PCS Equal Opportunities Commission Branch
* UNISON Manchester Community & Mental Health Branch
* Andy Reed, National Organiser, ASLEF (train drivers' union)
* University of Manchester Student Union
* Paul Welsh, Amicus Convenor, Brush Electrical Machines,
Loughborough
* Bartley Willcock, retired UNISON member, Manchester University
* Mike Gaskell, secretary Amicus Liverpool Construction branch
* Lee Jeavons, secretary Amicus Dudley 0754 branch
* Amicus Chadderton Branch
* David Knibb, Amicus Deputy Convenor at Automotive Products in
Leamington Spa
* Anne Saxon, Manchester SWP
* Antony Czubkowski, Amicus Senior Steward, Central Networks
* Amicus CMA Chesterfield PHQ Branch

You can read them here.

Messages of support for Fujitsu Manchester staff

Amicus has been receiving a broad range of messages of support for our campaign to defend union recognition, redundancy and redeployment rights and for a decent pay deal. You can read many of them here.