Today Amicus issued the official notice of action for a 1-day strike on Wednesday 7th March, and a 3-days strike from Monday 12th March.
To see an electronic copy of our latest paper one-per-desk leaflet on Cafevik, click here (a local version is here).
This leaflet was produced for our Manchester Central Park and West Gorton sites.
SUMMARY
- Don’t forget that the strike originally planned for Wednesday 28th February is NOT going ahead.
- New “One Per Desk” leaflet being distributed, including output of ACAS talks.
- Strike committee discussed campaign plans and confirmed that notice of action for planned strikes should be issued.
- Don’t forget our Annual General Meeting, 2-4pm Thursday, which will take key decisions and receive pay comparator information.
As announced last week, reps decided to ask Amicus NOT to call the planned strike for 28th February.
Our latest “One Per Desk” leaflet is now available on CafeVIK and on “ourunion”. This includes:
- Update from the ACAS talks (including links to the full text of the resulting documents)
- Update from the disciplinary for Ian Allinson, our senior rep
- Pay 2007 update
- Advertising the AGM
If you can help distribute it in your area, please speak to one of your reps – we want to get it out as quickly as possible.
The strike committee met last night, discussed the output from the talks, and confirmed that notice of the planned strikes on 7th March and 12th-14th March should be issued as planned.
The strike on 7th March will allow us to travel to London to present our petition at the House of Commons, putting more pressure on Fujitsu. Please confirm ASAP if you can commit to travelling to London for the day, so that Amicus can arrange transport.
The strike on 12th-14th March will focus on visiting other Fujitsu sites and touring workplaces to raise support. Please confirm ASAP if you are able to stay away overnight during this strike, so that arrangements can be made for your accommodation etc.
We have been working with other local trade unionists to organise an impressive rally in Manchester on the evening of Wednesday the 14th. This builds on our joint event with UNISON and PCS on 31st January, which helped us attract more support for our campaign. Speakers include the General Secretaries of the rail and postal unions and we will have an opportunity to talk about our dispute. A “solidarity buffet” is even being laid on for us. Please be there, and feel free to bring your friends and family.
Other campaign ideas from the strike committee meeting will be discussed at our members’ meeting on Thursday - don’t forget it’s our group Annual General Meeting:
2pm-4pm, Thursday 1st March
MAN33 – 1 – East (hot desk area)
This meeting is for all Amicus members employed by Fujitsu and based at MAN05/33/34/35 (including those based at HOM99 with an admin base of one of those sites). You are entitled to attend in work time.
If your manager might need to arrange release for you to attend, please contact them NOW. If you have any problems getting release, contact your rep immediately. If you leave it until the last minute, reps may be unable to help.
You can download the updated leaflet summarising our dispute and suggesting ways you can support us.
We can now confirm that our group Annual General Meeting will be:
2pm-4pm, Thursday 1st March
MAN33 – 1 – East (hot desk area)
Please book it in your diary now.
This meeting is for all Amicus members employed by Fujitsu and based at MAN05/33/34/35 (including those based at HOM99 with an admin base of one of those sites). You are entitled to attend in work time.
If your manager might need to arrange release for you to attend, please contact them NOW. If you have any problems getting release, contact your rep immediately. If you leave it until the last minute, reps may be unable to help.
The agenda will include:
- Report from talks and decisions on the dispute and pay 2007
- Pay comparator information
- Election of Reps, Health & Safety Reps, Union Learning Reps
Details of how to submit motions or items for the agenda, as well as how to stand for election or nominate a colleague, were circulated to members by email. The deadline is before Tuesday 27th February.
We plan Strike Committee meetings:
- 12:15pm, Wednesday 21st Feb
- 6pm, Monday 26th Feb, Amicus Prestwich office
The meeting on Monday evening will hear reports from Friday’s talks, discuss recommendations for our Annual General Meeting and make plans accordingly. Please try to attend if you want to be part of that discussion.
Everyone hopes that the company will take a constructive approach in the talks and our campaign can come to an end. In the meantime, we must continue organising our campaign, both to maximise the chance that this will be unnecessary, and just in case they isn’t.
Saturday saw the launch of our petition to the House of Commons in Manchester. Can you collect some signatures from friends, family or workmates? A copy of the blank petition can be downloaded from our web site. Please make sure all signatures are returned promptly so that it can be presented in London on 7th March.
Many members have already contacted their MP about the dispute. In preparation for our visit to parliament on 7th March, we urgently need to know the details of all the MPs who have been contacted and are supportive. Please pass details to rep Dean Burn.
Productive meetings with MPs in recent weeks produced the following tips:
- Keep contacting your MP to keep it high on their agenda – don’t let it go quiet once they’ve responded to you.
- Writing is more effective than email, but face-to-face meetings are the most effective way of lobbying, followed by phone calls. Ring up your MPs office and ask for a meeting or a phone conversation.
- Contact from constituents like you is far more effective than professional lobbying.
The planned strike on Wednesday 7th March will focus on pressuring Fujitsu via MPs. We plan transport to take a large group of members down to London for the day, when our petition will be presented in the House of Commons. If you can go to London for the day, please let your reps know as soon as possible. We don’t yet know timings, but it is likely to be quite a long day.
The planned strike on Monday 12th – Wednesday 14th March will focus on organising across other Fujitsu sites and touring workplaces to raise support. If you could stay overnight on Monday and/or Tuesday night, please let your reps know as soon as possible.
For the evening of Wednesday 14th March, we are working with other trade unionists to put on a major rally at Manchester’s Mechanics Institute. We have already confirmed as speakers both Bob Crow, leader of the RMT rail union, and Billy Hayes, leader of the CWU postal union. For more information, see our web site.
Talks over our ongoing dispute started again at ACAS yesterday.
The emails below show the bizarre turn of events since then:
|
From: Upton Larry Ian I can confirm that the note below represents the actions that the Company will take if Amicus does not issue the notice of action for the planned strike on 28th February. If Amicus is prepared not to issue this notice the Company will continue the ACAS talks on Friday. As notified a few minutes ago, our team is available on 8th and 9th March. I would be grateful if you could let me know as soon as possible tomorrow the decision of Amicus on this matter. As I expect to be out of e-mail contact for some of tomorrow, can you please call me on As there is a general expectation of strike action on 28th February it will, I believe, be helpful for there to be a co-ordinated communication to interested parties if the action is not to go ahead. Regards, Larry Larry Upton Employee Relations Manager _____________________________________________ Larry, As agreed, I’m sending this note to confirm our conversations today. You said you would reply straight away to confirm or correct so that reps can take a decision accordingly. We undertook to let you know the outcome tomorrow at the latest. The company is only willing to continue ACAS discussions on Friday on condition that Amicus doesn’t issue the notice of action for the planned strike on Wednesday 28th February. In recognition that if Amicus took this conciliatory step, the company would in exchange: 1. Restore facility time for our Union Learning Rep to the arrangements prior to it being stopped. A meeting will be organised within two weeks to discuss Union Learning, as a result of which new arrangements may be put in place. Ian. Larry, Our team asked me to send you a short note confirming where we’re up to. We all agreed to continue talks on Friday. You had previously arranged rooms at One Central Park (next door to the Fujitsu offices). The company was aware that in order to comply with the law, Amicus would need to send the notice of the planned strike on 28th February prior to Friday’s meeting. There would still be time to call off this strike if good progress on Friday. Amicus and ACAS are also available for talks on Tuesday 27th – could you let us know whether the company can field a team? The more progress we can report to our members by the AGM on Thursday 1st March, the better. Today Amicus floated some ideas about the possible shape of an overall settlement. Rather than spending time drafting detailed documents prior to further discussion, we think it would be most fruitful if the company could come on Friday having prepared to do the same. Today discussions touched upon a number of topics which were not fresh in everyone’s minds. The email I sent on 27/11/2006, prior to the previous ACAS talks, included the various draft documents which we had jointly marked up with comments showing the issues still under discussion at that point. It may be useful for us all to refresh our memories so that we can make the best use of the time together on Friday. Ian. |
Members at the EGM on 17th January had decided “That we should continue to be available for dispute talks at any time, but that unlike in November, we should not suspend the action unless there was tangible evidence of good prospects of success, to avoid further time-wasting”.
While the company has done nothing whatsoever to provide “tangible evidence of good prospects of success” in the talks so far, they are not actually asking us to “suspend the action”. Action short of strike is ongoing, as is the wider campaign. What the company has asked us to do is refrain from actually calling the action planned for 28th February.
As members had authorised reps to choose the strike days, your reps believe this decision does fall within their remit.
Your reps have asked Amicus NOT to issue the notice for the one-day strike on 28th February, so this strike will NOT go ahead.
The company has agreed to make two small but welcome gestures in return, as set out in the email. The first will allow our Union Learning Rep to resume her duties for the time being. The second lifts the threat made by the company in its notice of 17th November to employees taking action short of strike.
Talks will continue on Friday, and after the significant moves made by Amicus, the onus is now on the company to come up with something substantial that members can vote on at the AGM.
Support continues to pour in for our campaign from working people across the country.
In addition to the pdf files of messages and letters of support that we've already published: pdf 1, pdf 2, pdf 3, pdf 4 and pdf 5
we have 3 new files for you:
pdf 6, pdf 7 and pdf 8.
Please keep the support coming - see here for a dispute summary, appeal, collection sheet etc.
Yesterday Amicus launched the petition to the House of Commons about the Fujitsu dispute. Members and supporters petitioned, leafleted and handed out stickers and balloons outside Marks & Spencer on Market Street in Manchester. M&S is a major Fujitsu customer.
The petition highlights the fact that Fujitsu is the biggest supplier of IT services to central government, and demands that government suppliers, including Fujitsu, act ethically.
You can see photos here.
You can download the updated leaflet summarising the dispute and suggesting ways you can support us.
This version includes details of our new parliamentary petition, talks and planned strike dates.
The Amicus Manchester Reps committee is working with other local trade unionists to hold a major rally in Manchester on 14th March. There will be a planning meeting on Thursday 22nd February - see below for details.
Supporters of the event so far include:
Venues
The Friends Meeting House is 6 Mount Street, Manchester, M2 5NS. Mount Street runs between Albert Square and Peter Street. It's right behind Central Library, near the Town Hall. Map here.
The Mechanics Institute is the TUC building in Manchester. Its address is 103 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6DD, but the entrance is actually on Major Street. It's near Chorlton Street coach station and Chinatown. Map here.
Following the success of the national "Organising For Fighting Unions" conference in London last year, regional rallies are being set up around the country. There is a proposal to hold one in Manchester on the evening of Wednesday 14th March, and we would like to invite you to get involved.
There will be an initial planning meeting:
7pm, Thursday 22nd February
Friends Meeting House, Mount St, Manchester (behind the Central Library)
We hope that you and/or other representatives from your organisation can come along. If you or your organisation would like to add your name to the list of supporters for the rally itself, please get in touch. We will also be looking to raise money towards the cost of the event.
The original conference in London attracted over 800 people, mostly delegates from union bodies, the largest gathering of such a wide range of union activists in this country for years. The conference had four main themes:
· Stop the privatisation of the NHS, education and housing
· Support the Trade Union Freedom Bill
· Defend pension rights
· Discussion about political representation for trade unionists
You will find details below of the decisions of the conference.
Since the conference, Manchester has seen a 'Public Services not Private Profit' rally on 25th January supported by a broad range of unions. The strikes of PCS civil servants, UNISON Manchester mental health workers and Amicus Fujitsu workers included a joint strike rally on 31st January. The support and activity around these disputes are helping to revitalise the trade union movement in Manchester and we need to build on that. On Saturday 3rd March there is the TUC NHS Together Day of Action in support of the NHS. Unison Manchester Community and Health have initiated a Manchester demonstration for the day, in Albert Square at 12.00pm.
We're pleased to report that Bob Crow, the RMT General Secretary, and Billy Hayes, the CWU General Secretary, have already confirmed they will speak at the Organising For Fighting Unions rally on 14th March, and we're sure it will attract many more excellent contributors to a real discussion about how our movement can tackle the challenges faced by working people.
We do hope you will join us in this initiative.
The Workers Charter:
This Saturday (17th Feb) we will launch
a petition to the House of Commons, calling on them to ensure ethical behaviour from all government suppliers, including Fujitsu.
We’ll be meeting at 2pm outside M&S, Market Street, Manchester City Centre, Saturday 17th Feb - please come along if you can help.
The latest “One Per Desk” leaflet started going out in Manchester yesterday (Valentine’s Day). It is also posted on CafeVIK and on our external web site.
Talks with the company, facilitated by ACAS, are booked for Monday 19th February and Friday 23rd.
A lot of work is going on behind the scenes to implement members’ decision to step up the pressure on the company via customers and MPs.
This Saturday (17th Feb) we will launch a petition to the House of Commons, calling on them to ensure ethical behaviour from all government suppliers, including Fujitsu.
Can you come and help petition? We’ll be meeting at 2pm outside M&S, Market Street, Manchester City Centre, Saturday 17th Feb.
Members had instructed reps to select up to six strike days per month to ensure the pressure was kept up to achieve a sensible settlement.
At the moment, Reps are planning a total of five days:
- A one-day strike on Wednesday 28th February, when we will focus on contacting customers and potential customers.
- A one-day strike during the week beginning 5th March, when we will focus on pressure via MPs and present our petition to the House of Commons
- A three-day strike from Monday 12th March to Wednesday 14th March, when we will focus on organising around other Fujitsu sites, touring workplaces to raise support etc
These dates have been selected to maximise the pressure on the company during the critical Q4 period with the minimum impact on our pay packets. The choice of dates would also allow Amicus to suspend some or all of the action if good progress is made during the ACAS talks – the outcome we all want.
Due to the legal requirement to give Fujitsu 7-days notice before any action, it is not practical to await the outcome of the ACAS talks before setting dates.
Hardship Payments and first instalments of Additional Strike Assistance are being paid out now. A further instalment of Additional Strike Assistance is planned shortly. Amicus Dispute Benefit of £96 for the eight days is also in the pipeline, but will take longer to arrive.
To fit in with this timetable, we plan to have Strike Committee meetings:
- lunchtime on Wednesday 21st Feb
- evening on Monday 26th Feb
These meetings are to plan and organise the campaign, and any member who wants to help with this is welcome to come along. If you’re interested, please let your reps know so that you can be sent details of exact times, venues etc as they are arranged.
Our group Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in March. Your reps want to use this meeting to consider the results of the ACAS talks, to provide members with pay information (as last year), and to elect reps for the coming year. As a result, reps are trying to arrange this for the afternoon of Thursday 1st March, the earliest possible date. This isn’t yet confirmed, but please pencil it into your diary now.
If you’re trying to explain the dispute or raise support for our campaign from friends, family etc, the leaflet summarising the dispute and appealing for support is a vital resource. This is available on our external web site and is updated periodically.
In line with the decision of the EGM on Friday 2nd Feb, Jackie Cook is now a rep, replacing Chris Yates who has resigned. Thanks to Chris for his help with the VME offshoring issues.
The second part of the disciplinary hearing for Ian Allinson, our senior rep, took place on Tuesday 6th Feb. At the end of the hearing Ian was told to expect a written response within five working days, or that he would be informed if the company needed more time. The manager has now written to Ian saying he requires “a little more time to consider the facts and thus make a decision”. The manager has now gone on annual leave. A decision is now expected next week, by an amazing coincidence allowing the company to see how the ACAS talks are going.
Other events for your diary
We’ve been extremely successful in building support for our dispute, helping us both in terms of campaigning and of course financially. To a large extent this has been a result of members getting out and about to workplaces, meetings etc, supporting others and keeping the profile of our dispute high.
A member has kindly agreed to look after our diary, to keep a list of who’s going to what, and lists of members who are willing to be asked to attend occasional events before work, after work, on annual leave or at weekends. You can contact her on events@ourunion.org.uk.
Here are a few of the events of wider interest at which we aim to have groups of members raising support for our dispute:
- 2pm, Saturday 17th February: Amicus Fujitsu petitioning, meet outside M&S, Market Street, Manchester
- 6:15pm, Tuesday 20th February: “Defend the NHS” public meeting, Mechanics Institute, Major St/Princess St, Manchester
- Saturday 24th February: national Stop the War demonstration, London. Coach bookings at www.mancsagainsttanks.org. Delegation with banner on Rusholme coach.
- Saturday 3rd March: Manchester “Defend the NHS” demonstration on national day of action. Assemble 12:00 Albert Square, Manchester. We’ve been invited to send a speaker.
You can download an updated leaflet summarising the dispute and suggesting ways you can support us.
To see an electronic copy of our paper one-per-desk leaflet called "Love Is All Around?" on Cafevik, click here (a local version is here).
This leaflet was produced for our Manchester Central Park and West Gorton sites.
Since we started having specialist Union Learning Reps (ULRs), Amicus has been more active on learning, training and development.
Liz Smith, director of unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation said:
"The Government's plan for an employers' Skills Pledge is a welcome move to try and bring the one third of employers on board who have been refusing to train their staff. Unions with the help of unionlearn have been showing for some years how to make such a pledge real, and have so far signed over 400 learning agreements with employers which have benefited workers, employers, and many companies. The Government sponsored skills review by Lord Leitch stated that if insufficient employers have taken the pledge in three years time then a legal entitlement should be introduced. Unions will now be monitoring progress and identifying those employers who are still dragging their feet and not taking the pledge. Over 15,000 union learning reps helped more than 100,000 people to improve their skills last year."
The UnionLearn web site is: http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/
Pauline Bradburn, our local ULR, wants to draw your attention to the availability of some free training:
http://www.sflip.org.uk/regionalavailability.aspx
Fujitsu recently began refusing Pauline time-off to carry out her duties, despite this being a statutory right. Amicus has been taking this up vigorously, and we are now beginning to make some progress.
Pauline has been working on a draft “Learning Partnership Agreement” for Central Park. To make this work, we need a team of ULRs working together. If you’re interested in being a ULR, please talk to Pauline or email your reps.
The company has begun discussions over the transfer of staff on the DCA (Libra) and CSCI contracts out of Fujitsu. The reps involved are Zahid Ramzan, Phil Tepper and Dave Francis. If you are in either of these groups, please talk to these reps so that they can effectively represent your views.
Following the 5-day strike, talks at ACAS are due to resume on Monday 19th February, which is excellent news, coming after over two months with no negotiations.
The delay is obviously disappointing, and will not reassure staff that the company is serious about reaching a speedy settlement.
In line with the decisions of members at last Friday’s EGM, plans are being laid to increase the pressure on the company further. We have to convince senior management that allowing HR to jeopardise their business plans is just not worth it.
On Wednesday, Ian Allinson, Dean Burn and Pauline Bradburn took a day off to travel down with Sarah Holden (one of our full-time officers) to the House of Commons, where they discussed the dispute with several MPs. You can see some of the photos on the web site here. A number of MPs have already written to Fujitsu to complain about the company’s behaviour, and the MPs we met suggested a number of ideas to increase pressure for a settlement.
We now have MPs who are willing to help coordinate our campaign within parliament, but they stressed the need for members across the UK to help prepare the ground by:
- Writing to your own MP
- Getting friends, family and colleagues to write to their MPs
- Keep writing back to your MP when they respond, to keep the issue high on their agenda
You can find your MP here: http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/
You can find the notes Amicus produced to help you write to your MP here: http://www.ourunion.org.uk/news/archives/2007_01.htm#000858
Meanwhile, work has been going on so that an instalment of financial support for strikers can be paid in the next few days to members who requested it.
Tuesday afternoon saw over fifty staff protesting outside the disciplinary hearing for Ian Allinson, our senior rep, calling on the company to settle the dispute rather than trying to victimise our reps. Other posters made the point that “Representation is only refused when our rights are to be abused”. Larry Upton, the company’s new “Employee Relations Manager” was hanging around, so it was worthwhile everyone turning up – the protest was even bigger than last time.
Health & Safety should be an area where the company and employees can cooperate to deliver a good working environment. Staff safety should come first, rather than being a ball to be kicked about in HR’s union-busting games.
Employee reps from Amicus and the UK Consultative Forum (UKCF) have been encouraging the company for years to consult employees on Health & Safety matters even on sites where they don’t yet benefit from union recognition. The company maintains the charade that they consult each employee directly (the other legal alternative, intended for small firms). Apart from the email about the top-level safety policy, when were you last individually consulted by Fujitsu on a Health & Safety matter?
The law says that recognised unions can appoint Health & Safety Reps who have legal standing. In Amicus, we elect them and they get proper training. Where there’s no recognised union, the employer can hold elections for Representatives of Employee Safety (RoES) to perform some of the same functions. Fujitsu still refuses to do this across the UK, citing the cost of having all these people involved in safety. Of course, if they actually did consult every employee individually, the cost would be even higher, but the reality is that they don’t consult at all.
This week’s Manchester Health & Safety committee meeting saw the company return to one of its earlier union-busting wheezes. While the company hasn’t put in place an effective consultation process for the 10,000+ employees without union recognition, they suggested setting up an extra (non-union) one in Manchester for those who are already represented by trained Amicus Health & Safety Reps.
While the company thinks Representatives of Employee Safety are too expensive to improve the health and safety of non-Manchester staff, it seems money is no object when the objective is to divide the Manchester workforce.
Since we started having specialist Union Learning Reps (ULRs), Amicus has been more active on learning, training and development.
Liz Smith, director of unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation said:
"The Government's plan for an employers' Skills Pledge is a welcome move to try and bring the one third of employers on board who have been refusing to train their staff. Unions with the help of unionlearn have been showing for some years how to make such a pledge real, and have so far signed over 400 learning agreements with employers which have benefited workers, employers, and many companies. The Government sponsored skills review by Lord Leitch stated that if insufficient employers have taken the pledge in three years time then a legal entitlement should be introduced. Unions will now be monitoring progress and identifying those employers who are still dragging their feet and not taking the pledge. Over 15,000 union learning reps helped more than 100,000 people to improve their skills last year."
The UnionLearn web site is: http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/
Pauline Bradburn, our local ULR, wants to draw your attention to the availability of some free training:
http://www.sflip.org.uk/regionalavailability.aspx
Fujitsu recently began refusing Pauline time-off to carry out her duties, despite this being a statutory right. Amicus has been taking this up vigorously, and we are now beginning to make some progress.
Pauline has been working on a draft “Learning Partnership Agreement” for Central Park. To make this work, we need a team of ULRs working together. If you’re interested in being a ULR, please talk to Pauline or email your reps.
The company has begun discussions over the transfer of staff on the DCA (Libra) and CSCI contracts out of Fujitsu. The reps involved are Zahid Ramzan, Phil Tepper and Dave Francis. If you are in either of these groups, please talk to these reps so that they can effectively represent your views.
Following the 5-day strike, talks at ACAS are due to resume on Monday 19th February, which is excellent news, coming after over two months with no negotiations.
The delay is obviously disappointing, and will not reassure staff that the company is serious about reaching a speedy settlement.
In line with the decisions of members at last Friday’s EGM, plans are being laid to increase the pressure on the company further. We have to convince senior management that allowing HR to jeopardise their business plans is just not worth it.
On Wednesday, Ian Allinson, Dean Burn and Pauline Bradburn took a day off to travel down with Sarah Holden (one of our full-time officers) to the House of Commons, where they discussed the dispute with several MPs. You can see some of the photos on the web site here. A number of MPs have already written to Fujitsu to complain about the company’s behaviour, and the MPs they met suggested a number of ideas to increase pressure for a settlement.
We now have MPs who are willing to help coordinate our campaign within parliament, but they stressed the need for members across the UK to help prepare the ground by:
- Writing to your own MP
- Getting friends, family and colleagues to write to their MPs
- Keep writing back to your MP when they respond, to keep the issue high on their agenda
You can find your MP here: http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/
You can find the notes Amicus produced to help you write to your MP here: http://www.ourunion.org.uk/news/archives/2007_01.htm#000858
Meanwhile, work has been going on so that an installment of financial support for strikers can be paid in the next few days to members who requested it.
Tuesday afternoon saw over fifty staff protesting outside the disciplinary hearing for Ian Allinson, our senior rep, calling on the company to settle the dispute rather than trying to victimise our reps. Other posters made the point that “Representation is only refused when our rights are to be abused”. Larry Upton, the company’s new “Employee Relations Manager” was hanging around, so it was worthwhile everyone turning up – the protest was even bigger than last time.
Health & Safety should be an area where the company and employees can cooperate to deliver a good working environment. Staff safety should come first, rather than being a ball to be kicked about in HR’s union-busting games.
Employee reps from Amicus and the UK Consultative Forum (UKCF) have been encouraging the company for years to consult employees on Health & Safety matters even on sites where they don’t yet benefit from union recognition. The company maintains the charade that they consult each employee directly (the other legal alternative, intended for small firms). Apart from the email about the top-level safety policy, when were you last individually consulted by Fujitsu on a Health & Safety matter?
The law says that recognised unions can appoint Health & Safety Reps who have legal standing. In Amicus, we elect them and they get proper training. Where there’s no recognised union, the employer can hold elections for Representatives of Employee Safety (RoES) to perform some of the same functions. Fujitsu still refuses to do this across the UK, citing the cost of having all these people involved in safety. Of course, if they actually did consult every employee individually, the cost would be even higher, but the reality is that they rarely consult at all.
This week’s Manchester Health & Safety committee meeting saw the company return to one of its earlier union-busting wheezes. While the company hasn’t put in place an effective consultation process for the 10,000+ employees without union recognition, they suggested setting up an extra (non-union) one in Manchester for those who are already represented by trained Amicus Health & Safety Reps.
While the company thinks Representatives of Employee Safety are too expensive to improve the health and safety of non-Manchester staff, it seems money is no object when the objective is to divide the Manchester workforce.
Three Amicus members from Fujitsu took the day off yesterday to travel down to the House of Commons, where they discussed the dispute and campaign plans with several MPs.
Photos here (along with some of pickets earlier in the week).
Full-size versions of the Parliament ones:
Outside the Houses of Parliament
Tomorrow (Wednesday 7th Feb) a delegation of Fujitsu staff will meet MPs at the House of Commons to discuss the dispute. Many MPs have already written to the company.
Why should a company in receipt of vast sums of public money get away with treating people so badly?
The UNISON members working in community mental health in Manchester who we held joint strike rally with on 31st are back out on strike again on Wednesday 7th Feb - please give them your support. Their campaign web site is www.stopthecuts.co.nr. They have also chosen further strike days in their battle to defend the NHS.
On 13th December, the day HR told Amicus it didn’t want to continue talks, the company also wrote a letter inviting Ian Allinson, our senior rep, to a disciplinary hearing on the basis of an allegation about a meeting last November (where Phil Tepper was a witness).
The hearing took place on 10th January, with a large number of members and non-members protesting as the hearing began. After discussing a couple of points, the company decided to adjourn the hearing, saying that it was “unlikely” they would want to reconvene it and would probably drop the allegations.
Fujitsu waited a full two weeks to get in touch again, now saying it did want to reconvene the hearing, but offering no explanation.
The reconvened hearing is due to take place tomorrow:
1:30pm, Tuesday 5th February, 35GCR3 (MAN35 ground floor)
Staff are encouraged to make their feelings known outside the room just before the hearing starts if they are on a break.
The ongoing threat to discipline Ian is yet another attempt by the company to widen and confuse the issues in dispute, rather than actually resolving them.
The timing of events reinforces the view that the company wants to keep this threat dangling over us – it is part of the dispute, not a genuine issue of conduct. Ian will be in there for us – we should be out there for him.
If you incurred expenses (e.g. travelling to other sites, parking) for the strike, please make sure you claim them back promptly. Contact Dave Francis for an expense claim form, or download it from our web site.
We’re pleased to report that the Amicus National Executive Council (NEC) discussed our dispute on Wednesday and agreed:
- Dispute Benefit for all eight strike-days
- A message of support
- A contribution to our strike fund
- To send our appeal out to all Amicus branches across the country
The final point is in many ways the most significant – there are between two and three thousand Amicus branches, each with a bank account. It won’t produce an instant result (branches have to meet, take decisions, send cheques), but it does mean a lot more financial support coming in over an extended period.
If you were on strike and haven’t already replied to the notice titled “AMICUS: Financial Support For Strikers” dated 18/1/2007, please do so immediately.
Dispute Benefit is sent out from head office – we don’t know exactly when we’ll receive that, but now the NEC has approved it, the wheels should start turning.
Additional Strike Assistance and Hardship Payments will be paid out of our strike fund. A lot of money is coming in at the moment. Though pay won’t be deducted for the 5-day strike until the February pay packet, many of us are already out of pocket from the 1-day and 2-day strikes. We intend to make interim payments from the strike fund as soon as possible, but please bear in mind that we expect to make additional payments later.
Last week saw even more members getting involved in picketing and campaigning activities around the strike.
As well as picketing in Manchester, we:
- Leafleted Fujitsu sites in Footscray, Swansea, Newport, Warrington, Bracknell, Slough, Crewe, Wakefield and Bolton
- Toured raising support in London, South Wales, Crewe, Preston, Sheffield and of course Manchester
- Raised support outside other workplaces in Manchester and Chesterfield
- Held a joint rally with striking civil servants and NHS workers, building more links with our customers
- Protested outside customers (Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Orange)
- Continued our campaign with MPs
- Had training on campaigning and organising
- Held a protest outside Central Park – “If Fujitsu won’t come to the negotiating table, we’ll take the table to Fujitsu”
- Spoke at many meetings
- Raised thousands of pounds
All this was only possible because so many members played their part. More reports, including photos, are being posted on www.ourunion.org.uk/news.
If you were out and about last week, please make sure you write up what happened ASAP and give a copy to rep Isabel Hay, so that your successes can be followed up.
If you have any of the strike paraphernalia (placards, buckets etc), please contact our “quartermaster”, Phil Tepper, so that we know where it all is, and to arrange to return it where appropriate.
Fujitsu offered doughnuts, cookies etc to those who worked. Some felt this showed the company’s low opinion of the intelligence of its workforce, who they hoped would forget about pay, redundancy rights etc (doh!). Others suggested this was real progress, as it’s not so long since a company negotiator said he wouldn’t offer staff “a peanut”. Does anyone think the doughnut supply will continue if we lose?
Though no talks have been arranged yet, subject to a view from ACAS, it seems likely that talks will resume soon, which is welcome news. However, there are many issues to resolve and we must avoid easing off the pressure until the ink is dry on a settlement members are happy with.
Our campaign relies on three forms of pressure on the company:
1) The industrial action itself, the impact on projects, customers etc
2) External campaigning with customers, MPs, the media etc
3) Helping staff on other Fujitsu sites get organised. Most sites don't yet have union recognition at all.
We're also trying to strike a balance between campaigning activity that puts pressure on the company and raising the funds to sustain our fight.
Friday’s EGM reviewed the campaign so far and discussed next steps. We felt that the external and organising aspects had been given a huge boost during the week, but that it would take time and effort to follow these up effectively. We needed to make sure we were escalating the campaign as a whole, not just one aspect of it, to maximise the pressure on the company and minimise the cost to members.
The EGM on Friday decided:
- To seek to engage in talks with the company at ACAS as soon as possible
- To intensify political and customer pressure
- To increase our efforts to organise and recruit more members in Manchester and the rest of the country
- To continue the action short of strike
- To authorise the reps to choose up to a total of six days strike action per month
The decision on “up to a total of six days” would allow flexibility to take patterns of days to fit in with the campaign timetable, and nobody was suggesting this meant one 6-day strike. If less than 6-days in a month were needed, so much the better. Reps were also asked to take account of pay periods in choosing days.
Everyone hoped agreement could be reached before further action was necessary, but members were determined to ensure the dispute was brought to a swift and satisfactory conclusion.
It was agreed to maintain a list of people reps could occasionally ask to do activity before work, after work, or on a day’s annual leave. If you are prepared to be on any of these lists, please let your reps know.
There was a discussion about the April 2007 pay review. It was agreed that it would be a diversion to put in a formal pay claim and start another set of talks, when we still had no pay agreement for last year. Instead, we would step up campaigning around pay and benefits and seek to get the 2007 pay review sorted out as part of a settlement of the dispute. This would also have the advantage of making it harder for the company to delay talks and our pay rises yet again.
It was agreed to elect Jackie Cook as a new Rep, subject to one of the less active existing reps agreeing to step down. If this wasn’t possible, the matter could be brought back to the next EGM.
It was agreed to continue the strike committee, which had proved highly effective in organising the campaign and allowing members who aren’t reps to get more involved. Venues, times etc will vary as required.
Reps intend to hold a strike committee meeting on Thursday evening specifically to work on the campaign strategy and plan. If you would want to take part in this, please contact rep Isabel Hay.
Our campaign for fair treatment for Fujitsu staff relies on three forms of pressure on the company:
1) The industrial action itself, the impact on projects, customers etc
2) External campaigning with customers, MPs, the media etc
3) Helping staff on other Fujitsu sites get organised. Most sites don't yet have union recognition at all.
We're also trying to strike a balance between campaigning activity that puts pressure on the company and raising the funds to sustain our fight.
We've had a one-day strike (20 Nov 2006), a two-day strike (11-12 Jan 2007), then a five-day strike (29 Jan - 2 Feb 2007).
This is a summary of what we've done on strike days so far. Lots has been going on the rest of the time as well, from the action short of strike to inumerable meetings, letter writing etc.
FIVE-DAY STRIKE
4th strike day: Monday 29 January 2007
5th strike day: Tuesday 30 January 2007
6th strike day: Wednesday 31 January 2007
7th strike day: Thursday 1 February 2007
8th strike day: Friday 2 February 2007
TWO-DAY STRIKE
2nd strike day: Thursday 11 January 2007
3rd strike day: Friday 12 January 2007
ONE-DAY STRIKE
1st strike day: Monday 20 November 2006
"If Fujitsu won't come to the negotiating table, we'll take the table to Fujitsu" event at Fujitsu Services, Central Park, Manchester; today, on the 5th day of our 5 day strike. Pictures here.
Started the day in a coffee shop in the centre of Preston, where we met with representatives of the PCS, the main civil service union. We gave them a few leaflets and explained why we were taking strike action. They were sympathetic and supportive, promising to seek a contribution from their executive committee.
We next met with the Communication Workers Union. This was an interesting meeting because, despite that their employer is nominally a Government body (the Royal Mail), they could cite many examples of similar treatment being meted out to their members and reps. Again, they were supportive of our cause, and promised to seek contributions.
Lastly, we headed out to Chorley and the Fire Brigade’s Union. Once again, our cause elicited sympathy because they find themselves going through many of the same problems as we are. They actually have an advantage over us in that they have a number of official full-time reps, so they do not find themselves in the same position as our senior rep. As before, we were promised financial support from the executive committee.
Thursday morning bright and early, 4 of us arrive at the Wellsprings Building in Bolton, part of the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council offices, where Fujitsu staff on this contract also work. Some of the staff that are ex-Bolton MBC.
We leafleted the people going into the building, both Fujitsu and council staff, explaining about the dispute here in Manchester. Some of the Fujitsu staff were aware and some were not of what is going on in Manchester. We were able to get two people to decide to join Amicus as a result of the information we gave them.
Two of us went over to another Council Building to speak to one of the Unison reps for the Bolton MBC staff. We explained about the dispute and what we are fighting for. They were not aware of anything that was going on. We gave some leaflets for distribution and also was told they were having a branch meeting on Tuesday next week, and would pass on details of our dispute in the hope we could get some support and a donation.
We had a very positive response all round and the majority of people took leaflets and various people also stopped to talk to us for more information about what was going on.
Two of us went to the meeting in the evening. We spoke about our dispute and our response to the attacks we faced by the company. We answered questions from the delegates and gave out leaflets. The trades council agreed to give a donation of £50, write a letter of protest to the company, write a message of support to the strikers and give out copies of our leaflets and collections sheets to trade unionist holding meetings in their offices.
Six of us started leafleting at 7am at all the entrances, and managed to give leaflets to almost everyone including members of the public. One person even stopped their van and spoke to us and threw in some money to our collection. A number of people took lanyards or membership forms. We even ended up giving advice to one member while we were there. We stayed until 9:30 and after the sun started shining through the clouds - called it a day.
At North Manchester Hospital we left leaflets with some administrator who shares the office space with the Unions. She said she would copy the leaflets and collection forms and send them to all the union reps.
Rolls Royce was interesting we actually found the GMB rep first. He was very supportive and took materials. He was going to send leaflets and collections forms to his branch and hawk the things round his people. He did say he had already sent a cheque in. He went off and found the AMICUS rep, who we also talked to.
Queens Road bus depot has a busy union office and a number of notice boards. He took leaflets and was going to put up the collection sheets and leaflets. The T&G are actually going to ACAS on the 28th Feb so he was very supportive though very busy.