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.
You should have seen the site notice for the Central Park safety inspections planned for Monday 30th April. If you have any concerns or issues you want looking into during the inspections, please contact your local H&S reps.
The right to carry out inspections (and indeed to have Health & Safety Reps at all) comes from having union recognition. There is extensive evidence that having safety reps in a workplace dramatically reduces the risk of accidents and improves the health and welfare of the workforce.
The inspections are timed to coincide with Workers’ Memorial Day, an annual event under the slogan “Remember the dead. Fight for the living.”
Locally, there are events planned for Saturday 28th April:
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Manchester Joint Union Workers Memorial Day Rally 11am in Peace Gardens, behind Manchester Town Hall Speakers: Tony Lloyd MP, Regional Trade Unionists and Followed by Refreshments at Mechanics Institute, |
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4.00pm to 6.00pm Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) sponsored Plus video 'The human face of mesothelioma ' from the Asbestos Groups Forum. |
Legislation in recent years has given new impetus to the work unions do to ensure members have good learning opportunities.
Lifelong learning includes, but isn’t restricted to, training that is job-related. The term is used to broadly describe the learning in which a person engages throughout life, whether it be through formal educational programs pursued in schools, colleges or universities, or through informal learning by other routes.
Members elected Pauline Bradburn, and then Dean Burn as Union Learning Reps (ULRs). ULRs specialise in learning issues in the same way that Health & Safety reps specialise in their own areas.
Pauline has established our union library in MAN34. If you want a tour, please give Pauline or Dean a call.
Our “Amicus The Union” CafeVIK Community now has a “UNION LEARNING” section. Here you’ll find the results of a pilot “Learning Needs” Survey which Pauline carried out late last year. The survey covered 100 staff in MAN35, of whom a majority replied. The response was very good from non-members, who clearly take learning just as seriously as the rest of us. Thanks to everyone who took part.
You may recall that the company had (illegally) been refusing Pauline time to carry out her duties. Thankfully this issue is now resolved, and the learning agenda is beginning to progress is a more constructive fashion.
Our Amicus Regional Lifelong Learning Organiser organised for a Fujitsu manager to go along with our ULRs to visit Mersey Travel, where the senior management are actively encouraging learning. ULRs there have set up Learning Centres where staff have easy access to resources.
Given that a large proportion of Fujitsu staff in the survey cited access as a major barrier to learning, Amicus has suggested establishing a learning centre at Central Park. The large amounts of vacant space would seem to make this very practical.
Our ULRs are now working with Fujitsu to prepare for “Learning At Work” day, which is on Thursday 24th May. Plans are at an early stage, but are likely to include events in the restaurant areas, information from various organisations etc.
We also hope to be in a position to use the day to launch a “Learning Partnership Agreement” covering Fujitsu Manchester, which would provide a framework for making further progress on the learning agenda.
If you want to get involved, please speak to Pauline or Dean.
Amicus is organising short lunchtime meetings, open to members and non-members, to discuss the pay review, redundancy and redeployment, and Fujitsu’s intention to “harmonise” standard working hours as well as payments for overtime, shifts, standby etc.
These will be in MAN35 G CR2, Friday 20th April, at:
· 12:00 – 12:20
· 12:30 – 12:50
· 13:00 – 13:20
· 13:30 – 13:50
Please encourage your colleagues to come along, find out what’s happening, ask questions etc.
You’re welcome to bring your sandwiches along if you wish.
TUPE
Three members recently TUPE transferred to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) as part of the CSCI contract. The companies went ahead with the transfer even though a major issue – redundancy and redeployment rights – was unresolved. This calls into question whether the (legally required) TUPE consultation could be considered complete.
As well as taking it up through the collective TUPE consultation process, Amicus helped the members to raise grievances prior to transfer, to try to get the issue resolved and ensure they didn’t lose their right to legal recourse.
As Amicus is also the recognised union in CSC, reps in the new company have been able to continue supporting our members post-transfer.
The outcome isn’t 100% clear, but it does seem possible that we can reach an outcome acceptable to the members.
Without Amicus support, it seems likely that the three members would have been on statutory minimum redundancy terms, instead of their Security of Employment Agreement (SEA), leaving them thousands of pounds worse off. Given CSC’s recent history of mass-redundancies, this is not an academic issue.
With staff being TUPE transferred between IT services companies all the time, this case is a good illustration of why union membership and recognition is so vital.
West Gorton Closure
With the old MAN05 site finally closing down as a Fujitsu building, the issue of redeployment and redundancy has flared up again. One of our members, Gary Ellison, had stayed behind, keeping services running.
After several months on a secondment at Central Park, he thought his job situation was resolved, only to be moved without notice to “Linkwise”, the company’s redeployment and pre-redundancy pool. After spending months not seeking an alternative job for him, the company has now put him on “30-days” warning of redundancy.
Gary has many years of service with the company (joining in 1998 after several years as a contractor), and the case clearly illustrates the importance of the issues in the dispute. HR hasn’t even informed Amicus properly, never mind begun consultation. The SEA provides for a minimum of 90-days consultation, not 30 days.
What are the odds of getting HR to do anything in 30 days?
The case illustrates perfectly the absurdity of the company’s argument against honouring the 90-day promise they made in the SEA. They claim that it is “too expensive” for a “modern” company, and that they have to move quickly to stay competitive.
Any sensible HR department would have spotted that Gary’s job was at risk years ago, never mind 90-days ago. They could have warned Gary then, started consultation, and spent the time finding him suitable alternative work. Instead, despite questions from Amicus, Fujitsu chose not to start redundancy consultation.
The result is that Fujitsu has set itself a timescale to redeploy Gary which will be very hard to meet. The company are trying to get away with making Gary pay the price for their own mis-management.
Amicus is demanding that Fujitsu honour the SEA and handle redundancy and redeployment through a clear, agreed, process.
As well as doing everything you can to support the general campaign around the dispute, you can help Gary by:
- Letting your reps (or Gary) know if there are vacancies in your area that he might be able to do
- Letting your reps know if your area is under-staffed, so that a vacancy can be created
- Letting your reps know if you think Gary could do your job and you would like to volunteer for redundancy
- Letting your reps know if you believe relevant vacancies might appear in your area in the next few months
At MAN05, Gary was working in DataCentre Operations, and his recent secondment was in a technical support role.
Dispute
After delays (primarily due to ACAS unavailability) dispute talks are now scheduled for 24th April.
Our campaigning in the wider trade union movement is definitely having an impact – the subject of our unresolved dispute was the main concern raised by a potential customer recently, discussing a potential multi-million pound contract. Will management protect the business and reach a sensible settlement to the dispute?
The Easter break has delayed arranging any meeting between MPs and the company.
Pay
Managers have had access to pay review letters for some time now – if you haven’t received yours yet, ask your manager.
With inflation currently running at 4.6%, most rises seem to be in the 1-3% range, representing significant pay cuts in real terms, even for those with good performance ratings.
What do people in your area think? Please feed back views to your reps.
A stronger union
The annual pay-cut is encouraging a lot of staff across the company to consider joining the union – we’ve had a flurry of non-members filling in the form (www.ourunion.org.uk/interested) to express an interest.
Similarly, our survey about Fujitsu’s intention to harmonise the “normal” working week as well as payments for overtime, shifts and standby has already generated a lot of interest from colleagues who aren’t in the union yet. Has everyone in your area filled it in?
The idea that IT workers need unions received a welcome plug from IT Week.
While the national organising effort across Fujitsu is getting underway, we shouldn’t neglect Central Park. If we had a stronger union, would HR be trying it on in the way they are?
Organising isn’t just recruitment – it’s about making the union and our campaigns effective by involving as many people as possible.
We plan a course, open to all members, to help equip us to organise more effectively:
- Saturday 28th April – Sunday 29th April, 10am-4pm each day.
- If you can only manage one day, that should still be useful. The course is not a repeat of any previous organising course, but Sunday will have more new material.
- Saturday will focus on organising principles and 1:1 communication skills. Sunday will look at how we can practically structure our campaign across the areas of a site like Central Park.
- Amicus Prestwich office (Parkgates, Bury New Road, Prestwich, M25 0JW). Entrance is on Sedgley Park Road. Press the “AEEU” buzzer for entrance to the car park.
- Lunch and travel expenses will be provided.
Please respond as soon as possible to book a place, so that the necessary arrangements can be made.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Amicus in Fujitsu, you can leave your details here:
www.ourunion.org.uk/interested
Fujitsu has begun discussions with Amicus reps, PCS reps and UKCF reps about changes to contracts of employment for all UK staff.
The company wants to “harmonise” those aspects of contracts that define the “standard” working week and how we are paid (or not) for overtime, shifts, standby etc.
This will affect you regardless of whether you currently work Out Of Hours, or whether you currently get paid for it.
Some parts of Fujitsu have tried to create a culture where people don’t expect to get paid for extra work. It’s worth making sure everyone knows the truth – around 5500 UK employees have recently received payment for Out Of Hours working. Is a job really important enough to sacrifice your own time for if it’s not important enough for the company to pay you?
Amicus and the PCS union (which also has members in Fujitsu) have agreed to work together on a joint national campaign around the Out Of Hours harmonisation.
We have set up an initial web page (which we are starting to populate) for the campaign:
http://www.ourunion.org.uk/ooh
The web page includes a link to a survey, to allow your Reps an overview of working hours, types of Out Of Hours working etc. Please take the time to complete the survey, and encourage your workmates to do the same, whether they are in the union or not.
A hardcopy version of the survey is available on request for those without Internet access.
Last week, Amicus held its first meeting for Crewe staff. Members discussed the issues affecting them and how they could get organised.
The members present agreed to take part in lunchtime training sessions to help build the union. Bob Anderson and Stephen Ryan were elected as new Reps. A further meeting will be held in a month or so to review progress. If you’re based at Crewe, didn’t make the meeting, and want to know more, please speak to your new Reps.
We have approval for resources from Amicus for a national organising campaign in Fujitsu. This will target a number of sites across the country, with the aim of building the union into a more effective force.
The efforts of members in Manchester during their dispute have already massively increased the national profile of the union within Fujitsu. The organising campaign will build on this to develop organisation at a number of key sites.
While we will be able to call on extra resources as a result of the campaign, we must remember that the members are the union and we will only succeed if you get involved.
Over recent months we’ve held union meetings in Staines, Wakefield, Warrington and now Crewe (see below). New reps have been elected at several sites. In one area, members are considering putting in a claim for union recognition.
If you’re interested in helping the campaign, please contact your local rep, email your reps, or ring Sarah Holden, Amicus Senior Organiser, on 07919 307 433.
HR are trying to level the rights of Manchester staff down to what the rest of us suffer. There have even been examples of HR trying to reduce rights elsewhere to below the legal minimum. We must respond by organising across the company.
Most people should now have received their pay review letter from their manager. [In Manchester, letters are late but pay rises are still expected to be paid in the April pay packet]. Inflation is higher than for many years (RPI up 4.6% in the year to February 2007), so for most of us the letter will be telling us how big a pay cut we’ve got in real terms.
In a context where the company is increasingly profitable and we’re expected to work harder and harder, we’re getting a smaller and smaller share of the value of the work we do. Fujitsu is likely to continue this approach until staff across Fujitsu get better organised.
PCS members in Capgemini (on the HMRC contract in Telford) recently voted for strike action against a below-inflation pay deal. This quickly (without any action being taken) resulted in Capgemini improving their offer, which we understand PCS members are now considering. Being prepared to fight doesn’t guarantee you win, but it does give you a chance.
Don’t forget that the HR guidelines for managers carrying out the April 2007 pay review (affecting most UK employees) now say:
Individuals may request details of this internal comparator information relating to their own role from their Manager. Managers should provide the information requested with an explanation of how the comparators are constructed and used.
This is an important victory, which has only come about because of tenacious campaigning by Amicus members over several years.
Please DO ASK your manager for your pay comparator.
If you have any pay or benefit comparator data, please feed the results back to your reps so that Amicus can build up a general picture of Fujitsu pay and benefits. This in turn will help Amicus provide you with better information, advice and support.
All members in Fujitsu outside Manchester should now have received a paper mailing to their home address including the pay comparators Amicus already had. Members in Manchester were given these at the AGM on 1st March (or can get a copy from their rep).