Unite Fujitsu News

Save our NHS

The TUC says:

The House of Lords are to start discussing proposed changes to the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill on 8 February. The seriousness of this Bill cannot be understated. It threatens the very principles on which the National Health Service was founded by turning it into a business where our taxes will pay for private companies to provide our healthcare. Profit will come before patient care. These reforms are being pushed through at a time when the government is asking the NHS to make unprecedented cuts. Despite Government assertions to the contrary, deep concerns about the Bill are held by practitioners and patients from across the health service. They are also shared by many of the coalitions own supporters, including a number of MPs and Peers, who have criticised what Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary is trying to push through.

Now we are asking anyone who cares about our NHS to join us in a Save our NHS rally in Westminster Central Hall, opposite the Houses of Parliament at 18:00 on 7 March. The rally has been organised by the All Together for the NHS Campaign and brings together a range of unions, professional bodies, patients and members of the public who are opposed to the Bill.

Some changes have been made to the Bill but not nearly enough.

Peers must listen to the concerns of the people that know the NHS best – the staff who work in it. Health workers fear the increased competition and the extension of markets will have a devastating impact on patient care, especially poorer people who will find themselves pushed to the back of ever-growing waiting lists.

We hope the rally on 7 March will provide the opportunity for NHS workers and patients to send a loud message across Parliament Square to convince the House of Lords that this Bill would be a disaster for the NHS.

If you’re able to join the rally at 6pm on Wednesday 7th March at Westminster Central Hall, opposite the Houses of Parliament, please do. If you need help with transport please get in touch as UNITE is in the process of organising this from each region.

"Interim" Out of hours

Despite the failure to consult Fujitsu Voice before they were introduced, the company continues to gradually expand the pool of people on the (dreadful) “UK Interim Additional Hours Guidelines”. Whenever you move department, change job etc you need to be very careful to ensure the company doesn’t take the opportunity to worsen your terms and conditions for Overtime, Shift, Standby or Callout – whether you are currently working Out Of Hours or not.

The company has generated a myriad of Out Of Hours terms over the years, in its attempt to undermine the Unsocial Hours Policy (UHP) which used to apply to everyone in the company below Management grade (and still applies to many).

Fujitsu has informed UNITE that it is plans minor changes to the “interim” guidelines following feedback from Fujitsu Voice. They also confirmed what many had assumed – “interim” is no more than spin – Fujitsu has no plans to replace them.

In Manchester the union has had considerable success in preventing the use of the interim guidelines and the recent agreement means many of those recorded as on them are being put on something more appropriate. However, Fujitsu has now begun consultation with UNITE about introducing them to the bargaining unit – which will clearly be a key issue locally over the coming months with potential national implications.

Professional community changes and pay

The company is looking to revamp many of its Professional Communities. As these form the basis of pay and benefits, career development and allocation of work in the company, this is a key issue for employees.

The most significant changes are expected in Account Management, Client Executives, Delivery Executives, Project Management and Service Delivery Management, but some change is also being planned in Sales, Customer Solution Architects, Operations, General Management and Business Consultancy.

It is also planned to group Professional Communities together as (perhaps) “Customer Facing”, “Customer Support” and “Internal Support”, though these names aren’t a good guide to what might go where – for example “Customer Facing” is just Sales, Client Executives and Delivery Executives, so most staff who actually deal with customers would be in “Customer Support” irrespective of whether their role is support or not.

There is also talk of the possibility of breaking up the giant Operations Professional Community (OPC) which includes over 4000 staff in a wide variety of roles.

The current changes to the Service Delivery Management (SDM) community illustrate some of the issues staff are likely to face. The community currently comprises a number of roles (MAN/1 etc). It is proposed to reallocate staff amongst a variety of existing and new role codes.

A change of role code means your future pay and benefits will be assessed against the comparators and guidelines for the new role code, affecting future pay reviews etc. Because the population in the new role code is different from the old one, it is likely that the median will change (up or down). For those in the Manchester bargaining unit, section 9 of the pay agreement gives some protection. It’s important to know the old and new pay and benefit comparators before you accept or appeal against any change in role code – so you are making an informed decision. Where the move means a reduction in comparators, there needs to be discussion about how to handle it e.g. red circling.

Roundup

The company is making major changes for Personal Assistants (PAs), the next group of staff to face becoming a “shared service”. There is some information about the changes and an FAQ here.

Financial incentives for those who maintain the highly intrusive DV security clearance are also changing. This is a major improvement on the highly contentious proposal which came out some months ago.

Many employees who were transferred in from FTS have received notification that they will have to start paying for personal calls made on company mobiles. There is no tax reason for this change – HMRC ruled that this is not a taxable benefit in order to relieve employers of the administrative burden of recording which calls were personal. Rather than trying to take this benefit off former FTS employees, why not extend it to all employees with company phones? Some former FTS employees may be able to challenge the change on contractual or TUPE grounds.

Pay - your share

While some (usually very well paid) people keep telling us we’re “all in it together”, the TUC has published a report highlighting the fact that UK workers are getting a falling proportion of national output. Had this kept up with where we were 30 years ago, workers would take home £60bn a year more between us.

The impact has been greatest amongst lower earners, reflecting the widening wage gap.

There’s even a tool where you can work out what your wage would be if workers’ share of national output hadn’t fallen over the last 30 years.

Northern Ireland Members' Meeting, 7th February 2012

Important UNITE meeting on 7th February – Branch re-organisation / FJ-Unite Agreement / Rep election

In the context of the current UNITE re-organisation, your Fujitsu Combine Committee proposes to establish Fujitsu-specific UNITE branches based on various geographical locations.

It is proposed to create a UNITE Fujitsu branch in Northern Ireland, including the Belfast and Derry offices.

Having our own branch will strengthen the union and bring resources closer to the members. One aspect of this move is to involve few members in branch officer positions, such as chair, secretary, treasurer and equality officer. You will continue to elect UNITE reps in the usual way. While members’ subs won’t change, it will give Fujitsu members access to more resources as well as better access, control and flexibility.

This re-organisation suits the new agreement signed between Unite and Fujitsu, as UNITE reps across the UK will be able to allocate some of their work time on certain union tasks and issues.

Your reps have organised a members’ meeting to discuss this important move:
Tuesday 7th February at 12:30
IRE11 – Conference Room 1 and 2

We will provide further updates on the Manchester and Crewe action, as well as issues raised in recent communications.

Further details on this re-organisation can be found in this document: http://www.ianallinson.co.uk/Unite%20Branch%20Financing%20Dec%2011%20EC.doc

Important: As Sean Mcgurk (Rep in IRE11) has left FJ last week, we are looking for at least one more person willing stand as Rep. Please contact us if you are willing to step in. Thanks to Sean for all his work on behalf of members.

UNITE magazine

Another edition of the union’s magazine for members – UNITEworks – has recently been sent out. If you didn’t receive your copy, please email mymag@unitetheunion.org.

Settlement in the press

The recent agreement between UNITE and Fujitsu has attracted considerable media coverage including the CIO UK, IDG, IT PRO, Manchester Evening News, Socialist Worker, SourcingFocus, TechWeek, The Register, V3 and ZD Net.

This all helps raise the profile of the union in our industry and build our membership and strength.

Pay survey

Don’t forget that UNITE’s pay survey for Fujitsu staff closes at the end of January, so this is your last chance to complete it or to ask colleagues to do so.

The survey is an important part of UNITE’s campaign for fair and transparent pay and benefits in the IT Services industry: www.unitetheunion.org/itcharter.

Disability

You probably saw the Fujitsu “good news” story about Duncan Tait signing up signing the company up to the Employers’ Forum on Disability “Accessible Technology Charter”.

You are covered by the disability provisions of the Equality Act if you have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This means that most of us are likely to be covered at some stage in our lives.

A central aspect of the legislation is the right to request “reasonable adjustments” to remove barriers to participation for people with disabilities. The adjustments could by physical (e.g. providing alternative equipment) or to processes (e.g. sickness management) or practices (e.g. working hours).

You may find the commitments in the charter helpful if you are seeking reasonable adjustments.

Your representation

The notice on 13th January invited candidates for vacancies on our Combine Committee, which is responsible for coordinating UNITE’s work in Fujitsu at national and regional level.

Bob Anderson was the only candidate for the vacant North-West seat when nominations closed earlier this week, so is elected unopposed.

Fujitsu expenses petition

If you haven’t already done so, please sign UNITE’s online petition against the proposed changes to Fujitsu’s Travel & Expenses Guidelines. Not only would these leave many employees seriously out of pocket in the short term, they also break the fundamental principle set out in the policy:

“Fujitsu will reimburse employees with pre-approved costs, which are directly attributable to their responsibilities on behalf of the Company. Individuals should neither be disadvantaged nor gain profit from these reimbursements.”

1. Fujitsu mileage rates would be pegged to HMRC rates which are not expected to keep pace with the rising cost of motoring
2. HOM99 staff would have an arbitrary 30 miles deducted from mileage claims

The company claims that the changes are driven by compliance with HMRC rules, but there is no evidence to support this. This looks more like an attempt to force employees to subsidise the company’s business activities from their own funds.

Please note that there is an option for individuals to sign the petition anonymously if they do not want their name displayed.

If we let Fujitsu establish the principle that we pay for the privilege of working, where will this end?

What you can do:

1. Sign the new online petition against the proposed changes: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/expenses/

2. Pass this email on to a few colleagues who may be interested

3. If you are one of those colleagues, please join the union – the steady erosion of terms and conditions will only stop if we get better organised

4. Give feedback on the proposals to your Fujitsu Voice reps

North west Reminder – CRE02 Lunchtime Members’ Meeting TODAY

Please remember we have a Lunchtime Members’ Meeting in CRE02 to discuss the Unite – Fujitsu agreement:

Please encourage all members you know to attend. Please make arrangements with your manager in advance for cover whilst you attend the meeting if this is necessary.

Agenda

• Discuss Unite agreement
  
• Decision on reballoting
  
• More reps required
  
• AOB

Fujitsu-UNITE Agreement, 20th January 2012

To: Employees in the UNITE Manchester Bargaining Unit

We are delighted to report that on 20th January UNITE members voted to accept a new offer from the company, as a result of which UNITE has ended the industrial action which was previously suspended and is encouraging everyone to work normally.

The new agreement, which covers a broad range of issues including pay, pensions, Rise+, Out Of Hours and reps’ time, is available here.

Both parties recognise the commitment that has gone into reaching the agreement and the improved working relationships that it reflects.

We will continue to keep you updated as the agreement is implemented.

Members accept offer to end Fujitsu dispute

Thanks to all the members who attended today’s members’ meeting in Manchester.

The main business of the meeting was to consider a new offer from the company which has significant national implications.

Members voted for the following motion:

The industrial action which was previously suspended should end immediately and all staff are encouraged to work normally.

Reps in Crewe are organising a members’ meeting to discuss the new developments.

Key points of the new agreement include:

• A new statement on the contractual status of Defined Contribution pensions for UK employees will be published, significantly improving the security of pensions.

• Small additional pay increases for most Manchester staff, backdated to 1st August 2011.

• Progress on addressing some of the outstanding issues with the Rise+ job and pay system for service desk staff, which will have benefits across the UK and deliver greater transparency.

• Renewed commitment to resolving issues and sticking to agreements, with a number of existing issues brought back into process, and the establishment of regular dialogue and an escalation route.

• A new facilities agreement (time for reps to carry out their responsibilities) which means:
  • Phased reductions in the time for some of the most active reps to work on behalf of employees
  • Removal of the limit on the number of Manchester reps
  • A new arrangement where reps outside Manchester can have work time to deal with certain issues and tasks for the first time

• No recrimination or detriment for participation in industrial action or campaigning.

• A meeting will be held by mid-February to discuss establishing regular communication at a national level.

It was emphasised that we want to avoid the need for periodic disputes to enforce our agreements, and that the key to this is encouraging more staff to join UNITE and get involved.

Reps

In anticipation of the new agreement, five more new reps had been elected at a members’ meeting in November. Today’s meeting elected two more reps:

• Margaret Leigh (who will assist with administrative tasks)
• Paul Gee (who will work on the ATLAS TUPE)

Whether the new facilities agreement leads to a strengthening or weakening of union organisation will depend on whether members across the UK get more involved. Wherever you are based, if you’re willing to stand as a rep, please get in touch now. Arrangements are being made for a training event in work time during March.

As just one example, we urgently need volunteers interested pensions (training will be provided) as the new FJUK consultation body will be set up soon.

Out Of Hours

The company intends to start consulting UNITE about the introduction of the “interim guidelines” for overtime, shift, standby and callout to Manchester, which will clearly be a significant issue.

Some Manchester staff who were prematurely coded as on the interim guidelines will have recently received letters sent by HR but with UNITE reps names on the bottom. Unfortunately some of the information in the letters was not as agreed, so it is essential that if you received one of these letters you check it carefully and respond by the deadline of Wednesday 25th January.

Reps also highlighted Work Your Proper Hours Day on Friday 24th February, which highlights the vast amount of missing jobs and pay due to unpaid overtime.

Expenses

Members discussed the latest proposed changes to expenses which would leave many members out of pocket. If you haven’t already signed UNITE’s online petition on expenses, please do so, and pass it on to a few colleagues.

Other Business

Members took away bundles of the latest UNITE leaflet for IT Services companies to distribute and “UNITE for Fair Pay in IT Services” lanyards for ID passes. If you need any of either for your area, please get in touch.

The members’ meeting also heard a report on the reorganisation of UNITE branches. For background on this, see the web site of our Executive Council representative. Manchester members are currently in the “Greater Manchester IT Branch”. The branch has proposed to the North-West region that it is broken up and a new “Fujitsu North-West” branch is created. Discussions are taking place in other regions about the best way to organise.

UNITE members at Unilever are taking strike action this week alongside members of GMB and USDAW in defence of their pensions. A collection at the members’ meeting raised £85 which will be taken down to their picket line.

Greater Manchester Fire Service is facing cuts to staff and fire engines which are expected to further increase the time it takes for the fire service to reach incidents.

Crewe Lunchtime Members’ Meeting on Tuesday 24th January

Reps in Crewe are calling a Lunchtime Members’ Meeting to discuss the Unite – Fujitsu agreement negotiation results:

At our last meeting on the 21st November we agreed to suspend implementing Crewe members’ decision to ask UNITE to re-ballot them over Alan Jenney’s case and the breaches of agreements (e.g. on pensions) whilst awaiting the outcome of Alan’s meeting with Fujitsu on the 24th November and the ongoing discussions about the breaches of agreements.

As you are aware a statement was issued in November that “The parties have successfully resolved the position of Mr Jenney through the services of ACAS to both parties’ satisfaction” and an agreement was reached in Manchester that ended their dispute with a new agreement.

This meeting is to discuss the new agreement and agree what should be done with the previous decision to re-ballot.

Please encourage all members you know to attend. Please make arrangements with your manager in advance for cover whilst you attend the meeting if this is necessary.

Agenda

• Unite agreement and result of the negotiations
  
• Decision on ballot
  
• AOB

Manchester members' meeting tommorow

Don’t forget the Manchester members’ meeting TOMORROW MORNING:

10:00 – 12:00, Friday 20th January 2012
MAN35 canteen

The proposed agenda is:

1. Company offer
   
2. Motion on company offer (see below)
   
3. What next (if the offer is rejected)
   
4. Out Of Hours
   
5. Expenses
   
6. Election of Additional Reps
   
7. Any Other Business (notified in advance)
   
8. Next Steps

The original email inlcuded a motion for consideration.

Reminder - Health & Safety event in MAN34 today

In support of the H&S Awareness Campaign, there will be a H&S Awareness Drop-In event at MAN34 today, Wednesday 18th January 2012.

Members of the H&S and Facilities Management Team along with UNITE safety reps will be available in the restaurant from 1200 – 1330hrs to offer guidance and support on all aspects of Health and Safety.

Now’s your chance to come along and ask questions about all aspects of Health & Safety.

New Offer and Friday's Manchester Members Meeting

Following further negotiations, Fujitsu made the following offer to UNITE today, for Friday’s meeting:

10:00 – 12:00, Friday 20th January 2012
MAN35 canteen

The offer refers to the parts relating to pensions and facility time in the agreement reached on 17th November 2011, which can be found on our web site, along with the agreed Terms of Reference for the new FJUK Pension Consultation Group.

Look out for further details of the members’ meeting, which will be circulated soon.

Election of additional reps

If the offer is accepted, the new “Annex 2” agreement on facility time for reps to work on your behalf will come into effect immediately. This will lead to:

1. A reduction in the time available to our most active reps

2. A removal of the limit on the number of reps
   

To ensure that the quality of representation continues to improve, UNITE is therefore asking you to consider volunteering to be elected as a rep at Friday’s members’ meeting.

• You would not be expected to step into the role of an experienced rep – we need lots of people contributing what they can
  
• Reps training is provided and the reps work as a team supporting each other
  
• Reps are allowed paid time in work to carry out their responsibilities
  
• Being a rep can be challenging, but it is also rewarding – you can help make Fujitsu a better place to work
  
• Reps can choose to take on a variety of different roles, rather than trying to do everything. Areas we would like to get more people involved in include:
  
  • Helping with admin, action tracking, planning etc
    
  • Organising the distribution of union notices
    
  • Writing newsletter articles
    
  • Organising induction events for new staff
    
  • Administering web sites
    
  • Working on one specific issue you care about, e.g.
    
    • Pensions
      
    • Analysing pay data
      
    • Equality
      
    • Out Of Hours (overtime, shift, standby, callout) arrangements
      
    • Use and treatment of agency temps
      
    • Company cars
      
    • Bonus and incentive schemes
      
    • Health & Safety
      
    • Learning, training and development
      
    • Environmental issues

Can you persuade someone else to stand who you think could make a useful contribution?

Dispute progress and Manchester Members' Meeting

UNITE and Fujitsu continue to make progress towards resolving the long-running dispute which started over breaches of agreements, a breakdown in industrial relations and victimisation of reps.

Recent developments in Manchester include:

• If the dispute is settled, there will be additional pay rises for 780 people in the Manchester bargaining unit, backdated to 1st August 2011, bringing the total spend to 2.65% plus promotions, compared to a claimed 2% plus promotions for those who haven’t yet won union recognition
• Correcting the terms for a number of employees who had been put in the “interim” Out Of Hours guidelines, which are not meant to be used in Manchester
• Improvements to the Rise+ Service Desk jobs, development and pay framework, towards the point where it can be used for pay in the bargaining unit instead of the old D1-D4 system

Work on a number of issues is ongoing.

UNITE is holding a meeting for all members in scope of the Manchester Recognition Agreement at 10am on Friday 20th January in the MAN35 canteen. The meeting will decide whether to accept a company offer and end the industrial action (which is currently suspended) or to resume industrial action.

Pensions

There is a lot of activity in relation to both the ICL Defined Benefit and FJUK (Defined Contribution) pension schemes.

The ICL DB trustee has appointed two Member Nominated Directors, Nick Cullen and John Lillywhite, as explained in this announcement. Thanks to the UNITE members who applied to be trustees but were not selected.

The FJUK plan has now announced that it is seeking candidates to fill a vacancy as a Member Nominated Director. If you are willing to apply you must submit your nomination form so that it is received by Lindsay Hawkins by 5pm on 31 January 2012. The plan looks after vast sums of employees’ money, so the directors have a very important role to play. Members are encouraged to consider applying. UNITE can provide additional support and training.

Just as UNITE highlighted in relation to the ICL DB plan, it is disappointing that the FJUK trustee has decided to use a process that gives members of the plan no say in the selection of the “member nominated” directors. Instead the selection panel is selected by the existing directors, the majority of whom were selected by the company, despite the fact that Fujitsu has no money invested in the plan.

One of UNITE’s great successes in 2010-11 was the creation of a new, democratic consultation group for the FJUK pension plan. The first meeting will take place before the end of March 2012, so there is some urgency in selecting the representatives who will sit on it:

• 2 from Fujitsu Voice
• 2 from PCS
• 2 from UNITE
• 4 directly elected by active members of the FJUK plan

Your reps would urgently like to hear from any member with an interest in pensions who might be willing to play a part in the consultation group. Training can be provided.

Your representation

Local Representatives

If Manchester members decide to accept the company’s offer on 20th January, a new agreement on “facility time” – the time when reps can work on behalf of employees – will come into effect. This will mean a reduction in facility time for three of our key reps in Manchester, but a new ability for reps outside Manchester to carry out some union functions in work time.

In the past, the restrictions on reps outside Manchester forced UNITE to rely heavily on Manchester reps to deal with issues which often affect people elsewhere just as much. The new agreement means this will have to change. If we get new reps coming forward, the new agreement can mean better representation and a stronger union. If we don’t, there is a risk that staff will suffer as a result of the reduction in time for a few of our most active reps.

If you’d be willing to stand as a rep in your area, please get in touch now.

UNITE is in the process of organising training for reps across Fujitsu, and the company has agreed in principle to release people from work for this.

Combine Committee Vacancies

The Combine Committee coordinates UNITE’s work in Fujitsu at a national and regional level. There are 21 seats, allocated in proportion to membership, and the current members are:

• Your name
• Your contractual base location
• Your work email address (and private email address if you have one)
• Your work phone number (and a mobile number if you have one)
• An election statement of up to 100 words (examples are available on request)

• Encourage members in their constituency to hold meetings, elect reps and get involved at a local level
• Seek views from members, reps and contacts in their constituency
• Work together as a team
• Maximise members’ involvement in decision making
• Take part in combine committee discussions and decision-making
• Report back to members, reps and contacts in their constituency
• Coordinate with reps and contacts in their constituency, including encouraging them to undertake training and gain accreditation
• Liaise with the union full-time officers covering Fujitsu in their constituency

Atlas and DWP TUPEs

In a services industry, it is common for employees to be transferred between employers along with the contracts they work on as the contracts are won and lost. This situation is covered by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations, so such moves are commonly known as “TUPE transfers”.

UNITE has produced a useful guide to the TUPE regulations which is available online. Key issues which often arise in TUPE transfers include:

1. Is the new employer financially viable?
2. Location
3. Pensions
4. Future job security
5. Collective agreements

Two of the transfers UNITE is currently involved in are on the ATLAS and DWP contracts.

In the ATLAS TUPE, employees are transferring in both directions between HP and Fujitsu. One of the advantages of UNITE involvement is that the union has reps involved on both sides of the transfer, able to compare notes and share information, rather than relying so heavily on what the companies are saying.

There’s a particular concern because HP intend to move the work the Fujitsu staff are currently doing from Reading to Scotland. Colin Rose, the UNITE Regional Officer covering Reading, has produced a template grievance which members can submit:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am lodging a written formal grievance to invoke the grievance procedure, due to a 'reasonable belief' that Fujitsu has flawed any potential redundancy consultation following on from the announcements made at the town hall regarding the transfer of my role to Hewlett Packard.

At my grievance hearing I wish to be represented by Colin Rose, the Regional Officer from Unite.

The DWP TUPE involves transfers from Fujitsu to both HP and IBM.

If you are in scope for either of these TUPEs, it would help your reps support you if you could let them know:

• I’m in scope for the ATLAS TUPE
• I’m in scope for the DWP TUPE

Pay survey, newsletter

As part of UNITE’s campaign for fair and transparent pay and benefits in the IT Services industry, the union wrote to employers asking for information about their pay systems. Predictably, the responses were not exactly helpful. What have they got to hide?

To collect some of the information the companies are concealing, UNITE launched surveys about pay in a number of the big IT Services companies, including Fujitsu. These surveys are due to close at the end of January. Hundreds of Fujitsu staff (members and non-members) have completed the survey. If you haven’t yet, please take 5 minutes to do so here.

UNITE has produced a new leaflet highlighting the survey and some of the achievements in CSC, Ericsson, HP, Accenture, Fujitsu and Steria. This is being distributed across the industry. If you can help distribute the leaflet where you work, please get in touch.

Can you pass on this email to a few colleagues who you think might be interested?

Health, work travel and the environment

A UNITE survey of Fujitsu staff identified a significant issue with Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs), often neck, shoulder, arm or back pain. Most work-related MSDs develop over time, caused by the nature of work or by the working environment. Many are avoidable. Fujitsu identified back pain as its biggest cause of sickness absence.

MSDs can be caused by many factors which Fujitsu staff may experience, including working in uncomfortable positions for long periods (e.g. with mice, keyboards, monitors, chairs or driving), repetitive tasks, or handling heavy or awkward loads. Health problems range from discomfort, minor aches and pains, to more serious medical conditions requiring time off.

To avoid problems with your workstation (desk, chair, PC etc) it is key to ensure you have regular DSE (Display Screen Equipment) workstation assessments carried out by a trained assessor. A trained assessor knows what to look for and is in a position to observe things you can’t and can suggest improvements.

An area of Health and Safety often over-looked is the effect of travel on people’s wellbeing in terms of work-life balance, physical comfort and levels of stress.

It is important to reduce the impact of remote working and travel on health and safety whether you are responsible for a group of people or only yourself. To do this you need to understand the options so that you can reach the best decisions for individuals and the business in terms of work-life balance and effective use of time. Meetings away from a person’s usual place of work add travel time and reduce work time. Would occasional face-to-face meetings supported by more frequent phone (or video) conferences make better use of people’s time instead of bringing everyone together more often? Decisions should take into account the impact extra travel has CO2 emissions which contribute to climate change.

People spend a lot of time in their cars but this is not routinely assessed from a health and safety perspective. Using a car for long hours can contribute to MSDs. It also increases stress levels, takes time from other activities, costs money and generates CO2 or particulate emissions that are having a negative impact on our environment. Trains are a greener alternative but may take more time and money than a car. We are an IT company and have many options for working remotely:

• Video Conferencing
• Telephone Conferencing
• Office Communicator
• Live Meeting
• We’ve not quite cracked teleportation, yet!

Teleconferencing / Video Conferencing often saves time, stress and money and is better for the environment than travelling, but it is not suitable for every sort of meeting. With thought around meeting agendas and structure to get the best use of time in both face to face meetings and virtual ones they can become a familiar and workable solution – after all technologies such as Skype are being eagerly adopted beyond the work environment.

Did you know you can now order a webcam and headset from IT Zone? (http://sites.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/sites/01080/012/default.aspx ) So there is no need to assume you are hampered by lack of video conferencing facilities.

Sharing

If a business trip is really necessary and there are several people needing to travel then why not consider car sharing? This has the benefits of less stress, companionship, the potential for sharing driving, lower costs, lower environmental impact plus the company will pay an extra allowance (5p per mile) for taking a colleague when claiming expenses.

Expenses petition

Fujitsu is proposing to make changes to its Travel & Expenses Guidelines. Not only would these leave many employees seriously out of pocket in the short term, they also break the fundamental principle set out in the policy:

“Fujitsu will reimburse employees with pre-approved costs, which are directly attributable to their responsibilities on behalf of the Company. Individuals should neither be disadvantaged nor gain profit from these reimbursements.”

The key issues are:

1. Fujitsu mileage rates would be pegged to HMRC rates which are not expected to keep pace with the rising cost of motoring
2. HOM99 staff would have an arbitrary 30 miles deducted from mileage claims

Many employees have already been complaining about the proposals, and over 300 have signed UNITE’s online petition.

The company claims that the changes are driven by compliance with HMRC rules, but there is no evidence to support this. This looks more like an attempt to force employees to subsidise the company’s business activities from their own funds.

If we let Fujitsu establish the principle that we pay for the privilege of working, where will this end?

What you can do:

1. Sign the online petition against the proposed changes: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/expenses/
2. Pass this email on to a few colleagues who may be interested
3. If you are one of those colleagues, please join the union – the steady erosion of terms and conditions will only stop if we get better organised
4. Give feedback on the proposals to your Fujitsu Voice reps

UNITE National Newsletter - unITe for Fair Pay in IT Services

Our new national newsletter/"One Per Desk" newsletter is available
here.

Fujitsu Manchester members' meeting

UNITE is holding a meeting for all members in scope of the Manchester Recognition Agreement. This meeting will vote on a company offer (which will be circulated once finalised) and decide whether to accept the offer or resume industrial action.

Please do your utmost to attend and encourage colleagues to do the same.

Members are entitled to attend the meeting in work time. If your manager might need to arrange cover for while you attend, it is important that you ask them now to confirm your release. If you have any difficulty securing release, please contact your rep immediately. If you leave this until the last minute, reps may not be able to resolve this for you.

1. The company offer (including pay, Out Of Hours, pensions, Rise+, facility time and treatment of reps)
2. What next (if the offer is rejected)
3. Out Of Hours (overtime, standby, shifts)
4. Expenses
5. Election of additional reps (see below)

Election of additional reps

If the offer is accepted, the new “Annex 2” agreement on facility time for reps to work on your behalf will come into effect immediately. This will lead to:

1. A reduction in the time available to our most active reps
   
2. A removal of the limit on the number of reps
   

What does volunteering mean?

• You would not be expected to step into the role of an experienced rep – we need lots of people contributing what they can
  
• Reps training is provided and the reps work as a team supporting each other
  
• Reps are allowed paid time in work to carry out their responsibilities
  
• Being a rep can be challenging, but it is also rewarding – you can help make Fujitsu a better place to work
  
• Reps can choose to take on a variety of different roles, rather than trying to do everything. Areas we would like to get more people involved in include:
  
  • Helping with admin, action tracking, planning etc
    
  • Organising the distribution of union notices
    
  • Writing newsletter articles
    
  • Organising induction events for new staff
    
  • Administering web sites
    
  • Accompanying members at appeals resulting from the reorganisation
    
  • Working on one specific issue you care about, e.g.
    
    • Pensions
      
    • Analysing pay data
      
    • Equality
      
    • Out Of Hours (overtime, shift, standby) arrangements
      
    • Use and treatment of agency temps
      
    • Company cars
      
    • Bonus and incentive schemes
      
    • Health & Safety
      
    • Learning, training and development
      
    • Environmental issues

If you are interested in volunteering to be a UNITE rep, please email your reps as soon as possible, so that one of the existing team can discuss this with you prior to Friday’s members’ meeting.

Can you persuade someone else to stand who you think could make a useful contribution?

Update on Fujitsu-UNITE Joint Working, 11th January 2012

To: Employees in the UNITE Manchester Bargaining Unit

Update on Fujitsu-UNITE Joint Working, 11th January 2012

The minutes of the Joint Working Group meetings from October 2011 and November 2011 have been published on CafeVIK.

We are pleased to report progress in a number of areas including those below.

Pensions
Terms of Reference for a new consultation body for the Fujitsu UK Pension Plan have been agreed.

Pay
Fujitsu and UNITE have now agreed the size of the under-spend on the August 2011 pay review for the Manchester bargaining unit. If UNITE members accept the Company offer by 20th January 2012, the under-spend will be distributed as follows:

1. The 12 people in the bargaining unit who received no pay rise on 1st August 2011 will receive an increase to annual salary of £225 or 1% of their 31st July 2011 salary, whichever is greater

2. The remaining 768 people who were in the bargaining unit on 1st August 2011, are still in the company and who didn’t have a PAC of U or P will receive an increase to annual salary of £29
   

All figures are Full Time Equivalent. All increases will be effective from 1st August 2011, and will be paid from the February 2012 payroll, including back pay.

Correcting the under-spend will bring the total spend for the bargaining unit to 2.65% (plus promotions) for the August pay 2011 review.

A joint workshop also identified six individuals whose role codes were changed on 1st August 2011 from SCO/A to BSC/BC1. Though the company believes they are still doing the same work, this change is classed as a promotion under the terms of the agreement, so Fujitsu and UNITE are jointly checking the pay situation for this group. If you are one of this group and wish to discuss your promotion with UNITE, please contact Ian Allinson.

Alan Jenney
The parties have successfully resolved the position of Mr Jenney through the services of ACAS to both parties’ satisfaction.

Out Of Hours
Fujitsu and UNITE have jointly reviewed 49 employees in the Manchester bargaining unit who were recorded on the HR database as being on “interim” terms for Out Of Hours, as these were not meant to be used for people in the bargaining unit. This includes both “Infrastructure Services Interim Guidelines” and “UK Interim Additional Hours Guidelines” and relates to overtime, shift and stand-by.

HR Direct will be writing to the 49 employees with more detail. If you are one of this group please ensure you read the letter carefully and respond promptly if appropriate, as this could affect your past and future payments.

Rise+
Progress continues to validate and update the Rise+ documentation for Service Desks staff in TSS1, TSS2 and TSM1 roles. A format for centrally recording employees’ D1-D4 and Rise+ levels on the HR Database has been agreed and will be implemented shortly so that individuals can see this via Self Service. The necessary changes to the Manchester Pay and Benefits Agreement still need to be agreed.

Next steps
Work continues to resolve a number of other issues, with the aim of reaching a final agreement to resolve the dispute by 20th January 2012.

UNITE will be holding a members’ meeting to decide whether the union will accept the company offer:

10:00 – 12:00, Friday 20th January 2012
MAN35 canteen

Fujitsu and UNITE are both keen that the members’ meeting should be as representative as possible. Members whose managers might have to arrange cover for them to attend should request release as soon as possible. Managers are asked to facilitate and confirm this release in good time before the meeting.

Due to the meeting, the following restrictions will be in place in MAN35 on Friday 20th January:

1. Staff entrance/exit door at the rear of the building will be locked – please use MAN35 reception entrance.
2. The vending machines in the restaurant will not be available for use.
3. General access to the restaurant will be restricted to those who are actually attending the meeting.