For news since May 2003, please see our
For up-to-date news concerning our dispute with Fujitsu Services, please see our
YOUR UNION UNDER ATTACK - 09 May 2003
Fujitsu Services has launched a major attack on the rights of employees, threatening both our MAN05 union recognition agreement and the Security of Employment Agreement. Your reps consider the situation as serious as the attempt by the company to de-recognise the union here in 1989, which we successfully fought off. We had warned members that this seemed possible in our notice of 16th April, but management have now surpassed our worst fears.
We know that the company have been taking a much keener interest in UNITE in recent months - with good reason. We've launched legal action against the company for their failure to consult properly over the mass redundancies on many sites last year. We lodged a claim for union recognition covering Mobile Engineers across the UK. We helped staff in Warrington get organised to resist the redundancies in Multivendor Computing, and they quickly made very significant gains. And we're running a popular campaign for a decent pay rise for MAN05 staff.
The company could respond positively to the obvious desire of employees to have a say in their working lives. Instead management seem hell-bent on confrontation. You can read for yourselves the letter we have sent today to our local HR contact, and copied to the Fujitsu Services HR Director.
-----Original Message-----
From: Allinson Ian
Sent: 09 May 2003 16:22
Subject: UNITE: Failure To Agree - attack on union recognition
Importance: HighWe're writing to follow up on some of the points from our meeting yesterday, mainly arising from your letter dated 14th April. We had responded to this letter, saying:
"The letter you attached is clearly not an attempt to reach agreement on interpretation of our Procedure Agreement - it is a very significant attack on our union recognition and the long-established relationship between the union and the company. We believed that we had agreed to leave the existing agreement in place, and concentrate our efforts on negotiating a new agreement for the new Manchester site. It would seem a diversion to spend time negotiating what are effectively major changes our existing agreement. We will respond to your proposals in more detail in due course."
You responded:
"I am disappointed to hear that you view my letter as an 'attack on the MAN05 recognition agreement'. As I explained when we met, and again in my email, it was intended to help us reach agreement on interpretation of the document. If you would like to discuss it once you have prepared your response please let me know."
We stand by our view that the contents of the letter represent a major attack on union recognition at MAN05. They also represent a major attack on our Security of Employment Agreement. We regard this attack as comparable to the unsuccessful attempt by the company to de-recognise the union at MAN05 in 1989. Some of the salient points from the letter include:
Removing individual representation - breaking our recognition agreement
The letter claimed that "representation" didn't confer any right to represent individual members! Examples given of situations where the company felt union representation was "inappropriate" were:
- meetings to discuss the possibility of compromise agreements
- return to work interviews after sickness
The meetings on Compromise Agreements were where members had been told their job had gone, and they were to be moved into Linkwise. They had been offered a "deal", and had help from their UNITE rep to negotiate it.
Return to work interviews after sickness can be a precursor to disciplinary action. UNITE reps wouldn't go to every return to work interview, and members wouldn't want us to. But there are circumstances where members need union help and support.
Members and non-members alike take it for granted that individual representation is one of the benefits of trade union membership. For years members have used their rights under our recognition agreement to benefit from union support. Perhaps it's because reps are doing a good job in such meetings, and ensuring our members get what they are entitled to, that the company now wants to keep reps out? If the company was treating people fairly, they would have nothing to fear from having a rep in the room.
Restricting collective bargaining
The letter (correctly) points out that the collective bargaining aspects of our agreement only applied to those on grade "GSS17" and below. GSS17 was a grade at the time, which broadly meant employees other than supervisors/managers and other senior staff. The letter states that the company will decide, at its discretion, who is now covered by collective bargaining. Fujitsu Services seems to be forgetting that agreements are between two parties, and that we have agreed procedures for resolving disagreements, which the company is now choosing to ignore.
The majority of the MAN05 workforce supports the UNITE pay claim, and they will no doubt be interested to learn that the company intends to use this "discretion" to exclude some employees from the current pay bargaining. The company talks about a "flat" and "non-hierarchical" structure. UNITE submitted a pay claim which ignored grade distinctions, to benefit all employees. Fujitsu Services wants the power to pick and choose who benefits.
Breaking the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA)
The letter sets out the intention to break the SEA in two main ways.
Firstly, the company "interprets" the SEA saying: "should a rundown, transfer of work or re-organisation become necessary, causing any possible reduction in manpower requirements, full and early consultation ... will take place with all levels of representation of work-force" to mean that the company won't even inform the union, much less consult, until after employees transfer to Linkwise. This means that the consultation is an utter sham. When someone has moved to Linkwise, a decision that their old job is no longer required has already been taken. In many cases, a selection process has already taken place. Consultation over redundancies must cover avoiding redundancies, reducing the numbers, mitigating the consequences, and the selection process. We are now aware of cases where people have been selected for Linkwise, and they are not aware of the selection criteria even afterwards.
Secondly, the company is reducing the SEA to the status of a contractual term in some people's contracts, and ignoring its other status as a collective agreement, which still applies at MAN05, where we have union recognition. We acknowledge that some staff have other financial severance packages specified in their contract of employment, rather than SEA terms. However, the SEA is not mainly about the severance package - it is an agreement to secure employment. It covers issues including the consultation process, measures to avoid redundancies, redeployment etc. Indeed, at the time it was written, the SEA (in Appendix F) acknowledged that there were other severance packages in existence. This did not alter the commitment from the company to handle "a rundown, transfer of work or re-organisation" according to the SEA.
We have established practices at MAN05 on handling redundancies - unfortunately this is something of which we have much experience. Indeed, we had reached a written agreement with _______ [name blanked-out], the former Linkwise manager, on the day-to-day implementation of these practices. It is disturbing that the company now disowns this agreement, stating that _______ "would not have had the authority to agree such arrangements, consequently the Company does not consider the process as valid". _______ was the Linkwise manager. Dealing with redundancy situations was her job. This really brings into question how the company can have a mature relationship with its employees. Should employees be asking for everything their manager says to be put in writing by Richard Christou? How are we to know who in HR or management is worth listening to?
When the company tries to take away the rights of its employees, breaks signed agreements, and claims managers don't have the authority to do their job, is it any wonder that the company's own survey indicates that employees regard Fujitsu Services as treating them unethically? How can employees have any confidence that these attacks on their rights and agreements won't be followed by more?
You have also confirmed that the company is now ignoring the individual grievance procedure in our recognition agreement. The company is proceeding to transfer a member into Linkwise, without first hearing his grievance, contesting his selection. This clearly breaches the commitments given by the company in both our recognition agreement and the Security of Employment Agreement.
We had warned you how the contents of the letter would be viewed by employees. In our meeting yesterday, it became clear that the company has now decided to implement the views set out in that letter, without any warning, much less any attempt to reach agreement. You made clear that the company was not prepared to return to the status quo while we use our agreed procedures to try to resolve this dispute. On the face of it, this leaves us with no procedural route to try to resolve the issues in question. A good employer has nothing to fear from an effective trade union. It appears that the company is set on confrontation with its workforce - why?
Despite the fact that the company is bypassing our agreed procedures, we want to offer an opportunity to resolve this dispute through discussion. We are therefore registering a Failure To Agree, and offering a meeting at the final stage of our collective grievance procedure, to discuss the issues set out above.
UNITE, Fujitsu West Gorton group
We can now announce the results of the indicative ballot of Fujitsu Services staff based at MAN05 (plus homeworkers with MAN05 as their admin base).
In response to the question:
"Would you support industrial action (up to and including strike action) in pursuit of our pay claim, should that prove necessary?"
members voted as follows:
Turnout: 60%
Spoilt papers: 2 (both Yes votes, but where people had removed the serial number, required to prevent copying of ballot papers)
Yes: 66% of votes cast
No: 34% of votes cast
At the time of writing, we have also received 5 votes which missed the deadline, and have not been included in these totals.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the ballot.
We can already see positive results from the pay campaign, benefiting staff throughout the company. Do you really think Fujitsu Services would have announced an increase in the Sharing in Success bonus unless they felt under pressure on pay (for the first time in a number of years)? The company knew that the miserly 2.5% pot, and the way it has been distributed, could not be justified to the majority of staff.
UNITE is also seeking to end the company's secrecy over pay scales - using the rights we have at MAN05 as a recognised union - watch this space. Company secrecy and "unethical" behaviour has come in for a slating in an independent staff survey commissioned by Fujitsu Services. You can see the results for yourself: http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/Scripts/Links/SearchQLink.asp?SearchID=9041
What happens next? UNITE has lodged a Failure To Agree with Roger Leek, the Fujitsu Services HR Director, and are arranging a meeting at the final stage of our collective grievance procedure. We will be informing the company of the result of the indicative ballot, and presenting our petition, which has now been signed by over half the MAN05 workforce. We hope that agreement can be reached quickly. Success doesn't mainly depend on your reps putting a convincing argument to management. As a rep once said "when they're listening to me, they're looking at you". Management listen to UNITE when they can see that we are speaking on behalf of a united and determined workforce, so what you do makes a difference:
- Wear a pay claim sticker
- Display a pay claim poster by your desk
- Make sure all your colleagues have signed the petition
- Recruit a colleague to UNITE
- Volunteer to join the reps committee
Recruitment doesn't happen by magic - research shows that less than one in three union members "recruit themselves". The rest join when someone asks them. Many are already convinced, but haven't taken the step of filling in their form. How long would it take ten reps to recruit everyone on site? And how long if all our members helped a little? What you do can make a difference - and help win Sick Pay, Equal Pay and Fair Pay.
Will UNITE be able to put in pay claims next year for other Fujitsu employees as well as Fujitsu Services at MAN05? That depends on you. It's the members who decide UNITE policy and activities - if staff on other sites get organised, almost anything is possible. Get in touch if you want to help. And don't forget our training course on "union recognition" on 16th June - ideal for those who want to win union recognition elsewhere.
Don't forget our branch meeting tonight:
6pm, upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre
As well as discussion on workplace issues, the agenda includes a talk from an Iraqi asylum seeker, and discussion of the draft UNITE rulebook.
All branch members are encouraged to attend.
CONSULTATIVE FORUMS - ALL CHANGE! - 08 May 2003
ICL set up its "European Consultative Forum" (a European Works Council by another name) in the mid-1990s, and UNITE has had members elected onto it by employees throughout. At its last meeting, on 29th April, a new agreement was signed, turning it into the "Fujitsu Services Consultative Forum" (FSCF). UNITE member Ian Allinson, one of the ECF reps who negotiated the new agreement says:
"The new agreement won't change the world overnight, but it does mark a very significant step forward. The FSCF now covers all countries where Fujitsu Services operates, and the agreement includes a useful definition of consultation. It provides a useful platform from which we can push for more genuine consultation with employees. I believe this is one of the best Works Council agreements in any company."
The new agreement is due to be launched to employees shortly, and the text should soon appear on the FSCF CafeVIK community: http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=ECF
Closer to home, the UK Consultative Forum (UKCF) is due to meet next week. The agenda includes a Business Update, and items on Manpower, Professional Communities, Resourcing, and Business in the Community. There will also be discussion on how to update the UKCF in the light of the changes which created the FSCF.
It's likely that there will soon be by-elections for vacant positions on the UKCF in the following areas:
- Thames Valley (1 seat)
- Manchester and Warrington (3 seats)
- Midlands (1 seat)
This is a good opportunity for members in sites which don't yet have union recognition to build some organisation, and have reps who can raise issues on their behalf. You can read our "briefing pack" from the last elections here: http://www.ourunion.org.uk/ukcf.htm.
If you'd be interested in standing, please .
We've been asked to publicise the following conference, taking place in Manchester:
The 2nd Sources of Radicalism conference will take place in Manchester on Saturday 10th May in the Central Methodist Hall, Oldham Street. The conference is a unique event, bringing together labour historians, trade unionists and political activists with the aim of discussing the past, present and future of radical and labour politics in Britain. It has been organised by the International Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Manchester and the North West Labour History Group and sponsored by ASLEF, TGWU Region 6, TGWU branch 6/389 and the Barry Amiel Trust.
The event will feature a wide range of seminars and speakers. It begins with a look back at the influential late 1970s book Beyond the Fragments, with all three authors - Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright - getting back together again to discuss the book's importance then and its relevance now.
Other seminars will look at feminism in the 1930s, the Clarion Newspaper, peace campaigners in the First World War, the Grunwicks strike, Sylvia Pankhurst, the Manchester black community's international links, the Exodus collective and the Irish community in the 1970s. Amongst contemporary issues to be discussed will be globalisation and labour, the media, campaigns against privatisation and labour and the Internet.
The speakers will also include Professor Mary Davis (Centre for Trade Union Studies), Jeremy Dear (General secretary NUJ), Jack Dromey (TGWU), Lix Fekete, Bernadette Hyland, Dr Chris Lee (Salford University), Michael Nally (University of Central Lancashire), Maria Noble, Jane Shallice and Dexter Whitfield (Centre for Public Services).
The conference will cost £10.00 for the day. For more information and bookings, please contact Anne Morrow at the Centre for Labour Studies on 0161-275-4794. The full programme for the conference can be found at www.leftdirect.co.uk/sources.htm
Have you voted in the INDICATIVE BALLOT for our pay claim yet? - 02 May 2003
Don't forget that the deadline for returned votes (email and paper) is the end of Wednesday 7th May.
Please make sure your vote is received on time.
The excellent news about the Sharing in Success bonus being payable strengthens our argument that the company can afford to meet the pay claim. Questions and Answers about the indicative ballot are available from the "MAN05 Union" community on CafeVIK.
The indicative ballot of UNITE members working for Fujitsu Services at MAN05 over industrial action in support of the pay claim is under way, and everyone included should now have received their ballot form. Please make sure you vote - a good turnout is essential to ensure the result really reflects the views of our members.
Votes must be in by the end of Wednesday 7th May.
You can read our latest leaflet explaining the claim and ballot on our CafeVIK community: http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=0289
Draft annual leave policy - 01 May 2003
The company is proposing changes to its annual leave policy. We have circulated drafts to members for comment.
The May meeting of the Greater Manchester IT branch is:
6pm, Thursday 8th May
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre
All members are entitled to attend.
Please note that this meeting is a week later than usual to avoid May Day and local elections.
Today's pay slips show you what the April pay review meant for you. Some will be taking home slightly more, others will be taking home less than last month. Nobody will be benefiting from a fair pay system. The need for success in the campaign for the UNITE pay claim has never been clearer.
We consulted members on an update to the pay claim to deal witht he expected bonus in June.
Thanks to everyone for their co-operation in the preparations for our indicative ballot for industrial action in support of the pay claim. If you work for Fujitsu Services at MAN05 and are willing to vote by email, and haven't responded to our notice entitled "UNITE: How do you want to vote?", please do so now. We expect to be sending out voting papers / emails next week, and this involves a significant amount of time-consuming work.
The decision of the AGM was to recommend a "YES" vote in the indicative ballot. Here are a few questions which have come up:
Q: What will be the question on the ballot paper?
A: We haven't decided yet, but it needs to be clear and simple. We'll be providing some explanation with the ballot paper / email - please take the time to read it before you vote.
Q: What else happens before any industrial action is called?
A: If there is a YES vote, reps will go back to management and try to negotiate a settlement. If that is not making progress, reps might decide it is appropriate to go through a formal ballot (jumping all the legal hurdles) on industrial action. If that also resulted in a YES vote, your reps would call General Meetings of all members affected to decide on what specific industrial action to take. Of course, your reps would also be going back to management again, seeking a negotiated settlement.
Q: What does "industrial action" mean?
A: It can mean a wide range of things, including overtime bans, go slows, working to rule, refusing to carry out certain duties, a pattern of 1 minute strikes, a one day strike or all out strike action.
Q: What industrial action do the reps have in mind?
A: Action short of strike can be an effective weapon. However, your reps don't believe it would be practicable to organise solid and united support for such action without also taking at least some strike action. This is based on the diverse working patterns and job roles at MAN05. Reps would be looking for ideas from members for the forms of action which would have maximum impact on the company, and achieve the maximum unity of the workforce. Any specific action would be decided by General Meetings of members - nobody from "outside" is going to force us into taking action we don't like.
Q: Why decide action at General Meetings, rather than state it clearly up-front?
A: Firstly, because the members should decide for themselves - that's democracy. Secondly, because it allows members the flexibility to change tactics depending on circumstances.
Q: Is industrial action really necessary?
A: We hope not. However, to date Fujitsu Services have not engaged in genuine negotiations - just talk. The company say "it would not be appropriate" to treat MAN05 differently, but refuse to discuss pay for other sites with UNITE. This suggests that the obstacle isn't the terms of a negotiated pay settlement, but the very idea of it. If the company stuck to this position, it would undermine the very basis of our union recognition at MAN05. Showing that we're prepared to take action may make it unnecessary.
Q: Can I vote for action now, and against it later in a formal ballot?
A: Yes, but please don't. This "indicative" ballot is to help your reps know how determined you are, as well as to put pressure on the company. Misleading your reps won't help them represent you effectively, and would cause bigger problems if the company "call your bluff". This isn't a game.
Q: What happens if there's a NO vote?
A: Members would effectively be accepting the current pay situation, and the pay claim would have lost all credibility. We have already made headway in drawing the issues in the claim to the attention of management, but there would be no realistic prospect of a negotiated pay settlement.
Q: What happens to non-members if there's a strike?
A: Many non-members wouldn't want to cross a picket line and come into work, undermining a campaign to secure them Sick Pay, Equal Pay and Fair Pay. In other workplaces some non-union-members have taken days off as annual leave or rung in sick. If people don't want to undermine the campaign, why not support it instead, and join UNITE? Ringing in sick risks disciplinary action - why not just strike with everyone else? Encourage your colleagues to join UNITE now, and ensure they have the protection of union membership if it comes to that.
Q: Would industrial action have any impact?
A: Yes. Staffing levels at MAN05 have been cut and cut. Many teams struggle when one or two people are off, let alone whole groups. More MAN05 staff are involved in direct service-provision than ever before - their action would have an immediate impact on customers and Service Level Agreements.
Q: What other forms of pressure can we use?
A: Any industrial action would certainly attract media attention - another form of pressure. Management must know that many employees across Fujitsu would join the union if they could, and knew we were active - this is another incentive for the company to reach a deal. UNITE has many members in local and national government - key customers - in the past we have won their support for our campaigns.
FC REDUNDANCIES - 23 April 2003
We're pleased to report that no MAN05 staff will be made Compulsory Redundant as a result of the Fujitsu Consulting redundancies. Well done to everyone involved, and particularly to Lynne Hodge, the rep leading on this issue.
UNITE members on the Fujitsu Consulting UK Consultative Forum will continue working to represent those affected on other sites.
UNITE is mounting major campaigns in Fujitsu, and still facing obstruction from management. We need a full team of reps to be effective, and want more volunteers. If you're interested, please including:
- Your name
- Your internal & external phone numbers
- Your department
- Your location within MAN05
- A statement of no more than 100 words explaining why you should be a rep
SECURITY GUARDS - 23 April 2003
Shield Guarding provide security for a number of Fujitsu sites, and many of the security guards are UNITE members. We understand there is a plan to set up a "staff association", with a manager as its General Secretary. We're trying to find out more, but this looks like an attempt to keep out genuine trade unions.
If you know any of the security guards on your site, why not ask them to join UNITE - it's actually cheaper to join the real thing too!
Members arranging career breaks should ensure that they have a clear contract of employment during their break, to protect rights dependent on length of service. For more information, see: http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/ltext/l1110001.htm#01
BRANCH MEETING - 23 April 2003
The Greater Manchester IT branch of UNITE normally meets on the first Thursday in each month. In May, our meeting will be a week late to avoid a clash with May Day and the local elections. All members of the branch are entitled (and encouraged) to attend. Meetings take place at 6pm, upstairs in the Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre.
6pm, Thursday 8th May Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA
Branch meetings are a key part of union democracy, as well as a chance to discuss a wide range of issues with your colleagues.
The programme of meetings for the year is here: events.htm#branch
Want to know more about winning union recognition? - 23 April 2003
"Union recognition" means that an employer recognises the fact that a union represents their employees, agrees to negotiate with them, and provides facilities for representatives. It is a key building block to make the union effective for its members on other issues.
So far UNITE only has union recognition for the MAN05 site. Most of the MAN05 staff will be relocating within the next couple of years, and the MAN05 group aims to reach a union recognition deal for the new site this year. Elsewhere in the company members are considering how to extend union recognition too.
The MAN05 group has arranged a training event on union recognition, which will take place on 16-17 June 2003. See the attached leaflet for more information. If you want to come along, please arrange your time-off, then return the booking form. Please book early to help everything work smoothly.
If you want to know more, or if you have any problems or questions (e.g. time off, expenses, accommodation), please .
Attack on union rights at MAN05 - 16 April 2003
Yesterday we received a letter from management supposedly "interpreting" our recognition agreement. In reality, the points made would represent a major attack on the union - comparable with the attempted union de-recognition in 1989.
Amongst other things, the letter claimed that "representation" didn't confer any right to represent individual members! Examples given of situations where the company felt union representation was "inappropriate" were:
- meetings to discuss the possibility of compromise agreements
- return to work interviews after sickness
The meetings on Compromise Agreements were where members had been told their job had gone, and they were to be moved into Linkwise. They had been offered a "deal", and had help from their UNITE rep to negotiating it.
Return to work interviews after sickness can be a precursor to disciplinary action. UNITE reps wouldn't go to every return to work interview, and members wouldn't want us to. But there are circumstances where members need union help and support.
These examples are exactly the reasons people join the union. Perhaps it's because reps are doing a good job in such meetings, and ensuring our members get what they are entitled to, that the company now wants to keep reps out? If the company was treating people fairly, they would have nothing to fear from having a rep in the room.
The letter goes on to propose that the company won't consult the union prior to moving people into Linkwise. Moves to Linkwise are 90% of selection for redundancy - this step would mean redundancy consultation was a total sham, and ride a coach and horses through the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA).
In 1989 the union in ICL was on the defensive. The company thought it could "finish off" union organisation, and have free rein to treat employees how they liked. Today is different. Union organisation is growing fast, and has a high profile in many parts of the company. It seems as if the company are scared of our success, and want to put a stop to it. What a coincidence that this attack comes in the midst of our pay campaign, and as we prepare to negotiate a recognition agreement for the new Manchester site.
Your reps have already made an initial reply to management - defending your rights. If the company don't back down quickly, this could turn into something very serious. While we don't want to "jump the gun", every member needs to be ready to defend their rights. Here are some ideas for what you can do now:
- Put up a recruitment poster. You'll find the artwork on the "MAN05 Union" Community on CafeVIK (http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=0289). We should be getting some hard-copies printed up in the next week, so if you want some.
- Recruit a colleague. The most successful recruitment method is a member explaining to a non-member why they are in, and asking them to fill in a form.
- Get more involved - would you consider being a rep or H&S rep? Many hands make light work!
- Persuade another member to be a rep or H&S rep.
Multivendor Computing redundancies - 16 April 2003
Around 80 jobs are to go from MCD, mainly in Warrington. A month ago, MCD was part of the company with little union organisation, and where management ruled by dictat. How things change! The Warrington sites have made up the bulk of the recruitment to UNITE in Fujitsu in recent weeks - even though March was our record month, and April looks set to beat that. People aren't just joining, they are getting organised too, and everyone can see the results.
UNITE-backed candidates won elections to the "consultative group" discussing the redundancies. These reps have really been thrown in at the deep end, dealing with a complicated and very important issue straight away. UNITE is supporting them with information, advice and training. They've already made a difference. MCD have agreed to a voluntary redundancy (VR) programme. Most of the staff were on statutory minimum (awful) redundancy terms - MCD have already agreed to double this for volunteers. This is a great achievement, less than two weeks after the announcement - well done!
Staff in Warrington are looking beyond the redundancies too. Those who stay expect to be merged into Core Services or the Business Units, and many fear further job cuts after that. Members are determined to build solid union organisation on the sites, to ensure they are treated better in future.
The MAN05 reps had put a copy of the first leaflet for Warrington on our CafeVIK community. We've now been told to remove it by HR. You may like our response, which you can see on the community itself.
Draft Company Car policies - 16 April 2003
The company propose changes to the provision of company cars. These could affect all employees, whether or not you get a car.
We circulated the drafts to members for comment.
Most of you have now received your pay review letters - and the results are grim. Many staff will be taking home less cash in April than in March, due to the 1% increase in National Insurance, combined with a 0% rise. Your reps are currently trying to get figures out of the company to see exactly how bad the picture is. Within an overall pot of only 2.5%, reduced further by promotions and bonuses, there was never scope for a respectable pay review.
We now move into the next phase of our pay campaign - trying to get the balance of our claim agreed by June, instead of the possible bonus. If you are unhappy with your pay rise (or lack of it), the best way to do something about it is to actively support the pay claim.
You can:
- Volunteer to join the reps committee, or the Pay Campaign Team (who help distribute campaign material etc)
- Take a petition round your colleagues (there are still some who've never been asked)
- Wear a sticker
- Put up the poster on the back of our last newsletter
- Recruit a colleague to UNITE
A number of members have been asking what the new pay scales are. It used to be company policy that you could see the pay scales for your own benchmark, and any others you were considering moving onto. During the pay review process, Roger Leek's announcement claimed that the 2003 pay scales were "not available" to employees until April, despite the fact that they were being used by managers in determining your pay. Now we're in April, many of us have received letters to tell us that the company has changed our Professional Community role, and what we've been moved to. The letters also say that the new pay scales aren't available, as the company intends changing them all again! We believe this second change isn't likely until 2004, so this feeble excuse for secrecy looks even more feeble.
UNITE reps can't give out pay scale information, as we were only given this for the purposes of our pay claim, not for individual cases. If you want it, we suggest you ask your manager. If you're refused the current information, ask for the 2003 scales for your old role, and if you're refused that, ask for the 2001 scales. They are typically close enough to give you a good indication how you compare. Nothing like open-ness and transparency - nothing like it at all!
A recent report carried out by the Institute for Employment Studies for the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) showed that the gap between full-time women's and men's average hourly pay is still 19%. Women working part-time fare even worse. Julie Mellor, chair of the EOC, warned that complacency and secrecy were threatening to halt progress on equal pay, and urged all employers to review their pay systems for bias. Full details can be found here: http://www.eoc.org.uk/EOCeng/dynpages/research_pay.asp The UNITE pay claim includes a request for just such a review, known as an Equal Pay Audit. Fujitsu's refusal speaks volumes - what have they got to hide?
UNITE continues to push for a fair and open pay system.
Multivendor Computing and Warrington - 10 April 2003
Staff in Multivendor Computing Division (MCD) in Warrington have been put on 30 days warning of potential redundancy. UNITE organised a meeting for members on Monday, which was very well attended. Discussion covered the current redundancy situation, and building the union at the Warrington sites to give employees a voice in the longer term.
You can read the newsletter circulating in Warrington on our CafeVIK community here: [This newsletter has been moved to our internet site (here) as management banned us from publishing it on CafeVik.]
Large numbers of Warrington staff had been joining UNITE even before the announcement, and recruitment is proceeding apace. Members elsewhere could learn from the clever technique used there - members have been asking non-members to join, and they say yes!
All the UNITE-backed candidates for the redundancy "consultative group" have won their seats.
The groundswell of support for UNITE at Warrington is having a knock-on effect - employees from other MCD sites are now enquiring about membership too. Many weren't aware there was a union in Fujitsu!
The first meeting of the elected reps is later today.
Fujitsu Consulting redundancies - 10 April 2003
The HR Director for FC proposed to send out a notice to staff suggesting that UNITE had "agreed" to the redundancies and the process, and that the company had done everything it should to avoid and mitigate the redundancies. This looked like a blatant attempt to make UNITE share responsibility for company decisions to dismiss our own members, and to make it harder for our members to challenge decisions, should they need to. One of our Repsis working on some "alternative" wording, which more accurately reflects the situation. We circulated a draft to members.
Reps have started discussions on the Management Guidelines and need members comments. We've now sent the draft Appeals process documents to members for comment and we will be presenting a Q&A list in the near future. We will be discussing the Knowledge and Skills list and the scoring system at our next telephone conference.
Please (Rep) with any comments on the FC redundancies.
The Stop the War Coalition is organising a national demonstration in London on Saturday 12th April. As well as many coaches, there is a special train running:
6:47am Bolton, 7:08am Manchester Piccadilly, 7:30am Stockport, arriving at Kings Cross 11:22am
You can book your seats by ringing Hilary on 07985 007494 or Elley on 07951 564 423. Tickets cost £30 for waged people, £20 unwaged, or £40 "solidarity price", if you can afford to help someone else go.
For more information see www.stopwar.org.uk or www.manchesterstopthewar.org.
No to "Them and Us" - 10 April 2003
UNISON and the TUC are organising major events in Manchester on 26th April, to counter the rise of racism. UNITE is fully backing these events, which are also important to counter the influence of nazi organisations like the BNP, who will be standing candidates in local elections in many councils in the north-west, including Manchester, Oldham, Burnley and Wigan.
The main events are a march and rally during the day, and a concert in the evening.
Assemble: 10:30am, Castlefield Basin Liverpool Road (near the Museum of Science & Industry and Deansgate Station), 11:30am March to a Rally at the Town Hall in Albert Square
Evening concert: Apollo, Manchester, featuring Alabama 3, Courtney Pine, Luciano and RDB
For more information, see www.nothemandus.org.uk or ring 0845 355 0845.
There's also an concert on Sunday 27th April in Burnley, featuring Basement Jaxx and Tim Westwood, organised by Love Music Hate Racism. More details from www.lmhr.org.uk.
Family Friendly Policies - 10 April 2003
We had previously reported on the new policies relating to maternity, paternity and adoption leave, as well as family emergencies and flexible working. You can find them here:
We're pleased to report that since they were published, we have secured a further improvement, allowing members throughout the country to be represented by their union in meetings to discuss flexible working applications. At West Gorton, the company has to allow such representation in any case, due to the union recognition agreement.
MCD REDUNDANCIES - 07 April 2003
Our union branch produced a newletter which was circulated at the Fujitsu Services sites in Warrington, where Multivendor Computing Division (MCD) staff are at risk of redundancy. We also put the newsletter on our Cafevik intranet site, but were told to remove it by management. You can read the newsletter here.
This is the week when most employees will receive letter telling them whether they will get a pay rise.
UNITE have issued a newsletter which is being distributed to all MAN05 staff. Those outside MAN05 can get the first two pages from our CafeVIK community.
We're currently making preparations for the "indicative ballot" for members to decide whether they would be prepared to take industrial action in support of the pay claim. Please make sure you read union notices in coming weeks. We'll need to confirm your contact details, and whether you wish to be balloted by email or by post. We need your co-operation to ensure a good turnout.
[An "indicative ballot" is an unofficial ballot to give your reps and the company an indication of your strength of feeling. If the result is positive, and it proves necessary, we would have to hold a legally valid ballot before any industrial action is taken.]
Over half the site population have already signed the petition in support of the UNITE pay claim. We plan more petitioning for the pay campaign near the Tower Block entrance on Thursday morning. Can you get a few more signatures? The petition can be downloaded from our CafeVIK community (same address as above). If you have any petition forms with signatures on, please return them as soon as possible to Ian Allinson, MAN05.
Now is a great opportunity to recruit your colleagues - if they support the pay claim, they should be in the union. Why not ask a few?
The campaign is key to ensuring a resounding YES vote in our ballot, and making the company take the negotiations seriously.
MULTIVENDOR COMPUTING - 02 April 2003
We are seeking clarification from management on reports of redundancies and a sell-off (TUPE transfer) from Multivendor Computing in Warrington. Initial reports suggest that the company may not be complying with legal requirements to consult the workforce. This comes while we're still waiting for the hearings on legal action over failure to consult employees at WAR08 and WAR13 (amongst other sites) during the 2002 ICL redundancies. These cases were brought by Ian Allinson as a UKCF rep, but with legal representation from UNITE, and are likely to be heard some time in 2004.
UNITE will be holding a meeting for UNITE members from Fujitsu Warrington:
12:30, Monday 7th April
Silver Birch Pub, 57-61 Dewhurst Road, Birchwood, Warrington, WA3 7PG
Map here.
Speakers: Carol Devereux (Regional Organiser), Ian Allinson (Branch Secretary) Discussion to include: redundancies, TUPE transfer, building the union, electing reps, choosing UKCF candidates, winning union recognition
We currently have a vacancy for a rep - if you're interested, or would like to suggest someone else, please contact our group secretary, .
New legislation is just coming in to force allowing unions to have "Learning Reps" to take up training issues with management. UNITE has appointed a series of full-time Learning Organisers to help promote this scheme. Kate Oultram, one of the Learning Organisers, is a guest speaker at our branch meeting this week:
6pm, Thursday 3rd April
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre
All branch members are entitled to attend. The branch will also carry out its usual business, including discussion of workplaces reports.
You may have noticed a global email regarding a new Fujitsu UK Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan being announced from 01 April 2003. Further details can be found here on Cafevik.
Some summary information about this:
- No change to existing ICL Defined Benefit (DB) Pension scheme (also known as "final salary") members in relation to this notice (for info the existing ICL Defined Benefit scheme is currently having a valuation done from 05/04/03 & the results will be known late summer / early autumn )
- existing ICL Defined Contribution (money purchase) members will have the option of moving to the new scheme
- non pension scheme members can join the new scheme
- new recruits will only be offered the new scheme
Some benefits of the new scheme
- Higher company contributions (compared to the existing DC scheme - it was 3,4 or 5%) - the company contribution can be up to 10% per annum
| You pay % | Company pays % |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 or more | 10 |
- higher life assurance (4x pensionable salary)
- health insurance
By law, UNITE and its reps cannot give individual financial advice. However, we can provide information which could help you make decisions. Employees who are not members of the ICL Defined Benefit (final salary) pension plan should seriously consider joining the new scheme.
The new scheme will not be covered by the existing Pensions Consultative Committee, through which we elect member trustees. The new pension plan will need new and separate mechanisms for members to have a voice.
Your rep specialising in pensions is Dave Francis. If you have any questions after you've read the information on CafeVIK, why not give him a call?
Our branch meeting on 5th June will be on the subject of pensions, with a guest speaker from the Manchester TUC Pensioners association. If you want an opportunity to discuss pensions, book it in your diary now.
FUJITSU CONSULTING REDUNDANCIES - 02 April 2003
We are having discussions with the FC HR Director to improve the processes for the current "rationalisation" process. We are also liasing with the UNITE members on the FCCF to co-ordinate our efforts for maximum effect.
Progress so far includes:
- Many members complained about the inconsistent and unfair way in which the December reviews were carried out. Due to pressure from UNITE and the FCCF, HR has now carried out a normalisation exercise on all the reviews across the business units facing job losses. HR said that staff could appeal against their appraisals and appeals would be heard.
- Utilisation was not included in the selection criteria this time. After representations, criteria covering Mobility, Flexibility and Location have also been removed.
- Knowledge & Skills will carry a weighting of 40%, Business Considerations 25%, Performance 20% and Adaptability & Future Potential 15%. We reiterated that Future Potential on its own should carry a very low weighting - it is entirely subjective, and we'd argued against its inclusion in the first place.
- Length or Service - we asked for this to be made a major criterion as required by the SEA. HR said they had obtained legal advice that this was not necessary - they would use Length of Service only as a tie-break.
- The Knowledge and Skills list, and how to apply it to the scoring process, is still in discussion. The list is attached below - please send comments via Lynne Hodge, who is the rep leading on this issue, and also through your FCCF rep.
- HR have stated that Voluntary Redundancies (VRs) can take place throughout the 90 day consultation period, therefore there would not be an announcement of how many had applied by the end of the initial VR period (6th April). HR have agreed that, although there has to be equivalency (a match) for a VR to replace a Compulsory Redundancy (CR), they want to maximise the numbers of accepted VRs. They have agreed to our request to send out regular updates to staff on how many VRs have been accepted and thus, how that has lowered the CR numbers. By Friday 28th March there had been 38 applications for VR, but we have no figures for acceptance yet.
- There is no special appeals process for rejected VRs - people should use the normal Grievance process.
- We suggested that it in order to maximise the number of VRs that can be accepted that, as in the ICL redundancy programme, the people who have applied for VR should be able to enter their job description on a job list, that could be held by FC HR, so that people who have been selected for redundancy have more visibility of the potential "job swaps" that could be made. HR have agreed that this is a good idea and are going to investigate implementing it.
- UNITE was keen that selected employees should have access to information used by managers for scoring. This has been agreed in principle, but details are still under discussion. This should improve the objectivity of scoring, and help the appeals process.
- Some people near retirement age had been told by managers that there was no point in them applying for VR as it wouldn't save anyone from CR - they "wouldn't count". However, HR have stated that this is not the case and that anyone who wants to apply for VR should so through their HR department, and that each case would be considered on an individual basis.
- We were told that the plan to brief those selected for CR is likely to be delayed but there is no firm date yet.
- We are due to discuss the Manager's Guidelines document and the Appeals process later this week.
- Access to management positions - HR said these may be open only to people in scope, which is how they'd like it, but they will need to confirm this.
- Selection pools - people will be told which pool they're in.
- Business Intelligence ex Data Warehousing - we put the case that these staff had unique skills and should therefore not be in scope. HR said the entire organisation was in scope, but that the skills possessed by these and the steep learning curve should put them in a good position.
- Scoring - we asked for the basis for the scores, not just the scores themselves, to be recorded in writing by managers. HR said this was a valid point, they would make sure it happened.
MANCHESTER MOVE - WHEN? - 02 April 2003
Friday's Manchester Evening News carried the following report:
THE rebirth of north Manchester is on hold - because of a footpath once trod by football fans on their way to future glories.
More than £35m has been spent preparing the old Monsall isolation hospital site for a business park. But now a judge has thrown out a bid to close an old footpath so that computer firm Fujitsu can build a new headquarters.
The path links Northampton Road with Church Lane and once led to the home of Manchester United's 19th century predecessors Newton Heath FC.
District Judge David Tapp visited the scene along with objectors from the Open Spaces Society, the Ramblers, and the Pedestrians Association - and awarded them costs because the council had not posted warning notices in the right place.
Veteran campaigner Don Lee of the Open Spaces Society said: "This council is obsessed with development. They have got to take into account our reasonable requests for pedestrian access."
Officials at New East Manchester, the agency charged by the city to bring life back to the area, said they plan to appeal.
A spokesman added: "It is regrettable that there is a potential delay on the creation of 10,000 new jobs."
REDUNDANCY "ON THE SLY" - 26 March 2003
Fujitsu Services managers have been approaching individual staff at MAN05, threatening them with being moved to Linkwise (and then redundancy), and "making them an offer" to leave. They are given days to make life-changing decisions. The offers are for a "Compromise Agreement", where the employee signs away rights to take legal action against the company in the future, in exchange for a sum of money. Compromise Agreements can be a good thing - over the years UNITE reps have negotiated some excellent ones on behalf of members (up to tens of thousands of pounds better than their standard Terms & Conditions).
These Compromise Agreements are not always a good deal - the company may be "offering" less than you'd get if you were made redundant through the normal process - why would anyone accept that?
If you are offered an agreement, CONTACT YOUR REP IMMEDIATELY, for advice.
While you can (and should) use the "redundancy calculator" on our web sites to give you an estimate of your entitlements, it's no substitute for discussing your own case with a rep. Don't miss out on what you are entitled to.
Managers are suggesting that employees get advice from solicitors and/or financial advisors, about the deal. These people are not competent to advise on whether the offer is a good one - that's what your union is for. UNITE reps know the company agreements, and know what other members have got. We can advise you on your options, and about what an offer really means. The decision is then yours. The company stress the secrecy and confidentiality of these deals - but you do have the right to discuss the offer with your union rep. Use your rights.
If, after advice from your rep, you decide to accept a Compromise Agreement, you must then use a solicitor (we can recommend some) to formalise the agreement. You should also seek advice from a Financial Advisor on what to do with your money. By law, UNITE and its reps cannot provide individual financial advice.
UNITE have not been consulted by the company over these job losses (despite assertions from the company to the contrary), and we have protested forcefully to HR about the underhand approach being taken. A move to Linkwise is 90% of selection for redundancy. Selection should not be taking place until after consultation, so nobody should be moved to Linkwise prior to consultation. This is now on the agenda for our meeting with HR on Friday.
The reps committee met on Tuesday to review the results of the AGM. We've allocated the following roles among the reps committee:
- Chair: Alan Jenney
- Secretary: Ian Allinson
- Senior rep: Ian Allinson, with Phil Tepper as deputy
- Organiser: Harji Panchani
- Office: Alan Jenney
- Library: Alan Jenney
- Noticeboard: [hidden]
- Web site: [hidden]
- Pensions: Dave Francis
- Lead helpdesk rep: Chris Morton
We also allocated reps to lead on particular issues:
- Pay: Ian Allinson
- Relocation: Phil Tepper
- Fujitsu Consulting redundancies: Lynne Hodge
- Union recognition: Lynne Hodge
- Health & Safety, Stress: Zahid Ramzan
We've appointed Dennis Morris as a new Health & Safety rep - welcome to the team.
We still have one vacancy on the reps committee - any volunteers/suggestions?
FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES - 26 March 2003
You'll remember that we recently circulated the drafts of the new company "Family Friendly Policies" for comment. Some changes have been made as a result of your comments, and we expect the revised versions to be published on CafeVIK shortly. These are the main responses from HR to your comments:
Re the incident of a manager only allowing holiday when physically leaving the country etc I am happy to follow this up. If you can provide me with more information as to where this sort of things is happening I can investigate as this is not how we believe it should be.
In response to the comments collated by yourself I have the following comments.
Family Emergencies Guidelines
I have included 'partner' which includes same sex partners
In the bereavement section I have included close friends
I have also included some rough guidelines as to how much leave can be taken if someone dies. A point was made because there appears to be no guarantee of paid time off. This is correct - there is no guarantee.
Flexible Working Guidelines
The examples of flexibility are there to show how the individual AND the organisation can benefit from them, not just for one party.
I have amended the typo.
Regarding the Disability Discrimination Act. I agree with the comments and have added the DDA to the list of Statutes. However it's not really the right place to put details on our duty to make reasonable changes. However, I have mentioned disability and that the information will be elsewhere. I am preparing some more specific guidelines specifically on Disability which will be available later in the year.
Companion - the legislation states that the companion can be a trade union rep but must be employed by the company. This includes the appeal.
I have re-emphasised in the Managers Guidelines that requests are to be given serious considerations. I have not changed the words of the 'standard refusals' as they are the official words used in the regulations.
Parental Leave Guidelines
I have tried to make it clearer that it is unpaid. There is a section on pay and in addition I have made reference to this in the section regarding how much leave can be taken.
I have amended the typo.
The response on the "companion" is very concerning - it falls below the legal standard employees are entitled to in a grievance meeting. We haven't yet seen the final wording, but any member in a workplace without an UNITE rep based there should consider using the grievance process instead, so they can be accompanied by the full-time UNITE Regional Officer.
EUROPEAN CONSULTATIVE FORUM - 26 March 2003
Minutes of the ECF meeting on 14th January are now available here on the ECF community on CafeVIK.
We are still looking for candidates for likely elections to ECF and UKCF seats in the following areas:
- North-west
- Midlands
- Thames Valley
If you're interested, please contact Ian Allinson.
The petitioning and stickering we did outside the restaurant on Monday lunchtime last week was a great success. Around half the site population have already signed the petition. In some parts of the site, most people are either wearing the pay campaign stickers, or displaying them at their desks. But many of your colleagues have not yet been asked to show their support.
We've decided to repeat the petitioning & stickering, but to catch people going for breakfast. Can you lend a hand for 5 minutes on your break between 8am and 10am on Friday 28th March?
Petitions and stickers are available from your rep, or from the union office, if you want to go round your workmates.
BRANCH MEETING - 26 March 2003
The next meeting of Greater Manchester IT Branch is:
6pm, Thursday 3rd April
Upstairs in the Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA
Our guest speaker will be Kate Oultram, the union's Regional Learning Organiser, who will be talking about the new rights to "union learning reps". If you're interested in improving the training opportunities available to you at work - come along.
Thanks to everyone who attended our group Annual General Meeting on Thursday. The meeting took important decisions for the direction of the union in the coming months.
This report is divided into the following sections:
- RECRUITMENT COMPETITION WINNERS
- PAY MOTION
- REPS ELECTION
- IRAQ MOTION
- WHAT NEXT
- MESSAGES OF SUPPORT FOR PAY CAMPAIGN
For those beyond MAN05, you can see the March pay update (and AGM leaflet) under the "PAY CLAIM" heading on the "MAN05 Union" CafeVIK community.
1) RECRUITMENT COMPETITION WINNERS
The recruitment competition closed at 3pm on Wednesday, and the draw was held at the AGM. Prize cheques are now in the post to eight winners.
Union membership in Fujitsu passed the level we'd reached in March 2002 (before 10% of the UK workforce were made redundant) some months ago, and keeps on rising. Congratulations to everyone who's recently joined the union, or helped recruit them. Who could you recruit? Forms are available from our CafeVIK and Internet web sites, along with subs rates.
2) PAY MOTION
The following motion was passed unanimously:
We note the written and verbal responses from the company to the UNITE pay claim for Fujitsu Services staff based at MAN05.
We welcome the company's review of the current sick-pay policy for helpdesk staff, and the intention to create a more transparent pay structure. However, the company's unwillingness to give specific, positive responses to any of the three parts of our claim is unacceptable. It is particularly disappointing that the company is unwilling to commit to an Equal Pay Audit, despite having earlier indicated agreement in principle to this. An Equal Pay Audit is not only part of the UNITE pay claim, but is considered good practice, and recommended by the Equal Opportunities Commission. Such unwillingness can only reinforce the belief that some employees are suffering unjustifiable discrimination.
We cannot accept that it would be "inappropriate" to agree a resolution to our pay claim for MAN05 staff. The company could extend union recognition beyond MAN05, so that pay can be discussed at national level. Otherwise, the company must honour our recognition agreement at West Gorton, not use its denial of union rights outside MAN05 to justify undermining them inside MAN05.
We recognise that Fujitsu's refusal to provide the timetable of the pay review process until late in the process has made it impossible to conclude negotiations in time for the April payroll.
We note that the company is not disputing that MAN05 staff are being paid significantly below the market rate. Their main objection to the "Fair Pay" component of our claim is based on affordability in the financial year 2003-4. We note that the company intends (providing certain conditions are met) to pay a "Sharing in Success" bonus of 5% of annual salary, in the June 2003 payroll.
We authorise our reps to negotiate with the company to use the Sharing in Success bonus money to fund our pay claim instead. Raising basic pay, rather than bonus, would begin to address the problem of paying below market rates, and would be worth more to employees, as it would count towards pension and other benefits.
We therefore resolve:
- To reaffirm our support for the pay claim.
- To accept the pitiful pay awards that some employees may get in April 2003, but instruct our reps to continue negotiations for our pay claim, backdated to April 2003.
- To instruct our reps to register a Failure To Agree, and escalate the grievance to stage 3.
- To instruct our reps to organise an "indicative ballot" of members, to indicate whether they would support industrial action in pursuit of the pay claim, should that prove necessary.
- To recommend a "yes" vote in the indicative ballot.
- To support the pay claim by participating in campaigning for the pay claim.
3) REPS ELECTION
There were only 10 candidates for the 11 seats on the reps committee, and the meeting confirmed them elected unopposed:
Ian Allinson, Phil Tepper, Lynne Hodge, [hidden], Chris Morton, Saiqa Karim, Dave Francis, Harji Panchani, Zahid Ramzan, Alan Jenney
This means we have a vacant seat on the reps committee, which we are anxious to fill at the first opportunity. Please consider whether you could do this job, or whether you can suggest a colleague you think would do a good job. As a rep, you are entitled to full training, and can carry out your duties in work time. The reps committee has the power to co-opt a member to fill the vacancy.
4) IRAQ MOTION
The meeting passed the following motion by a majority of more than two to one:
This group opposes war on Iraq.
For more information about the campaign against the war, see
5) WHAT NEXT
The newly elected reps committee will meet on Tuesday, and decide on a new chair, secretary etc. It will then plan out how to implement the decisions of the AGM (particularly on the pay claim), as well as progressing the other vital issues we are tackling, which include:
- Fujitsu Consulting redundancies
- Relocation from MAN05
- Individual cases
- Union recognition for the new site
Your reps will provide more detailed information and guidance to members before holding the "indicative ballot" on industrial action in support of the pay claim.
6) MESSAGES OF SUPPORT FOR PAY CAMPAIGN
The company have tried to refuse our pay claim on the grounds that they don't want to do anything different for MAN05. They would like to present the situation as if UNITE members at MAN05 were trying to get one over on the rest of the workforce. In fact, the MAN05 members are leading the way, where staff throughout the company would like to follow. At the AGM, we circulated a number of messages of support (thanks!) we've received from other workplaces, and we included them in our newsletter to members.
Advice to Fujitsu Consulting members - 21 March 2003
In our first meeting with the FJ Consulting HR director, we raised the issue of the inconsistent way in which the most recent reviews were carried out, and the lack of input some staff had into the review process.
We have asked them to address this problem, and in the meantime we would encourage all members to check the outcome of their review, and if they are not happy with the grading they were given, to raise this with their management. If this cannot be resolved informally then they should raise a grievance to make the complaint official, before the selection process begins. Also, we would advise members not to sign any review they are not happy with and record their reasons why in writing, as soon as possible.
We are also aware that CVs will be used as input into the scoring process, and we would advise all members to update their CVs with their current skills as soon as possible.
In the meeting with the FJ Consulting HR director, we raised the issue that, in the last FJC redundancy programme, people were put off applying for VR as there was the perception that they would be offered a "compromise agreement" rather then their full VR entitlement. We were told that compromise agreements may be used for some individuals as well as VR and CR redundancy terms, but that this was not the general policy they intended to use, and was surprised that some people had felt pressurised into taking a compromise agreement. Members who find themselves being offered a compromise agreement should contact UNITE for assistance.
Also, please raise any issues through your FCCF reps and UNITE, to make sure your views and issues are input to the process.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 17 March 2003
Don't forget the West Gorton group AGM:
This Thursday, 20th March
3pm-4:30pm
MAN05 restaurant
All MAN05 members should attend. You are entitled to (paid) time off to attend.
If your manager might need to arrange cover, you must inform them in plenty of time. The main area where this applies is the helpdesks. The senior helpdesk manager has written to the various Operations Managers saying:
"Can you all please give your support to the above event by allowing attendance where availability permits. If there are any issues please let me know, Thanks."
He has asked that managers arrange their release via the relevant Operations Manager.
If there are any problems, please contact your rep immediately.
Please send in any further items for the agenda, or rep nominations, in advance, and preferably before the end of today (Monday),
Our rep from the Pathway helpdesk, Paul D'Ambra, is among those who has been successfully redeployed (see below). As he is now very busy learning his new job, he's decided to step down as a rep. Thanks go to Paul for all his hard work, especially during the difficult and stressful period for everyone on Pathway. As a result of Paul stepping down, we are now down to 10 reps for MAN05 - please think hard about nominating someone, or volunteering yourself, for election at the AGM.
Reps consulted MAN05 members about whether we should organise a protest for lunchtime if war breaks out. The feeling was that we should not. Individuals who do wish to protest in the event of war can join the general protests from 5pm in Piccadilly Gardens. We understand that there will also be another national demonstration against war on Saturday in London. See www.manchesterstopthewar.org or www.stopwar.org.uk for more information.
UNITE reps met the HR Director for Core Services, at a "stage 2" grievance meeting about our pay claim last Thursday. The meeting was far more constructive than the stage 1 meeting. We have been promised a written response by the end of tomorrow (Tuesday), and reps will make a full report to the AGM on Thursday.
Management were having their own meetings to discuss the issue of helpdesk sick pay (one of the 3 issues covered by the claim), on Friday and today.
The company's current offer on point 3 of the claim - "fair pay" is a pot of 2.5%. This pot isn't even as generous as it sounds. Part of it will be used for bonuses, not pay rises, and the figure also includes promotions. We all face a 1% rise in national insurance in April - hitting our take-home pay too.
The company haven't contested our claim (based on figures they provided) that MAN05 staff are generally paid far below the market rate. The company's main justification for such a low offer is affordability in the financial year 2003-4. UNITE pointed out that they expected to pay out a bonus of 5% in that financial year, under the "Sharing in Success" scheme. Your reps floated the idea of using that money to deal with the long-term low-pay problem, rather than using it as a one-off bonus that leaves us in the same mess next year. A 7.5% pot would give scope to begin to tackle some of the real pay problems staff face.
The scale of the pay problems was made clear by the poll we carried out on our CafeVIK community. The question was:
"Do you get paid the rate for your Professional Community benchmark?"
- 68% didn't know what the rate for their benchmark was
- 18% were paid below the bottom of the scale (MIN)
- 9% were paid between MIN and MID
- 5% were paid MID to MAX
- 0% were paid above MAX.
Has anyone taken the pay claim petition and stickers round your floor yet? Contact your rep or pop in to the union office for supplies. Let everyone see there's a campaign afoot!
FUJITSU CONSULTING REDUNDANCIES - 17 March 2003
Fujitsu Consulting plans to cut around 55 jobs across the UK. UNITE reps at MAN05 met with the HR Director, on Friday to discuss the situation from a MAN05 perspective. We will be greatly helped by our success in getting all the union-backed candidates elected onto the Fujitsu Consulting Consultative Forum, which will be dealing with this issue at a national level.
The main step forward at the meeting was an acceptance that they would consider volunteers from all parts of FC, rather than restricting it to the Lines Of Business directly facing cuts. As a result of our complaints in previous redundancies about inconsistencies in calculating utilisation, utilisation is not being used as a selection criterion this time.
The MAN05 rep dealing with this issue is Lynne Hodge.
PATHWAY HELPDESK - 17 March 2003
The main points from the last meeting over the Pathway closure were:
- Where the D skills scheme is in use everyone has now been placed against the relevant D1-D4 matrix or equivalent. This has allowed some people to move into new posts at higher than basic wage
- Pathway was £1000 below basic helpdesk wage which has softened the blow of the loss of the 15% bonus to affected staff.
- Tech Vets were used to help place some 2nd line staff - the results of these have helped challenge the low perception of Pathway technical abilities
- The majority of 2nd line staff were placed to RIM posts
- Secured one PSE role and other STSAs have been redeployed to RIM
- 2nd line P/Way staff who weren't able to secure a 2nd line position have 6 months notice before terms and conditions are reduced. This affects about 7 or 8 people. The Ops Manager expected that roughly half of these will be able to move up within 6 months.
- Two people took a "compromise agreement" to leave the company - the equivalent of redundancy.
- One employee had handed in their notice, being unhappy with the alternatives on offer.
- One employee was not 100% happy with their redeployment. An alternative has been arranged should it be required.
- One member is having problems with security clearance. Pathway are paying his wage for 3 months while this is sorted out.
- The Ops Manager clarified that if there were a choice people would get the wage that best rewarded them. E.g. 15% bonus people would be paid their P/Way wage including bonus for the first month in new post if that was higher than the new wage.
- Transformers have been processed so that payments will begin in March.
Both sides accepted that this had been an example where Company and Union working together had provided real benefits to the employees affected.
MEDICAL TESTING - 17 March 2003
Did you sign up for LABNET tests early last year? (The Prostate Cancer screening programme)
Early last year Occupational Health arranged for a company called LABNET to come onsite and give presentations regarding a PROSTATE Cancer screening programme. This programme also involved registering your details with the company and signing up for regular checkups for a nominal fee. The Registration fee of £29.50 was payable immediately & it was up to the individual to pay the test fees of approx £70 either on registration or at the time of any test.
Several people signed up at the time but after complaints from some of the presentations regarding a "hard sell" approach it was decided to cancel further presentations. Money was taken from the individuals concerned but no tests have been done to date.
Individuals had tried to get their money refunded by LABNET, and tried to get Fujitsu to help - to no avail.
It's now coming up to the anniversary of these presentations and your direct debits/standing orders will activate.
UNITE reps have contacted LABNET on several occasions for updates and have now been advised that LABNET have decided to come out of the business of doing Prostate Scans.
UNITE have requested that direct debits be cancelled and that any money paid be returned to the individuals concerned, as the service requested was not provided.
LABNET (now known as PROSCREEN LABS) have promised to contact individuals at their home addresses & return any money paid by the end of March. From names identified so far if only the minimum had been paid this will be approx £300.
If you believe you fall into this category and have not received anything by the end of March you should contact LABNET.
LABNET details are:
Tel 0800-328-0603 Contact Robin Amswych ( Director)
Proscreen labs
Suite H1 Hartsbourne House,
Delta Gan,
Carpenders Park,
Watford
Hertfordshire
WD19 5EF
MEDICAL RECORDS - 17 March 2003
Labour Research (Feb 2003) carried this "Law Query", which may be of interest to members:
One of our members has been off sick but is now back at work and has to see the company doctor. Does she have the right to deny her employer access to her medical records? Your member has the right to refuse access to her medical records. However, this means that the company doctor will make a decision on her medical condition without all the relevant information. There is the risk that this assessment is incorrect and that her employer will act on it. Alternatively, she can give the employer the right of access but only on condition that she has first sight of anything sent by her GP or any other practitioner responsible for her personal medical care.
* More information: Access to Medical Reports Act 1988
UNIONS ARE GOOD FOR YOU - 17 March 2003
We normally focus on the hazards facing staff, when we think about Health & Safety. But some things are positively good for you. Labour Research reports:
Kicking up about workplace problems is good for you, new research from Sussex University has revealed. Psychologist Dr John Drury found that people participating in collective action experienced a deep sense of happiness and even euphoria. He said: "People should get more involved in campaigns, struggles and social movements - not only in the wider interest of social change, but also for their own personal good."
DRIVING SAFELY - 17 March 2003
An increasing number of employees are having to drive significant distances as part of their job. It's easy to underestimate the Health & Safety implications. Labour Research (Feb 2003) carried this report:
Fatigue: the hidden killer
The Selby rail crash, caused by a car driver falling asleep at the wheel, highlighted the dangers of driving while tired. Labour Research looks at the growing problem of fatigue for workers who drive for a living.
Gary Couser died instantly when his car ran off the road. He had fallen asleep after working a series of shifts, some lasting more than 16 hours.
During the six weeks before his death in 2000, Couser had made deliveries all over Britain. He was the only driver at Scottish firm Glenhire whose vehicle had not been fitted with a tachograph to record his driving hours.
His case came to light in December when the owner of the firm was fined just £2,500 for breaches of health and safety regulations. After the hearing, Couser's mother said she was "disgusted" at the outcome.
Cases like this are as tragic as they are frequent. Fatigue is an everyday cause of incidents and injuries at work, but especially for workers who drive as part of their job.
Driver fatigue often leads to vehicles veering off the road, or to head-on collisions, with the resulting injury and loss of life. This is what happened in the high-profile Selby rail crash in 2001. Gary Hart fell asleep at the wheel of his car and ended up on a railway line, causing the derailment of two trains and the deaths of 10 passengers and four rail workers.
Research into driver fatigue makes frightening reading. Fatigue causes a road death on average almost every day of the year.
Transport minister David Jamieson, announcing the government's THINK advertising campaign last year, said that "drivers falling asleep could be a factor in one in 10 fatal and injury accidents on our roads - resulting in 300 deaths and many thousands of injuries a year".
A Department for Transport research report published in February 2002, Sleep-related vehicle accidents on sections of selected trunk roads and motorways in the UK (1995-1998), revealed that sleepiness causes nearly one in five road traffic accidents, and one in four of those on motorways.
Even this might not reveal the true picture as there is evidence that police data underestimate fatigue-related incidents. The TUC believes that, because police investigate road traffic deaths as individual incidents, the root causes such as fatigue rarely come to light.
In fact the effects of fatigue can be as damaging as alcohol. A study by the Centre of Sleep Research in Australia, published by the T&G general union in 2000, showed that, after 18 hours awake, the performance of a driver is equivalent to having the legal maximum of alcohol in the blood.
As T&G general secretary Bill Morris put it: "A tired driver can be more dangerous than a drunk one."
Driving for work
Drivers of lorries, vans, taxis, coaches, buses, emergency vehicles, company cars, construction and agricultural machinery, and motorcycle delivery workers, all drive as a core part of their work. But driving is also part of the job for maintenance workers, refuse collectors, postal workers, breakdown services, social workers and countless others.
Dr Paul Jackson from Awake, part of the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, says that some groups of workers are at greater risk of fatigue than others. Night shift workers, for example, are vulnerable, particularly after the first night of a shift, with driving home between 4am and 6am in the morning the most dangerous time. (He also says that people with sleep problems are twice as likely to have an accident at work.)
The Sleep Research Centre has carried out numerous investigations into driver fatigue, and is the main source for government figures. Its evidence suggests that more truck drivers are killed at work than any other type of employee. Their union, the T&G, says the risk to lorry drivers is exacerbated by low pay in the industry forcing them to work long hours (see box).
Case studies collected by the T&G on workers who died in fatigue-related road accidents make grim reading. In one case, a lorry driver died when his flat-back truck collided head on with a box van. The tachograph revealed he had continually failed to take sufficient rest breaks and that he regularly exceeded his maximum daily driving limit.
In another case a car transporter driver was asleep at the wheel when his vehicle ran into the back of stationary traffic queue on the M62, killing three occupants of a Rover Metro.
Not recognised
Given the extent of the problem, it is surprising that driver fatigue is not a more widely recognised hazard for workers.
One reason is that work-related road deaths in general are dealt with differently from other workplace hazards - for example they are not reported in the Health and Safety Commission's annual round-up of statistics. In fact the government has only recently taken steps to measure work-related road incidents adequately.
In 2001 the Work-related Road Safety Task Group reported that up to a third of all road traffic incidents could involve someone at work at the time. This equates to around 1,000 fatalities a year.
The TUC's own research also suggests 1,000 workers every year are killed and 12,000 seriously injured while driving for work.
This means that work-related road incidents cause three times more deaths annually than agriculture, construction and other industries put together. Only asbestos is a bigger workplace killer.
The TUC wants employers to have a specific responsibility for their driving workforce, and for road traffic incidents to be investigated like any other incident in the workplace. The TUC also wants employers to carry out risk assessments for driving workers, and take appropriate measures to eliminate or control the hazards.
For drivers and other road users, workers who drive and those who are driven, the message is simple: fatigue kills, so working hours must be cut.
Tired train drivers
Fatigue does not simply apply to drivers on the road. Last year train drivers' union ASLEF launched its "Drive down the hours" campaign - highlighting the dangers of tiredness for drivers and calling for reduced working hours.
ASLEF points out that train drivers can do 16 hours in one shift, and 60 hours in a week, which inevitably causes fatigue.
The union wants train drivers' hours to be limited by law to a maximum of 42 hours in any week, an average of 35 hours each week over the course of a year, and appropriate breaks during shifts.
Training
Awake Ltd, part of the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre, is a consultancy specialising in fatigue-related risk assessments, and provides fatigue training for management and staff. Contact Awake at www.awakeltd.info or by phoning 0207 693 6166. Research by the Loughborough Centre can be found at www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/hu/groups/sleep/index.htm.
Low pay: the central problem
High levels of fatigue among lorry drivers is not surprising given the long hours of work in the industry - 60 hours a week is normal and 80 hours or more is not uncommon. The work is often done by truck drivers coerced by the threat of the sack or enticed by the prospect of extra cash into driving tired.
The root of the long hours' culture for drivers is low pay. The T&G says: "Low pay means drivers have to work longer and longer hours in order to take home a living wage, and thus driver fatigue has become a major problem in the industry."
T&G campaigner Fred Beach says that incentive bonus pay schemes in the industry mean pay is dependent on long hours. The "mileage devisor" scheme means that the more miles travelled, the more money earned. Payment by trips is similar - the more trips driven, the more money is earned.
The union wants a minimum wage for drivers to ease the need to seek bonus payments and overtime. It also wants dangerous incentive schemes that link pay directly to hours on the road outlawed.
The intensity of the work is an important contributor to fatigue. The T&G says that "just-in-time" type delivery contracts involve such tight deadlines that drivers are often forced to cut corners to meet them.
Schedules demand that drivers drive at breakneck pace throughout their journey, foregoing rest and meal breaks. Traffic hold-ups and other unexpected delays only add to the pressure.
Often drivers for large retailers like supermarkets are expected to unload their own vehicles, adding to their stress and strain (and leading to musculo-skeletal problems like back strain), as well as cutting into break times.
The T&G is currently campaigning for "60 hours' pay for a 48-hour week" in the run-up to transport workers' inclusion under the Working Time Regulations.
The European Road Transport Directive will introduce a maximum working week of 48 hours including overtime, a maximum eight hours' night work, a daily rest period of 11 hours, a day off per week, a rest break if working more than six hours and four weeks' paid annual leave in 2005.
The T&G welcomes this initiative, but wants more stringent guarantees for drivers. The union wants the working day of a professional driver to be to a maximum of 10 hours' duty time and eight hours behind the wheel. Current European Union regulations, covering drivers of goods vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes, allow for 13 hours' duty time and nine hours' actually driving.
The T&G would also like to see "transhipment" depots on the edges of towns and cities, which could be used to provide cheap and affordable rest and refreshment facilities (and keep lorries out of city centres).
The problem of fatigue is an international one, so for the past six years, the T&G has participated in the worldwide "Fatigue Kills" campaign organised by the International Transport Federation (ITF).
The ITF estimates that a quarter of a million drivers worldwide took part in a day of action in October, some blocking major cross-border highways and others leafleting at truck stops.
ARE YOU WELL REPRESENTED? - 10 March 2003
The effectiveness of UNITE depends on the involvement of the members. Because we have "union recognition" at MAN05, the company has agreed that 11 members can be "reps" - and allowed to carry out union duties in work time. Having good reps is vital to you being well represented.
Every year, the members elect the 11 MAN05 reps at our group Annual General Meeting in March. This year, the AGM will be on Thursday 20th March. Only the members who attend can vote, so make sure you're there.
We now need volunteers and/or nominations for reps - full training is available for anyone taking on the role. Are you willing to be a rep? Can you think of someone who would make a good rep? In either case, you need to act now.
What a rep does
Reps can take on a wide variety of roles - not everyone has to do everything. As a team, the reps committee:
- Represent members in individual cases
- Recruit new members
- Negotiate with management (from team leaders and HR to senior management)
- Influence company policies
- Advise members
- Produce newsletters, web sites and other information
- Campaign
Contact our group secretary for more information. If you want to nominate someone or stand, please send us an email including:
- Name of candidate
- Name of member proposing them
- A short (no more than 100 words) election statement - why people should vote for you
All nominations must be received by the end of Monday 17th March. If nominations are received in good time, it may be possible for the reps committee to "co-opt" one or more of the candidates onto the reps committee for the period up to the AGM - a great opportunity to get a taster, and to help build the pay campaign and AGM.
Reps Committee today
Many of you will be aware that [name removed], one of our reps, has been off sick for many months. [name removed] had made a major contribution to the group before his illness, and it is with sadness that we've accepted his resignation from the reps committee. We wish [name removed] a speedy recovery.
We have co-opted Alan Jenney as a new rep to fill the vacancy created by [name removed]'s resignation. The updated list of MAN05 reps is therefore:
Ian Allinson, Phil Tepper, Lynne Hodge, [hidden], Chris Morton, Saiqa Karim, Dave Francis, Harji Panchani, Paul D'Ambra, Zahid Ramzan, Alan Jenney
All seats are up for election at the AGM, as described above.
FUJITSU SERVICES UK CONSULTATIVE FORUM - 10 March 2003
Due to several people leaving the company, or resigning their role, there are several vacant seats on the UK Consultative Forum (UKCF). The UKCF consists of elected employee representatives from all the regions. It is a company body, not a union body, but we've always ensured there are plenty of union members on it, so that it complements union organisation, rather than undercuts it. We expect by-elections for the following seats:
- Thames Valley (1 seat)
- Manchester & Warrington (3 seats)
- Midlands (1 seat)
The Midlands seat is for both the UKCF, and the European Consultative Forum (ECF) - meeting with employee representatives from other countries too.
We want to ensure we have good candidates for all these seats - and that they are union members. Union membership makes a big difference - UNITE members were the only people on the UKCF to lodge Employment Tribunal claims on behalf of their constituents. Members have the support of Britain's second biggest union behind them, and a network of members to keep them informed.
For more information, see the "UK Consultative Forum" and "European Consultative Forum" communities on CafeVIK:
- http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=ECF
- http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=ukcf
and see our "briefing pack" from the last elections:
If you'd be interested in standing, or want to know more, please contact or .
FUJITSU CONSULTING REDUNDANCIES AND UK CONSULTATIVE FORUM - 10 March 2003
An announcement has now been made within Fujitsu Consulting of plans to merge "Business Solutions" and "Alliance Solutions" to create "Application Services", with the loss of about 55 jobs in the UK. The areas affected within these business units are Project Management, Service Delivery, General & Admin, but not Finance, HR, Commercial, Resource Management and Quota carrying Sales.
Because we have union recognition at MAN05, FC must consult us over the plans for these redundancies, as well as consulting via the Fujitsu Consulting Consultative Forum (FCCF). Your reps will be meeting Andy Montrose, the HR director, on Friday.
Elections to the UKCF in Fujitsu Consulting (known as the FCCF) have just finished. There are only seven seats, and UNITE backed six candidates. We're delighted to report that all six were successfully elected. Congratulations to:
- North:
- Alan Black, ---
- Midlands:
- Andy Batchelor, Paul Lewis
- South:
- Sheila Leatherdale, Chetan Bhatt
Robert Saunders was also elected for the 3rd seat in the south.
Unfortunately, the newly elected reps will have plenty to do, representing employees threatened with redundancy.
The success of the union-backed candidates shows how keen employees are to have effective, independent, trade union representation. This is also reflected in the impressive numbers of people joining the union at the moment, throughout Fujitsu.
Following the "stage 1" meeting with management on 25th February, we have now received the first written response to our claim. It is inconclusive on Sick Pay and Equal Pay, and negative on Fair Pay. Reps didn't anticipate a positive response at this stage, but are disappointed that the response is so vague. We have registered a "Failure To Agree", which triggers a "stage 2" meeting on 13th March. At this meeting, the company will be represented by the man in charge of HR for Core Services. Whether this meeting makes better progress depends to a significant extent on your support.
What you can do to help the campaign:
- Discuss the claim with your workmates
- Take the petition round your area, and hand out the stickers. Both are available from the union office (m.f1a, upstairs, phase 2)
- Wear a sticker, or display it at your desk (no vandalism though, please!)
- We'll soon have posters available - watch this space
- Recruit your workmates - the more members we have - the more the company has to listen to us
- Volunteer to join our "Pay Campaign Team" by emailing
HEALTH & SAFETY - 10 March 2003
The minutes of the latest MAN05 Health & Safety Committee can be found on the "Health and Safety @ MAN05" community on CafeVIK: http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=HSMAN05
Do you have an UNITE Health & Safety rep for your area? You should have - it's all about improving your working environment. If you're interested, please get in touch.
SURVEILLANCE IN THE WORKPLACE - 10 March 2003
We all know that Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) is used for security around the perimeter of the site, car park, entrances, and certain "high security" areas. Please be aware that CCTV may be used in other parts of the site too. Covert CCTV (i.e. hidden cameras) are very very occasionally used to detect crime. Audio recording has never been used, so your conversations should still be private.
If you have views on this, please contact your rep.
PATHWAY HELPDESK - 28 February 2003
Reps Paul D'Ambra and Phil Tepper have been leading our work to protect the jobs of members on the MAN05 Pathway helpdesk, which is closing. This has been a difficult time for everyone involved, and a number of issues still remain to be ironed out. However, we're very pleased to report that nobody has been moved to Linkwise or faces redundancy as a result of the closure. This is a great achievement by all involved.
PAY OR BONUS? - 28 February 2003
A lot of staff are confused about what is happening with their pay and/or bonuses. The situation is as follows:
- The company set up a "Sharing in Success" bonus scheme, for all those not in some other bonus scheme, and not covered by "TUPE" terms and conditions. This should pay out in April, provided the company exceeds its profit target by the cost of the scheme. If it pays out, it will be 5% of salary.
NB: Forecast for payment is now June, not April - Other bonus schemes (generally worth far more than 5%) will continue as usual, according to their own rules.
- The pay review should also be implemented in April. This is quite separate from the "Sharing in Success" scheme. The company announced a "pot" of 2.5% for the pay review in April. UNITE at MAN05 is pursuing a pay claim that includes increasing this significantly. 2.5% is not enough. The proposed 2.5% would include promotions, as well as pay rises. It would include any rises or promotions taking place throughout the year, as well as in April. The company also intends to use a little of the pot to fund bonuses, rather than rises in basic pay. All of this means that the 2.5% is even less than it seems. In our newsletter of 15th January, we gave a worked example to show how a bonus is worth FAR less than a rise in basic pay. If you do get a 5% bonus in April, but little or no pay rise:
- It's got to last you all year
- In a year's time your standard of living will be lower than before - it doesn't go on your basic pay
- Your pension will be falling behind - a bonus doesn't count towards it
A bonus is always welcome, but is no substitute for decent pay - that's what we're fighting for.
You can complete the poll about your pay on the "MAN05 Union" Community. Look under the "POLL" menu, which is usually in the left-hand side-bar (depending on your chosen CafeVIK layout).
The future of the company pension scheme is an issue of enormous concern to members. Barely a day passes without a story in the press about the threat to company pension funds, made worse by the state of the stock market. UNITE has two members on the Pensions Consultative Committee for the ICL (yes, still ICL) pension fund. They are Dave Francis at MAN05 and Roger Dane in Northern Ireland. The Pensions Consultative Committee has no real power, but they are there to keep an eye on things for us all.
Our pension fund will be having a valuation around the end of the financial year, but the results won't be available until the autumn. At that point the company will review its pension arrangements. Many of you have expressed fears that Fujitsu will close the final salary scheme.
We need to be ready to defend our pensions if necessary. UNITE doesn't believe Fujitsu would be justified in closing the pension scheme:
- Pension contributions cover pension payments - money is going in, not out.
- In the 1990s, ICL took pensions "holidays" - not paying in anything at all. Meanwhile we all still paid in. Part of the justification for this was that they took all the "risk" if the pension fund was short of money, so they should get the benefit when it was in surplus. To close the fund now would be like the company gambling with our pensions, taking the winnings, but then not paying up when they lose.
- High company contributions are partly due to their pensions holidays in the 1990s. They are now paying back this "loan" from our pension fund.
- ICL already closed the Defined Benefit section of the pension scheme to new joiners - putting them in a "cheap and nasty" Defined Contribution scheme. This means the company's liability will go down over time, not up.
- To decide to close the scheme as a result of a poor valuation this year would be short-termism. Pensions decisions should be taken looking at a timescale of decades, not months.
- Many companies justify closing their schemes by saying that any short-term shortfall in the fund makes their company accounts look bad. Fujitsu Services is not a floated company, and can afford to take a longer-term view.
Trade unions have always argued that gambling on the stock-exchange is the wrong way to fund our retirement. Everyone needs financial security in old age - it's not an optional extra. The move away from Defined Benefit (final salary) schemes is a move to take risk away from employers, and put it onto individual employees, who are less able to afford that risk.
LEGAL CASES FROM ICL REDUNDANCIES 2002 - 28 February 2003
The legal process grinds awful slow! The hearing for the "Protective Award" claims for failure to consult properly over the redundancies was due to be held in June 2003. The claims cover around 700 former employees, at a number of the bigger sites, and have been brought by UNITE on behalf of the bargaining unit at MAN05, and UNITE members who were on the UK Consultative Forum for the rest. The latest news is that the hearing is likely to be delayed, as the legal teams for Fujitsu Services and UNITE don't believe the scheduled four days will be sufficient for such complex cases.
Taking these cases isn't just good news for the redundant employees, who could win up to 90 days pay. It's also good news for staff still in the company. UNITE would always prefer to negotiate with a company before it misbehaves, rather than prosecute them afterwards. But where a company won't listen, prosecutions are a useful way of putting pressure on to raise their standards in future.
TRAINING FOR MEMBERS - 28 February 2003
MSF members and reps have long had access to the excellent training facilities of the union's Whitehall College in Bishops Stortford, as well as courses provided by the TUC through local colleges, including MANCAT in Manchester. As a result of the merger with the AEEU to form UNITE, we now have access to courses at the AEEU's Esher College as well.
Information about Whitehall College and local courses is already here on our internet web site and we hope to add the Esher timetable soon. If you want more details, please contact your rep.
BUILDING CLOSURES - 28 February 2003
In November Company Announcement 02-60 which you can read here, set out a series of building closures across the UK. While building closures obviously raise dozens of issues around relocation, facilities etc, the announcement was generally welcomed. The current situation where we have dozens of half-empty buildings is clearly insane. Not only does this cost the company money, but an empty building is a depressing work environment.
We now understand that the closures are "on hold".
UNITE is concerned that this could be for all the wrong reasons. Under accounting rules, the company would have to take a hit on this year's accounts if it closed a building, but could not dispose of it. However, it would save real money in terms of lighting, heating, security, maintenance, rates etc. Spending real money to make the accounts look better is the sort of mistake ICL made before its failed flotation. It is not how we want to see the company operating today.
REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY - 28 February 2003
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is a serious condition, which can be caused by using computer equipment. We already have cases at MAN05. RSI is one of our top Health & Safety concerns, along with back-pain, eye-strain, stress, mobile phones radiation, carrying heavy laptops, excessive driving, and personal safety. Workstation Assessments, carried out by competent assessors, are a key tool to help you improve your working environment and avoid RSI. Fujitsu at MAN05 is always looking for volunteers to train as Workstation Assessors - can you help?
Today (Friday 28th February) will mark the fourth "International RSI Day". The union's Health and Safety unit sent out the following information:
RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) is the family name given to a variety of musculoskeletal disorders, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, tenosynovitis and tendonitis, also known as WRULDs (work related upper limb disorders). Illness due to WRULDs accounts for 5.4 million lost working days each year in the UK.
WRULDs are characterised by discomfort or persistent pain in muscles, tendons and other soft tissues, with our without clearly visible injury. Symptoms include pain, numbness, swelling, muscle weakness (for eg inability to grip firmly), crepitus (a cracking sound), tenderness, pins and needles, and loss or restriction of movement.
There are many ways these injuries occur, including poor posture, inadequate workstation layout, lifting heavy or imbalanced loads, repetitive or monotonous work patterns. WRULDs can also cause and be exacerbated by stress. WRULDs are an increasing problem for office workers, particularly VDU operators, word processor operators, computer programmers, typists, filing clerks and data entry operators. As more and more jobs are office based and IT-intensive, the number of people at risk is increasing rapidly.
Many workers who experience the early warning signs of WRULDs take painkillers and carry on working, either because they are unaware of their condition or its long term effects, or because they are afraid to approach their employer in case their condition is seen as an obstacle to their work. However, ignoring these problems or taking painkillers to mask the problem is very dangerous and could make the problem much worse in the long run, impinging on social and home life, as well as affecting work.
Prevention is much better than cure, and in many cases there is no cure for these problems. The first thing is to immediately rest the affected limb or area of the body. But with proper attention to work organisation, job design and ergonomic design of the workplace and workstation, WRULDs can be prevented. Preventative measure include designing the job to avoid prolonged work in the same position, high key stroke (typing) rates, extremes of joint movement in the hand, wrist arm, neck and trunk and mental stress. These objectives may be achieved by introducing rest breaks or pauses, ergonomic design, avoiding pressure to input data or type at too high a rate, allowing newly trained staff or those returning from absence a period of adjustment to repetitive work, and raising awareness of supervisors, managers and operators. All employees should be encouraged to speak to their union representatives and report the early warning signs of WRULDs to their employer.
Further information on RSI and WRULDs:
- RSI Association, 380-384 Harrow Road, London W9 2HU 020 7266 2000 Helpline: 0800 018 5012 (11 am - 5 pm; Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
- The RSI Association provides information, support and advice to people with Repetitive Strain Injuries and promotes better understanding of the condition through research, publicity and campaigning. They are holding a conference in Nottingham on the day to highlight the costs to the UK and offer solutions to the problems.
- RSI - a trade unionists' guide, Labour Research Department Booklets
- Hazards Magazine International RSI day resources
- How to Win an RSI Compensation Case: a TUC guide for union representatives
- available from TUC Publications
- Health & Safety Executive Free Leaflets - Work Related Upper Limb Disorders
- International RSI Awareness Day Committee
- an international group of injured workers, trade unionists, health and safety professionals, health care practitioners, and others who share a common goal to increase awareness of RSI, to prevent others from being injured, and to improve the situation for those who are already injured
- RSI-UK mailing list
- an online support group for sufferers of RSI and WRULDs
COMPETITION - 28 February 2003
Don't forget our recruitment competition - you can win a prize by recruiting a colleague, and they can win too! It's open to all Fujitsu employees in the UK and Ireland. Details are on our web sites:
- on the Internet
or
- on the Intranet
The competition closes 24 hours before the West Gorton group Annual General Meeting, which will be on 20th March, so hurry.
Reps Ian Allinson and Phil Tepper represented UNITE at a meeting with management on 25th February to discuss our Fujitsu Services, MAN05 pay claim. This meeting was the first formal meeting to negotiate on the subject. Your reps explained the claim, and answered questions on it. Our HR manager provided some initial feedback. A written response will be provided by the end of the week.
A further meeting is now being planned, which is likely to involve someone from the Helpdesk management, to talk about the sick pay issue, and some more senior HR people (e.g. HR for Core Services, and/or Reward Management). If the written response from the company looks like the basis of a potential agreement, this meeting may also be at "stage 1" of our grievance procedure, otherwise, UNITE may register a "Failure To Agree" and escalate the issue to "stage 2".
Your reps will report back to members throughout the negotiations.
The demonstration against war on Iraq in London on 15th February was the biggest in British history. From Manchester alone, a train, 85 coaches, a number of minibuses took people to London, never mind the thousands who made their own way.
There will be a regional demonstration against the war in Manchester on Saturday 8th March, which is backed by the North-West TUC. It assembles at 1pm in three different starting-points across the city:
- All Saints Park, Oxford Road, Manchester
- Salford Crescent, outside Salford University
- Brideoak Street, Cheetham Hill, Manchester
For more information, call 0161 273 8283.
Your reps felt it was time to encourage more debate on this vital question, so we've booked a lunchtime meeting:
Monday 3rd March, 12:30pm
M.F1D (old QES room), upstairs, phase 1, main building
This meeting is open to everyone. We'll hear report-backs from London on the 15th February, discuss the pros and cons of war, and plans for the 8th March in Manchester.
If you'd like to help publicise the meeting to your colleagues, please let us know.
BRANCH MEETING - 26 February 2003
Greater Manchester IT Branch is holding its next meeting:
6pm, Thursday 6th March Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, M4 4AA
All branch members are entitled to attend this meeting, and are encouraged to come. The agenda will include deciding what amendments to submit to motions for the MSF annual conference 2003.
THE UNION AT MAN05 - 26 February 2003
The West Gorton group will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM):
Thursday 20th March, 3pm - 4:30pm MAN05 restaurant
This meeting will be coming at a critical time in our pay negotiations, and a good turnout is essential to the success of our campaign. As well as the normal agenda items, the meeting may have to take crucial decisions relating to the pay claim. Please book it in your diary now.
Members are entitled to attend the AGM in work time, but if your manager will need to arrange cover for your absence, please tell them NOW, so they have no excuse not to release you. If you need help or advice with this, please contact your rep as soon as possible.
One of the key decisions for the AGM will be the election of your reps committee for the coming year. Are you happy with what we've done? Is your department adequately represented? Do you want to get rid of some/all of us? Do you want to be a rep, or think a colleague should be? The union is the only place you get real democracy in the workplace - don't waste your opportunity. If you're interested in nominating anyone, or are interested yourself, please .
Due to illness and other commitments, we now have a number of potential vacancies on the reps committee. We want to fill them immediately for a number of reasons:
- The pay campaign is one of several important issues UNITE is tackling, and we need a full complement of active reps to be effective
- With the AGM coming up, being co-opted now is a great opportunity for anyone considering standing to "try out" being a rep for a few weeks before standing for election
If you're interested, or want to suggest someone else, please .
Full training and support is available to reps. Because we have union recognition at MAN05, reps can carry out their duties in work time.
MATERNITY, PATERNITY AND ADOPTION - 06 February 2003
We've been invited to comment on some recently-drafted guidelines produced by HR. The covering note reads:
As you are aware some sections of the Employment Act 2002 come into effect on 6th April 2003. In anticipation of this I have put together 3 sets of draft guidelines for Maternity, Paternity and Adoption. I have attached them for your comments. As you will see our intention is to exceed the statutory provisions in all 3 areas.
In addition I have attached the draft Family Friendly Policy which will encompass these guidelines. I am still working on Parental Leave, Flexible Working and Time off in Family emergencies and will forward these on when they are completed.
Please can I have your comments back by next Friday, 14th February.
The attached zipped file [removed for confidentiality reasons] contains these documents. If you have any comments you'd like us to forward to HR please send them to rep Phil Tepper to arrive before the deadline date.
PAY CLAIM - VOTE NOW - 24 January 2003
UNITE reps sent out pay information to members on 15th January, asking what should form our pay claim for April. After considering the responses, your reps propose the following claim:
- SICK PAY: All MAN05 staff who currently have less entitlement should be moved up to the standard company sick pay entitlements. This means entitlement from day one of employment, and day one of illness.
- EQUAL PAY: A commitment from the company to work with UNITE and the Equal Opportunities Commission to carry out an Equal Pay Audit for MAN05.
- FAIR PAY:
- Anyone being paid below the bottom of the 2001 or 2003 pay scale for their Professional Community benchmark to get a rise which closes that gap (whichever is larger) by at least two thirds.
- Everyone to get at least 3.2% (forecast average increase in prices during the period June 2001 - April 2003).
- A total increase in the MAN05 pay bill of 6.9% (forecast average increase in UK earnings during the period June 2001 - April 2003). Remainder to be allocated according to the "Performance Plus" system.
The claim will only be achieved if it's what you want, and has your active support. We're therefore putting it to the vote (Fujitsu Services MAN05 members only) before submitting it to the company. Your reps will only submit the claim if more than 50 people vote, and there is a clear majority in support.
PATHWAY JOB CUTS - 24 January 2003
UNITE reps have been busy trying to secure the jobs of members on the Pathway helpdesk at MAN05, which is to close. After a series of discussions, reps put to members a proposal which includes:
- Stopping the withdrawal of promotions that should have taken place in December, and securing back-pay.
- Putting pressure on management to make as many redeployment options available as possible.
- Winning agreement in principle for members to have a "learning rep" to help with staff training & retraining needs in the future.
- 15% shift allowance to be protected for 4 weeks after redeployment or move to Linkwise.
- Redeployed staff to have a 4-week "trial period" in their new jobs, during which they can decide against the new role if they have a good reason.
- Staff redeployed into posts with worse Terms & Conditions to maintain their old Terms & Conditions for 6 months.
- Staff redeployed into posts with worse Terms & Conditions to have extra help to gain promotion back to their old level.
- In the event that an employee is redeployed into a job requiring higher security clearance, but then fails that clearance, and there are no suitable alternatives available, they will be moved to Linkwise, rather than dismissed for reason of incapacity to do the job.
- Travel & relocation assistance for those who need it.
The proposal was overwhelming endorsed by the affected staff, so UNITE sent the following note to management:
"We (Unite-MSF) note your response to our suggestions. We wish to register our disappointment that you were unwilling to offer any further improvement to the terms facing those accepting redeployment to a lower status job, but do not wish to further delay the redeployment process. Please note that this does not constitute a collective agreement to reduce the terms and conditions of redeployed staff. Accepting reduced terms or moving to Linkwise will be a matter of choice for each individual employee, if it comes to that. Naturally, we expect to continue to discuss the progress of the redeployment process in the coming weeks."
This result will still leave problems for some members, which UNITE will provide support with. However, it is incomparably better than would have been the case without a united response from the Pathway staff - well done to all of you.
SALARY CHECKER - CAN YOU HELP? - 24 January 2003
The IT industry is notoriously secretive about pay, which makes it much harder for employees to get what they deserve. A Swiss union called //syndikat came up with the novel idea of an online "salary checker", to allow people to submit their own pay information, and see other people's - all online. It's proved a great success, and the results are consistent with more conventional surveys, which are usually expensive and copyrighted. It's been a big help in building their union.
We'd like to copy this idea, and would like a volunteer to do some development on a UK version. The skills required would include HTML, scripting, and database work.
Interested? Contact .
STOP THE WAR - 24 January 2003
Millions of people around the world will be demonstrating against war in Iraq on 15th February. The London demonstration, called by the Stop the War Coalition (to which our branch is affiliated), CND (to which UNITE-MSF is affiliated), and the Muslim Association of Britain, is expected to be over half a million strong.
There will be a coach picking up at 7am in West Gorton - ring to book places.
Details of many other coaches from around the country are available from www.stopwar.org.uk/coach.asp or 020 7053 2155/6.
WHO WOULD MAKE A GOOD REP? - 24 January 2003
One of our reps, [name removed], has been off sick for a number of months. Sadly, his return is not imminent. We are looking for a new rep to take [name removed]'s place until his return. Of course, the new rep will (like any other member) be able to stand for election as a rep at our Annual General Meeting in March, if they want to stay on.
Would you be interested? Can you suggest a colleague? Contact
Employers will have to meet challenging new standards on stress being introduced before the end of the year. Personnel Today magazine reports that HSE is to introduce work-related stress audits in its routine health and safety inspections by the end of 2003, and will ultimately have the power to fine organisations failing to meet minimum standards. Employers will be required to carry out a risk assessment that identifies the stress hazards, and who might be harmed and how, the report says, and must then develop and follow through an action plan. A pilot project will be introduced in the spring, to be followed by a final consultation exercise. TUC's Owen Tudor said: "enforcement action on stress is long overdue. Stress should be treated like any other hazard at work, and workers should be protected from it by the HSE."
ANTI NAZI LEAGUE CONFERENCE - 24 January 2003
The north-west has been particularly worried by the election of nazi BNP councillors in Burnley and Blackburn. As well as their notorious racism, organisations like the BNP are viciously opposed to trade unionism. UNITE-MSF is affiliated to the Anti Nazi League (ANL www.anl.org.uk) nationally, as well as at local branch level. The ANL is preparing for a massive "Don't Vote Nazi" campaign, and we know that the BNP now intend to stand candidates in Manchester itself.
The ANL will be holding its national conference in Manchester on Saturday 8th February, from 10am-5pm. It will be followed by a "Love Music - Hate Racism" gig from 8pm.
If you're interested in attending, please contact .
BRANCH MEETING - 24 January 2003
The Greater Manchester IT branch of UNITE will be holding its next branch meeting:
6pm, Thursday 6th February
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds, 46 Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA
The subject of the meeting will be "Equal Pay", which fits very well with the MAN05 pay campaign. All branch members are welcome to attend.
April Pay Claim - 15 January 2003
At the MAN05 group's last General Meeting, members decided unanimously that the group would prepare a pay claim for the April 2003 pay review. It was agreed that the claim should include:
- A substantial across-the-board component of the pay rise to reflect increases in the cost of living and market rates since the last pay review
- Paid sick leave for all employees
- A commitment from the company to begin work with UNITE on an equal pay audit
The motion went on to "instruct Reps to consult with members inside and outside MAN05 before deciding the scope of the claim", to "instruct Reps to obtain information from the company to help formulate the claim", and to "instruct Reps and officers to carry out research and to consult with members to help formulate the claim".
Your reps have been pressing ahead with the preparation, and now we need your help. This notice concentrates on giving a report of where we're up to - we now need you to tell your reps what you want to see in the claim.
Point 1 is for an increase in basic pay, and does not relate to the "Sharing in Success" bonus scheme, which may also be paid in April. More on this below.
Points 2 and 3 (sick leave, and equal pay) of the claim are fairly straightforward.
Sick Pay:
Traditionally, all Fujitsu Services employees received Company Sick Pay from day 1 of their employment. However, many MAN05 Customer Service Technicians (grade A) don't get Company Sick Pay for the first six months of employment. Even after six months, they don't get Company Sick Pay for the first three days of any illness. Similarly, the MAN05 Technical Support Engineers (grade B) don't get Company Sick Pay for the first six months of employment.
What are the effects of these policies? Firstly, to financially penalise people for illness, which is unfair. Secondly, to encourage staff to come in when ill, risking the Health & Safety of themselves and everyone else. As if this wasn't bad enough, some managers have recently found a way to abuse the rules in order to dock even more than three days pay. Employees are bullied into returning to work before they are well, then either have to be off sick again, or are sent home as too unwell to work. The manager then docks another three days' pay, as if these were two separate illnesses!
This is one of the key issues for helpdesk staff at MAN05.
Your reps propose the following claim for sick pay:
All MAN05 staff who currently have less entitlement should be moved up to the standard company sick pay entitlements. This means entitlement from day one of employment, and day one of illness.
Equal Pay Audit:
The Fujitsu pay system is very complicated, and dogged by secrecy. Many staff tell us they feel they are treated arbitrarily and unfairly through the scheme. Some believe they are being discriminated against.
Some responsible employers have already begun "Equal Pay Audits", to check whether their pay system is discriminatory. UNITE is pushing for these to be a legal requirement on employers.
UNITE believes that an Equal Pay Audit would benefit all employees. As well as identifying any areas of discrimination, your reps believe it will produce pressure for the pay system to be simplified and made more transparent. We believe this is in the interests of all employees.
Carrying out an Equal Pay Audit is a significant task, and we don't believe it is possible to complete this by April. Your reps therefore propose the following claim over Equal Pay: A commitment from the company to work with UNITE and the Equal Opportunities Commission to carry out an Equal Pay Audit for MAN05.
Pay:
In order to formulate a claim that employees will be prepared to fight for, we need to be able to justify the figure, not pluck it out of the air. We've therefore spent considerable effort acquiring and analysing pay information. We present a summary below.
PAY STATISTICS JARGON BUSTER:
- Professional Community: A big group of job-types e.g. Engineering.
- Role:
- A job-type within a Professional Community e.g. Systems Engineer.
- Benchmark:
- A grade within a role e.g. B.
- TOP TIP:
- You can find out your own Professional Community, Role and Benchmark by logging onto Self Service on CafeVIK, and looking at your Employment Details.
- Pay band:
- Fujitsu's analysis of the "market rate" for a particular Professional Community, Role and Benchmark. Based on their analysis of salaries paid by other employers, they produce 3 figures for each Benchmark, misleadingly labelled MIN, MID, MAX. In fact, these are the Lower Quartile, Median, and Upper Quartile based on the Towers Perrin INSitE survey.
- TOP TIP:
- It used to be company policy that you could see the pay scales for your own benchmark, and any others you were considering moving onto. During the pay review process, Roger Leek's announcement claimed that the 2003 pay scales were "not available" to employees until April, despite the fact that they were being used by managers in determining your pay. Now we're in April, many of us have received letters to tell us we've changed Professional Community and role we've been moved to. The letters also say that the new pay scales aren't available, as the company intends changing them all again! We believe this second change isn't likely until 2004, so this feeble excuse for secrecy looks even more feeble. If you want pay scale information, we suggest you ask your manager. If you're refused the current information, ask for the 2003 scales for your old role, and if you're refused that, ask for the 2001 scales. .
- Pay policy:
- Fujitsu Services says "subject to affordability, for individuals performing to the full requirements of their role to be remunerated at the appropriate market median level."
- Mean:
- what's usually called the "average" - add up the values, and divide by the number of values.
- Median:
- if you sorted all the figures (e.g. salaries) into order, the middle value. This is often a better guide than the Mean (average), which is distorted by very high or low figures.
- Lower Quartile: if you sorted all the figures (e.g. salaries) into order, the value one quarter of the way up the list. A good figure for giving a feeling for the range of figures in your list.
- Upper Quartile:
- if you sorted all the figures (e.g. salaries) into order, the value three quarters of the way up the list. Half the figures lie between the Upper & Lower Quartiles.
- nth Percentile: if you sorted all the figures (e.g. salaries) into order, the value n% of the way up the list.
- Normalise:
- adjust to take account of some figure you're not looking at. For example, if you want to compare the pay of two people who work 16 and 40 hours a week, it's no good just looking at their annual salary!
- RPI:
- Retail Price Index. This is an official government statistic indicating the level of prices for goods the government believes the "average" household buys. There are actually several versions, calculated in slightly different ways. The rate at which the RPI increases is known as inflation.
How much do we get paid now?
[this information has been removed for confidentiality reasons]
How fast have prices and pay been going up?
Most staff haven't had a pay rise since June 2001 (paid a month late). The period of our claim will therefore be June 2001 - April 2003: 22 months.
First let's look at prices. The RPI stood at 174.4 in June 2001. The latest figure available is November 2002, when it stood at 178.2 - a rise of 2.2% in 17 months, or 0.13% per month. If prices continued to rise at the same rate, we would expect a rise between June 2001 and April 2003 of 2.8%. However, forecasts are for a rise in inflation. The average of 40 independent forecasts published by the Treasury suggested an annual rate of 2.2% in Q4 2002, rising to 2.6% in Q4 2003. For the purposes of our pay claim, we'll use a figure of 2.4% for the period between November 2002 and April 2003. This would give a rise in those 5 months of 1%, taking the RPI up to 180. This would represent a rise in prices of 3.2% in the 22 months of our claim, and that is the figure we will use.
Earnings generally rise faster than prices, reflecting a small part of the increased productivity companies benefit from. Because our claim doesn't coincide neatly with the calendar year, we'll use the seasonally adjusted version of the government's Average Earnings Index. In June 2001 it stood at 129.6. The last figure available is September 2002, when it stood at 135.7 - a rise of 4.7% over 15 months, or a monthly rate of 0.3%. If wages continued to rise at this rate, we would expect a rise between June 2001 and April 2003 of 6.9%.
In addition to the usual price and wage inflation, we'll also see an increase in National Insurance in April 2003, which will reduce the take-home pay of members.
How does our pay compare?
It's very difficult to compare pay between different employers, in a job market where every employer uses different job descriptions. Anyone who's looked at job adverts will have seen a huge range of salaries for what sound like the same job. We didn't think Fujitsu's 2001 pay scales were generally a bad attempt at analysing the market rates, though we await the 2003 version with interest.
[this information has been removed for confidentiality reasons]
What claim then?
In recent years, Fujitsu pay rounds have taken the form of a "pot" of money, a certain percentage of the pay bill, which is then shared out among employees according to management discretion (whim?), based on the "Performance Plus" system. The decision taken at the General Meeting was that the claim should include a "substantial across the board" pay rise. This still leaves a lot of flexibility about what the claim should be, and we need to hear your views - what are you prepared to fight for?
Examples of possible claims consistent with the motion (these are NOT proposals ;-) ) include:
- A pay rise of 80% for everyone, or
- A pay rise of £8000 for everyone, or
- A minimum rise of £10 a year for everyone, plus a minimum of 0.2% in the pot for performance related pay, or
- Everyone to be brought up to the bottom of their pay scale. A minimum rise of £500 or 3.2% for everyone, whichever is larger. A total increase in the pay bill of 6.9%, the balance of which to be distributed via the Performance Plus system. Or,
- No pay rise this year, thanks.
We'd like you to think about:
- How large an increase in the total pay bill are we asking for?
- How is it shared out? Fixed sums of money always benefit the lower-paid more than percentages.
- What component should be performance-related? All? None? Somewhere in between?
Who is the claim for?
Formally, UNITE has collective bargaining rights for MAN05 staff, excluding some of the higher grades, for whom the company (unfortunately) only accepts individual representation through the union. We have a number of important decisions to take:
- Is the claim for MAN05 staff only, or are members on other sites prepared to join the fight for decent pay?
- What do our members in Fujitsu Consulting want to do? FC operates a different pay structure, and we do not currently have a rep from the small group of FC staff at MAN05.
- Should we phrase the claim to cover all MAN05 Fujitsu Services staff, or restrict it to certain grades?
Where does the "Sharing in Success" bonus scheme fit in this?
Our claim will be for a rise in basic pay in April (as well as the Sick Pay and Equal Pay issues). It's possible that Fujitsu Services will pay out a 5% bonus to many staff under the "Sharing in Success" scheme, if the company exceeds its profit budget. Any such bonus would clearly be welcomed by everyone. However, it's worth pointing out that a 5% bonus is worth less than a 5% pay rise - much less. Why is this?
- A bonus in 2003 won't increase your basic pay for 2004
- A bonus doesn't count towards your pension
- A bonus doesn't count towards the calculation of redundancy payments
- A bonus doesn't increase the pay on which shift or overtime payments are calculated
- A bonus won't help you get a mortgage
- A bonus won't help you persuade your next employer to pay you more
It's Fujitsu Services' medium term intention to increase the proportion of your earnings that is "variable", and reduce the proportion that is basic pay.
Let's compare the benefit of a 5% bonus with a 1% pay rise in 2003, for someone on £20,000 who works another 3 years in the company, then leaves. This person doesn't work any shifts or overtime, and doesn't leave with a redundancy payment. However, they are in the Defined Benefit (final salary) pension scheme. They have 10 years service, and accrued pension at 1/60th per year. After retirement, they draw a pension for 20 years. They get no pay rises or bonuses in the rest of their time in the company (no wonder they left!).
PAY RISE OF 1%: In 2003, the pay rise would take their pay to £20,200. Their earnings from the company in their 3 years are £60,600. Their final pensionable pay is £20,200, so their pension from the company will be 10/60 x £20,200 = £3,367 per year, for 20 years, making £67,340. So their life-time earnings from the company are £127,940.
BONUS OF 5%: Their pay remains at £20,000, so they earn £60,000 from the company. However, they also get a one-off bonus of 5%, which is £1000. Their final pensionable pay is £20,000, so their pension from the company will be 10/60 x £20,000 = £3,333 per year, for 20 years, making £66,660. So their life-time earnings from the company are £127,660.
Of course, this is an over-simplification in several respects. Earning money now is worth more than earning money later because of inflation. The pension is increased annually while in deferment or being drawn. The employee with the pay rise would have to pay slightly higher pension contributions. The value of a pay rise in one year is magnified if there are rises in the following years. However, the example is good enough to give you an idea. The worth of a pay rise is even greater if you ever do shifts or overtime, or if you are made redundant.
Little wonder the company prefers bonuses to pay rises!
Meeting for MAN05 Staff Facing Department Closure - 08 January 2003
There will be a meeting for all UNITE members in the department:
Thursday 9th January
11am-1pm
RF0a (ground floor training room, R&D block)
The Operations Manager has agreed that members can be released to attend the meeting, but please ensure you let your supervisor know you will be attending, to minimise disruption.
RECRUIT MEMBERS AND WIN PRIZES - 08 January 2003
Posters are now available to advertise our recruitment competition. Everyone joining UNITE at the moment in Fujitsu in the UK or Ireland is eligible, and so are the people who recruit them.
Apart from asking colleagues to join, you can help by putting up a poster advertising the competition. Posters are available from the union office (m.f1a, upstairs, phase 2 of the main building), or can be downloaded from CafeVIK here so people outside MAN05 can print off their own.
Details of the recruitment competition, and the special membership forms, are available on CafeVIK, or here on this site.
BRANCH MEETING - 08 January 2003
UNITE Greater Manchester IT branch will be meeting:
6pm Thursday 9 January
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre
All branch members are encouraged to attend.
HEALTH & SAFETY IN THE NORTH-WEST - 08 January 2003
A survey of Health & Safety reps in the North West carried out by the TUC produced the following summary results:
Workers in the North West are worried about all the main workplace hazards - stress, RSI and display screen equipment - but they are also having to contend with back strains, slips and trips and noise, according to a TUC survey of workplace union safety reps published today (Tuesday).
The main issues of concern in the region were:
- overwork and stress - 51% of workplaces;
- repetitive strain injuries (RSI) - 40% of workplaces - the second highest level of concern in Great Britain (GB);
- display screen equipment (DSE) - 32% of workplaces
- back strains - 32% of workplaces; and
- slips and trips on the level - 31% of workplaces - the highest level of concern in GB.
North West TUC Regional Secretary Alan Manning said:
"The suggestion that new hazards at work replace the old ones certainly isn't true in the North West. We cannot afford to be complacent when problems like noise and dusts are still around, and new diseases like RSI need to be addressed by a partnership of unions and employers. Most worrying of all is that slips and trips - which cause 9,000 broken bones every year around the country - are such a feature of a third of the North West's workplaces."
Workers in the North West were more concerned about slips and trips, noise (24% of workplaces) and workplace transport accidents (11% of workplaces) than workers anywhere else in Great Britain, and showed the second highest level of concerns about dusts (21% of workplaces), dermatitis and asbestos.
One of the Helpdesks to Close - 06 January 2003
A department of 50 people at MAN05 is to close, with some work being transferred to Stevenage. It seems likely that all of the staff will be offered redeployment, but that there will be work to be done to ensure the alternative jobs are suitable, and to protect members' pay, terms & conditions etc.
After a meeting with UNITE reps this afternoon, the Operations Manager said:
"Following today's announcement of the planned closure of the [unit name deleted], the company will be doing everything it can to find suitable alternative roles for all the staff affected over the coming months. I have begun discussions with UNITE reps, and agreed that at this stage all transfers of staff to other roles will be entirely voluntary, while we have further discussions about redeployment arrangements. I don't want any of the staff to feel pressured into making hasty decisions affecting their careers.
I've also agreed for all UNITE members affected to attend a meeting with their reps later this week."
Medium Sized Group of Staff to be Transferred to New Employer - 06 January 2003
A group of staff (not at MAN05) expect to be sold to a new employer. Their rights will be protected by the "TUPE" regulations. UNITE is providing advice and support to the staff involved. guidelines on TUPE are available on the UK Consultative Forum community on CafeVIK.
Branch members wishing to access the Labour Research Department's online database (which includes their excellent recent booklet on TUPE) can go here (login details available from Rep [hidden]).
Small Group of Staff to be Transferred to New Employer - 06 January 2003
UNITE is advising and supporting members (not at MAN05) whose unit is being sold off to another employer on 1 February 2003. Employment rights in such circumstances are protected by the "TUPE" regulations. Details have been circulated to members.
DATACENTRES ANNOUNCEMENT - 06 January 2003
UNITE reported to members on the significance of Company Announcement 02-65.
RECRUITMENT COMPETITION - 06 January 2003
With so much change in the air, why not ask a colleague to join? You could both win prizes. Details of our recruitment competition on the MAN05 Union community on CafeVIK: http://www.cafevik.fs.fujitsu.com/scripts/index.asp?community=0289 or on this site, here.
