Workers plan a giant strike at Fujitsu

WORKERS AT IT SERVICES FIRM Fujitsu will go out on strike next week over pay and working conditions.

Members of the Unite and Public and Commercial Services (PCS) unions will strike on Monday, 19 September, and according to the unions as many as 1,000 workers will join the one day action.

The unions said that their members - who work on government contracts including the Driver and Vehicle License Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office - voted in favour of the strike action after rejecting the pay increase on offer.

Fujitsu has refused to increase pay over the 1.5 or 2.5 per cent it is currently offering.

"Such a pitiful pay offer to workers, who are paid less than what some senior executives pocket in bonuses alone, is an insult," said Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union.

"Our members may work for Fujitsu but they are supporting essential public services, so ministers must recognise they have a responsibility for what happens on behalf of their departments."

The situation for Unite's members in Manchester sounds worse, and there 56 per cent of workers were in favour of a strike after "a breakdown in industrial relations, breaches of agreements and victimisation of reps".

Unite charged that the company is breaking agreements covering issues including union recognition, pay, benefits, pensions, redundancy and redeployment.

"Unite will not accept any situation where an employer can arbitrarily break negotiated agreements," said Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary.

"This dispute can only be resolved through negotiations and coming to an agreement with the workforce. We remain available to talk at any time and urge management to get around the table so we can have a negotiated settlement." µ