IT giant braced for strike action
Staff at IT giant Fujitsu are set to stage further strike action in a long-running dispute over job cuts and changes to the group’s pension plan.
Workers at sites including Solihull, Crewe, Manchester, Wakefield and Warrington will strike for 24 hours from midnight on Thursday (April 13) and Monday April 24.
There will also be a 48-hour strike starting at midnight Thursday April 20, trade union Unite has confirmed.
The dispute centres on pay, pensions, job security and union recognition – and takes place against a background of Fujitsu’s plans to axe and offshore 1,800 jobs in the UK.
Unite said Fujitsu, which has a large presence at Birmingham Business Park, was a highly profitable business in the UK, making £85.6m profit in the last financial year and it was therefore an ill-considered move to cut and offshore jobs.
One day strikes were also staged in February and March, which the union said had generated strong support and impacted services to customers.
Unite national officer Ian Tonks said: “The way Fujitsu is treating its workforce and keeping them in the dark over its plans for the future is beyond contempt.
“This is a workforce that has worked hard to make Fujitsu in the UK highly profitable, yet their reward is job cuts and pension reductions, while the company frustrates Unite’s attempts to minimise compulsory redundancies.
“Fujitsu needs to start seriously engaging with Unite to avoid further industrial action, which could stretch into the summer.”
The union is campaigning for the company to:
• Significantly improve redundancy payments and redeployment efforts
• Conduct meaningful consultation
• Restore the retrospective cut in pensions
• Become a living wage accredited employer; and
• Recognise Unite as the union to represent all employees who want it.
