shopstewards.net: Appeal from UNITE @ Fujitsu

APPEAL FROM UNITE @ FUJITSU - DEFEND ALAN JENNEY

13 June UNITE members at Fujitsu are asking for your support. Like many companies, Fujitsu is impacted by the government cuts and recession. But instead of working with staff to deal with the problems that this creates, the company is trying to force through various detrimental changes without proper consultation. Disgracefully, the company is also trying to target individual UNITE representatives.

Fujitsu has singled out Alan Jenney, Deputy Chair of UNITE�s Fujitsu UK Combine Committee and a UNITE Rep in Crewe for an unfair and unnecessary redundancy. UNITE members see this as an attack on the union. While Alan, who has 17 years' service, has been put at risk of redundancy because of one job cut in his team, Fujitsu responded to hundreds of job losses elsewhere by supporting staff through redeployment.

Fujitsu�s treatment of Alan breaks Fujitsu�s agreements and is worse than how other employees are dealt with. If Fujitsu gets away with making Alan redundant by treating him more harshly than other employees, it will undermine the ability of any employee representative to speak up on behalf of staff.

DEFEND ALAN JENNEY

UNITE members at Fujitsu have a proud record of supporting other workers, backing campaigns including BA, council workers, civil servants, postal workers, education workers, Heinz workers, Karen Reissmann and Saltend.

The IT industry is largely un-unionised with many viciously anti-union employers. Fujitsu workers have been at the forefront of changing this. Manchester staff went on strike for 12 days in 2006-7, succeeding in defending and extending union recognition. In 2009-2010, staff across the UK were on strike for 10 days, saving hundreds of jobs, defending pensions and winning pay rises for the lowest paid.

With support from members and from beyond Fujitsu, UNITE has successfully defended reps targeted by Fujitsu in the past. We are determined to do so again.

If any employer gets away with victimising reps, it threatens union organisation everywhere. If a union defends its reps successfully, it raises the confidence of workers everywhere.

FUJITS-WHO?

Fujitsu is a giant Japan-based multinational. The main subsidiary in the UK is Fujitsu Services, with around 11,000 employees at well over 100 locations such as Bracknell, Stevenage, Manchester, Crewe, Belfast, Basingstoke, Wakefield, Solihull, Slough, Warrington, Belfast, Londonderry, Cardiff, Bristol, Newcastle and London.

Fujitsu provides IT services (mainly outsourcing) to many government departments and major companies.

CAMPAIGN PLANS

UNITE members in Crewe are planning a �practise picket� protest rally outside the Fujitsu building on Mallard Way, Crewe Business Park at noon on Thursday 16th June.

Members in Crewe are voting on strike action and action short of strike in a ballot which closes on 23rd June. If the issue is not resolved, members could strike on 30th June, alongside many of Fujitsu's public sector customers.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition in support of the campaign, as well as sending messages of protest and support.

ALAN�S CASE

Jobs come and go frequently in Fujitsu, but this is normally managed through redeployment, without anyone being put at risk of redundancy dismissal. One recent example of this was the successful redeployment of hundreds of staff after the unexpected loss of the DWP Desktops contract.

In Alan�s case, Fujitsu wants to cut one job from Alan�s team but immediately decided to declare a redundancy situation, without any attempt at redeployment. Fujitsu failed to respond to UNITE�s requests for an explanation, despite the fact that avoiding redundancies is the first point for redundancy consultation.

Fujitsu defined a �selection pool� of two people, the other being in the UNITE Manchester bargaining unit and so is covered by the union�s �Annex 1� agreement. That agreement is crystal clear that consultation is required, and that it starts when written notification is received by UNITE officers - this has never been sent.

The agreement says that it is a bad idea to rush into selection. In line with this, both individuals affected and UNITE expressed a preference to delay selection and focus on redeployment and avoiding any redundancy dismissal.

Fujitsu falsely and bizarrely claimed that it would be illegal to redeploy anyone without selecting them for redundancy first. Fujitsu finalised the selection criteria before starting consultation and rushed ahead with a flawed selection process which selected Alan for redundancy.

The flawed selection process is a secondary issue. The disregard for the Annex 1 agreement makes it hard to draw any conclusion other than that Fujitsu knew in advance that they were going to select the person not covered by it � Alan.

Neither employee should be at risk of redundancy � Fujitsu should work to redeploy anyone in this department they believe is not required, just as they do for hundreds of others.

Alan has been rejected for one of the redeployment opportunities he applied for because of �a number of at risk positions that need to be prioritised�, clearly not including his own.

UNITE has even identified another employee willing to swap with Alan and volunteer for redundancy, but the company has so far refused to do this.

All we are asking for is for Alan to be dealt with fairly, in accordance with Fujitsu�s own policies and agreements, and in the same way as the many hundreds of other Fujitsu employees who are redeployed without being put at risk of redundancy.

How To Support Us

Messages of support can be sent to [email protected] or to UNITE the Union, c/o Fujitsu Services, Central Park, Northampton Road, Manchester M40 5BP.

Make a donation towards the fund for our national campaign. Cheques payable to �Manchester IT Workers Group� can be sent to John Wood, 301 Bolton Road, BURY, BL8 2NZ. If you use online banking, you can donate to Account Number: 00980539, Sort Code: 30-91-48, but please send an email to tell us about your donation, to [email protected].

Invite a speaker to one of your meetings. Get in touch via [email protected].

Messages of protest can be sent to Duncan Tait, Chief Executive Officer, Fujitsu UK & Ireland, 22 Baker Street, London, W1U 3BW.

Contact Fujitsu customers and potential customers and ask them to make a protest.

Join in with our campaign events. Keep abreast of the campaign via www.ourunion.org.uk/news.

CONTACT DETAILS, MORE INFO, ETC.

There�s a general web page about UNITE @ Fujitsu: www.unitetheunion.com/fujitsu.

For updates about the dispute, see www.ourunion.org.uk/news. Updated versions of this appeal leaflet will be posted on www.ourunion.org.uk.

UNITE the Union, c/o Fujitsu Services, Central Park, Northampton Road, Manchester M40 5BP. [email protected]