Fujitsu gov workers strike Monday: Unite on, PCS off

Unionised Fujitsu workers have called off their strike set for Monday after bosses at the firm "doubled" the pot of money available for pay rises with an additional £500,000 brought to the negotiating table.

This is according to the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union which following a ballot of its 720 members planned a walk out over lower-than-expected pay rises.

The staff work in support functions across the UK public sector for the DVLA, HMRC, Home Office, MoD and ONS and were co-ordinating action with colleagues from the union Unite, who still plan to down tools at the start of next week.

Under the terms of the deal, PCS said lowest paid workers will get a basic rise of 11 per cent.

The hike will be backdated, and a £500 compensation will be handed to workers whose pay date was before 1 August, including staff without a contractual pay date.

The PCS also said there will be a "structured progression system" for employees at the two sites where the majority of low paid people are. It also plans to stage further talks about pay progression and contract transparency in December.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "This shows clearly what can be achieved when working people stand together, and that the private sector is far from a no-go area for unions like ours.

"While we have called off our strike, we send solidarity and support to members in Unite and call on the company to sit down with their representatives to resolve the issues."

Unite is continuing with plans to down tools in Crewe and Manchester for 24 hours starting Monday with some 300 or so staff expected to strike.

It accused Fujitsu of "breaking agreements covering issues including union recognition, pay, benefits, pensions, redundancy and redeployment. Attempts to resolve the disputes in Crewe and Manchester by negotiation have not yet been successful".

A spokesman at Fujtisu told The Reg: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with PCS which they will be recommending their members accept and so they will not be going ahead with any of the industrial action they announced.

"We are disappointed the action by Unite is still scheduled to go ahead, however we are continuing our discussions and hope the dispute will be resolved," he said. ®