Union members at
Fujitsu Services in
Manchester have suspended strike action in their long-running
dispute, following the intervention of five local MPs.
The MPs have written to the company expressing their concerns
over the dispute and the failure of the company to thrash out a
settlement.
Amicus members started taking intermittent strike action at the
outsourcer from the end of last year over pay, union rights and
redundancy terms.
Fujitsu is an IT outsourcer for the Government, Marks &
Spencer, Orange, Tesco, and other large firms.
The MPs asked the union for a suspension of the strike action to
help persuade the company to resume talks.
The five MPs wrote to David Courtly, Fujitsu Services CEO last
week. They said, “When we have written to you previously, you have
passed our letters to Roger Leek, your group human resources
director, who has sent us a standard reply. This response has not
allayed the concerns of our constituents, and we note that the
dispute continues to be unresolved.”
They added, “We are keen to see a swift resolution to the
dispute. We are therefore seeking an urgent meeting between you, a
senior officer from Amicus, and members of both negotiating teams,
to see if we can broker proper dialogue and help to resolve this
situation. So we hope that you will respond by arranging the
meeting very quickly.”
Although the union has now cancelled a one-day strike and is
expected to cancel a three-day strike next week, the strikers are
still waiting to see whether the company returns to the negotiating
table, and if Courtly joins the negotiations.
Fujitsu Services’ parent Fujitsu in Japan has just issued a
profits warning, saying it will lose £1.2bn in the current
financial year, instead of a previously forecast profit.
Its overseas subsidiaries, including Fujitsu Services, were
blamed for the loss, following their book value and share value
being slashed.
Fujitsu staff walk out again
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