Fujitsu UK workers have voted to strike over planned job
cuts and changes to pensions and
pay.
Unite union representatives at the company are meeting today to
decide what action to take.
An industrial action ballot taken by Unite has revealed 74% of
staff voted in favour of a strike in protest of 1,200 jobs being
cut before the end of the year,
the closure of the final salary pension scheme to further
accruals and a pay freeze earlier this year.
Peter Skyte, national officer for IT and communications at
Unite, said Fujitsu remained a highly profitable company and its
members were demanding fair treatment and meaningful consultations
to minimise or avoid job losses.
"Unite members are asking why they should lose their jobs and
tighten their belts when last year the company paid out £150m to
shareholders and around £1.6m to two directors as compensation for
loss of office," he said.
Some 6,000 positions at Fujitsu - 50% of the UK workforce - have
been put at risk of redundancy, but around 1,200 of those are
likely to be chopped. These will come from sales, marketing and
finance functions at Fujitsu Services and Technology Solutions.
The changes to the final salary pension scheme will see 4,000
staff lose around 20% of the total annual pay package, according to
Unite.
Last week, Fujitsu fiscal Q2 profits were ¥72.4bn (£485m), up
from ¥4.2bn a year earlier after it sold off some investment
securities, helping it to beat earnings targets.
A spokesman at Fujitsu told MicroScope: "As the company is still
in consultation regarding the pension scheme and proposed reduction
in headcount, it is premature to make any comment at this
stage."
A version of this story appeared on
MicroScope.