News

Unite members working for IT services company Fujitsu have voted to accept proposals tabled by government conciliation service Acas aimed at resolving the dispute between UNI’s affiliate Unite and the company over jobs, pay and pensions say a press release issued recently by Unite.

The vote by a four to one majority in a 72 per cent turnout means that the four month dispute which involved 10 days of strike action and other action short of strike action will end and all related industrial action will be called off.

The Unite campaign was over proposals for initially up to 1,200 redundancies in the UK, a pay freeze imposed last year, and plans by the company to close the main final salary pension scheme to future accrual, reducing the total pay package of each affected employee by typically around 20 per cent.

In the course of the dispute the number of possible compulsory redundancies has been reduced from 1,200 to less than 30 with an extension of employment until at least 26 March. In addition to an extension of the pension’s consultation period from October until at least 5 March 2010, a 5 per cent increase in pay has been offered as compensation for the change to a defined contribution (DC) scheme. Plus an extra year’s continuation of the final salary pension scheme until March 2011 at the earliest, and a commitment obtained that the DC pension scheme is contractual for both new and existing members.

Fujitsu has also made a commitment to discuss more open pay and benefit scales as part of transparency talks with Unite and recognised Unite’s aspiration for minimum earnings of £13,500, and agreed to the introduction of a minimum basic salary of £12,000 applicable from 1 March 2010 and a review of this on an annual basis starting on 1 April 2010

Peter Skyte, Unite national officer for the IT sector, said: “While the Acas brokered proposals do not fully satisfy our members’ aspirations, there have been significant changes in the company’s position on jobs, pay and pensions over the course of the dispute.”