Fujitsu workers strike in Manchester
Industrial action over pay and job security.
Workers at Fujitsu are taking part in a third wave of strikes at IT giant Fujitsu over pay, pensions and job security.
The strike will coincide with the Fujitsu Forum trade fair in Munich which is expected to attract 14,000 visitors, including senior members of the company’s global management team.
About 300 staff, members of Unite, the country’s largest union, will be striking for 48 hours starting from 00:01 tomorrow.
Unite members are staging picket lines outside the company's offices in Manchester.
Fujitsu is currently planning to cut 1,800 UK jobs - over 18 per cent of its UK workforce. The union said that the company had written to more than 2,500 UK staff this week telling them that their jobs are at risk.
The strike also highlights the 16 per cent gender pay gap that Unite has identified from limited data provided by Fujitsu, which means that women staff are paid an estimated £5,500-a-year less than their male counterparts. There is also a retrospective cut in pensions of up to 15 per cent for many staff who are over 60.
Unite regional officer Sharon Hutchinson said: “The third wave of strike action will coincide with the prestigious Fujitsu Forum being held in Germany.
“We hope that the adverse publicity that the 48-hour stoppage will generate will concentrate the minds of the firm’s senior management team that the strikes in Manchester will continue in the run-up to Christmas, unless they engage with their workforce in a constructive manner.
“Fujitsu is a highly profitable and successful company – its main UK subsidiary made £85.6m profit last year and continues to be highly profitable, so there is plenty of scope for the company to be positive in resolving this dispute.”