1,000 workers at IT company Fujitsu will take strike action on 19 September after bosses tabled a pay offer that the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents some of the staff at Fujitsu, described as “insulting”.
The offer includes pay rises of between 1.5 and 2.5%, even though workers have exceeded or met performance targets. Some workers at Fujitsu are paid as little as £13,500. PCS leader Mark Serwotka said: “Such a pitiful pay offer to workers, who are paid less than what some senior executives pocket in bonuses alone, is an insult. Our members may work for Fujitsu but they are supporting essential public services, so ministers must recognise they have a responsibility for what happens on behalf of their departments.”
Fujitsu workers provide back-office IT support for public sector bodies such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which will all be affected by the strike.
Members of Unite working at Fujitsu’s Manchester site will join the action, and members in Crewe – who struck in June 2011 in support of a victimised colleague – may also participate.
For an article on Fujitsu workers’ fight over jobs and pay in 2009, see Organising in the IT industry: Fujitsu ballot on pay, jobs, pensions.
