by René Lavanchy
Fujitsu is facing a formal ballot for strike action after its members last week indicated they were prepared to walk out over pay and pensions.
Unite members voted by 87 per cent for strike action in a consultative ballot over the company’s imposition of a pay freeze earlier this year and its proposal to remove 4,000 workers from the final salary pension scheme by making them re-apply for their jobs.
Fujitsu also announced last week it was making 1,200 staff redundant due to “lower than anticipated revenues”. The company, which employs 12,500 staff across Britain as part of its IT services division, made £200 million in pre-tax profits last year.
Ian Allinson, a senior union rep at Fujitsu in Manchester, said: “People were angry about pay, and then the pensions issue came along, and now we have the redundancies issue, so you have a pretty unhappy workforce.”
He added that Unite would be balloting for strike action “fairly quickly” although a consultation over pensions is continuing. “We think the consultation’s more likely to achieve more if they see there’s serious opposition,” he said.
Fuijtsu said last week it needed to take action to remain competitive in the difficult economic climate.
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