ARN

Fujitsu staff in UK’s first national IT strike

Workers stop work over pay and job security

Hundreds of Fujitsu employees went on strike last week in the first ever national walkout at an IT company.

Scores of those on strike over jobs and pay on Friday also demonstrated outside Fujitsu's London headquarters, while others picketed outside Fujitsu offices in Belfast, Manchester, Stevenage, Crewe, Wakefield and Warrington.

The striking workers said the action hit a number of major Fujitsu contracts, including with Marks & Spencer, Vodafone, the Home Office, HM Revenue & Customs, Defra, the Financial Services Authority, and the Post Office.

The news comes at a time of increased tension between IT staff and employers. One thousand HP staff, working on government contracts, last week cancelled a strike after their employer agreed to talks at the eleventh hour.

Friday's Fujitsu strike demonstrated the "depth of anger" among the workforce, who are protesting against 1,000 planned redundancies, a pay freeze, and the proposed closure of a final salary pension scheme, according to trade union Unite. It also represented successful action in an embarrassing week for the union after the high court blocked its attempts to call a 12-day Christmas strike among British Airways cabin crew.

Fujitsu staff had cancelled a previous strike due in November, after the company agreed to talks. This was followed by an offer that Unite members said gave "little guarantee" over their jobs or pay. The staff rejected that offer and Unite called the strike.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: British Airways, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, HP, Marks & Spencer, Vodafone, Wakefield
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the ARN comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: Fujitsu
ARN Directory | Distributors relevant to this article
ACA Pacific , Alloys , ASI Solutions , Australasian PC Distributors (APCD) , Australian IT Spares , Avnet Technology Solutions , Banksia Software , Bluechip Infotech , Dicker Data , ICT Distribution , Impact Systems Technology , Leader Computers , Lynx Technologies , Multimedia Technology , Synnex Australia , T Data , Topstar Computer International , XiT Distribution , Xpress I.T. , Dynamic Supplies , Fusion Power Systems , Proscan Australia , Sektor
ARN Directory | Vendors relevant to this article
HP
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to ARN's news, research and invitation only events.
ARN Distributor Directory
Find distributors by name | vendor | location
Channel Deals
/deals/avg/2009-09-18_71_become-an-avg-reseller
AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd

Become an AVG Reseller and Make Serious Money!

More details »
ARN Vendor Directory
Find vendors by name | category

iAsset is a channel management ecosystem that automates all major aspects of the entire sales,marketing and service process, including data tracking, integrated learning, knowledge management and product lifecycle management.