Ian's UNITE Site

Fujitsu strike off

2009-11-11T19:25:00.000Z

Announcement here.

Threat to Ericsson Coventry

2009-11-11T07:06:00.005Z

Awful news yesterday that Ericsson wants to close its Coventry plant with the loss of 700 jobs.

This must be particularly shocking for the staff who moved from the Stoke plant to Coventry only six months ago when that closed down.

As a press release issued by the local UNITE branch puts it:

"This will effectively be the end of the former Coventry based business that bought Marconi, formerly GEC-Telecommunications which at one time employed over 20,000 workers around Coventry."

Ericsson want to save money (i.e. increase profits) by moving the work to lower-cost countries. This is further evidence that the issue of offshoring threatens jobs right across the skill and technology spectrum.

Let's hope UNITE can mount a successful campaign to defend the jobs.

UNITE calls strikes at Fujitsu

2009-11-06T07:55:00.002Z

The official call for strike action over Jobs, Pay & Pensions was issued yesterday, starting with strikes on Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Monday 16th November.

Fujitsu had not accepted an offer of talks. The company has started telling members they are provisionally selected for redundancy, with the dismissals planned for 11th December. They also rejected all the proposals and alternatives put forward by reps in relation to the Defined Benefit pension fund. The company moved slightly, putting back the proposed date for closure of the scheme to existing members by a year, but offered no compensation or improvement to the standard Defined Contribution scheme. UNITE estimates this would be equivalent to a pay cut of around 20% for members.

All this from a company that is still highly profitable.

There's an "Appeal for Support" leaflet and a Collection Sheet on the front page of ourunion.org.uk.

PCS was also expected to call industrial action at Fujitsu, but I haven't seen any official announcement yet.

EAT ruling on DDA and Carers for Disabled People

2009-10-31T18:14:00.004Z

Reports are starting to come out from a Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) hearing yesterday on the case of Sharon Coleman v Attridge Law. This has already been picked up by publications ranging from the Morning Star to the Daily Mail, Personnel Today to Community Care.

I haven't yet seen the actual ruling, but the gist of it seems to be to uphold the view of the original Employment Tribunal that the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) protects people who care for someone with a disability as well as the people with disabilities themselves. This was in question because (as so often) UK law didn't properly implement the EU legislation, in this case the anti-discrimination "Framework Directive".

Given the numbers of people (especially women) who care for elderly relatives who would be classed as disabled under the DDA definition, this ruling is likely to have far-reaching effects in many workplaces.

Hopefully the TUC will update their helpful page on disability issues soon.

UNITE members in Fujitsu vote to strike over Jobs, Pay & Pensions

2009-10-29T20:58:00.004Z

We got the result of the UNITE UK-wide Fujitsu industrial action ballot over Jobs, Pay & Pensions today, which was 74% for strike and 92% for action short of strike. We are awaiting the PCS result with baited breath.

There's an updated "appeal for support" leaflet and now a collection sheet on www.ourunion.org.uk.

Information about the postal strikes

2009-10-29T07:24:00.002Z

The latest strikes are:

Thursday 29th October: Mail Centres (there's a list here)
Friday 30th October: Manual Data Entry Centres (MDECs) in Plymouth, Stockport and Stoke
Saturday 31st October: Local Delivery Offices

The CWU web site is rather labyrinthine, but these areas may be useful:

I've posted their collection sheet here, as I can't find it on the CWU web site.

The letter from the UNITE Joint General Secretaries to UNITE members in the CMA (Communication Managers Association) is available online.

HP Engineers to Vote on Strike

2009-10-27T22:14:00.002Z

While transferring staff from one HP company to another, the company is hoping to get away with cutting pay, pension and bonus.

UNITE is conducting the first ever industrial action ballot of HP staff.

Defend Our Pensions

2009-10-25T16:16:00.003Z

My union branch (UNITE, Greater Manchester IT) has called a "Defend Our Pensions" public meeting in Manchester on 2nd November. We've got a got range of speakers to cover public and private sector pensions, as well as the state pension. The meeting will be taking place shortly after the result of our industrial action ballot at Fujitsu is announced. There's a leaflet here.

I've been sent this photo from an impressive looking protest by the Swansea Visteon Pensioners Action Group outside a Ford showroom.
If you're a Facebook user, you can join the "Defend Our Pensions" group.

UNITE September EC meeting

2009-10-23T19:21:00.002+01:00

The official briefing from the Joint General Secretaries about the September meeting of the UNITE Executive Council (EC) meeting is now out. I will email it to UNITE members on request.

Support the postal workers

2009-10-14T19:41:00.003+01:00

It is clear that the dispute in Royal Mail is a crucial one for all of us.

We have had some important successes in a number of disputes including Visteon, Linamar, Lindsey/construction and Tower Hamlets College. These have started to raise the confidence of workers to resist efforts to make us pay for the consequences of a recession triggered by the greed and irresponsibility of the rich and powerful.

What's happening at Royal Mail is qualitatively different. It's not just that the scale is so much bigger. The media onslaught against the CWU is full of class hatred, almost reminiscent of the 1980s. Whereas in a number of other disputes management seem to have been caught on the hop, in this case there has been a massive level of preparation by the employer and a systematic management organised scabbing operation on a scale not seen for years.

None of this means the CWU can't win. The postal workers are a powerful group, and well organised. But the movement can ill afford to repeat the mistakes of the 1980s by allowing employers to pick us off one at a time to demoralise the rest. Imagine trying to argue for action in your workplace if the CWU had been smashed and the Tories elected. Or imagine the boost in confidence your workmates could have if we all helped the posties beat off these attacks from their overpaid bosses.

The CWU have produced a collection sheet. Every trade unionist should be taking it round their friends and workmates and visiting picket lines to show solidarity. We should be helping to set up solidarity groups should be springing up in every town and city. Building solidarity won't just help the posties win - it will make us all stronger.

Fujitsu strike ballot over Jobs, Pay & Pensions

2009-10-10T17:28:00.004+01:00

UNITE served the notice of industrial action ballot on Fujitsu this week - the official press release is on the union web site. See our branch web site for an appeal for support, news etc.

PCS has also served notice of balloting their membership in Fujitsu. It's great to see the two unions working together on this campaign, especially given the barrage in the media trying to set public and private sector workers against each other over pensions.

Our campaign got a good boost in profile thanks to coverage in Channel 4's Dispatches programme this week, which was on the pensions crisis.

UNITE September EC meeting

2009-10-10T17:25:00.001+01:00

With everything that's going on at work, I haven't yet had time to do a full September EC report, but a few highlights from a Fujitsu perspective are on our branch web site.

Report from UNITE Manchester Area Activists Conference

2009-09-13T09:17:00.003+01:00

My Area Conference took place on Thursday. It was a chaotic affair, demonstrating that the arrangements for the new UNITE structures have not been communicated clearly enough to activists, and also that the fudges between "Amicus" and "TGWU" approaches have produced a camel that doesn't serve the membership as well as it should. I hope activists are considering how to improve matters when we finally get to our first rules conference.

Conference agreed motions:

against the practice in construction of management "parachuting" in stewards who had not been elected by members
against blacklisting and the unsupervised use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by local authorities to snoop on workers
highlighting the FT report of the vote by the UNITE delegation at the Labour Party policy forum in Warwick for privatisation of the NHS (against union policy) and calling for a report of the decision along with a list of the delegates to be made available to members

The conference elected the Manchester Area Activists Committee:

Alan Aspen
Andy Ford
Anna Cropper
Arthur Adshead
Barrie Eckford
Colin Trowsedale
Dave Quayle
Debra Green
Ian Allinson
Jackie Cook
Jane Knox
Jason Phillips
John Hughes
Lou Ashton-Hurst
Martin Brown
Nick Parnell
Paul Dale
Pauline Bradburn
Peter Bury
Raul Burke
Steve Pollard
Terry Abbott

The Committee then met briefly and elected Terry Abbott and Pauline Bradburn as delegates to the North West Regional Committee. I was very pleased that the Committee was able to elect from its number to all the Equalities places. I don't think it's appropriate to post the names here.

The battle widens at Fujitsu

2009-08-30T11:04:00.003+01:00

The campaign by UNITE and PCS over pay and pensions at Fujitsu, where I work, reached a crucial stage this week, with the end of the consultative ballots over industrial action.

UNITE & PCS members both returned overwhelming majorities for action.

This week we also had the announcement by Fujitsu of 1200 job cuts in the UK, putting roughly half the company's 12,500 UK staff at risk. An overlapping 4000 of us were already "at risk" because of the company proposal to dismiss and re-engage us without our pensions.

The offensive by the company against its workforce keeps growing, but thankfully the response from employees keeps growing too. UNITE and PCS reps have decided to add "jobs" to the existing "pay and pensions" campaign and to move quickly to a statutory industrial action ballot. It is already clear that another big wave of staff joining the unions has begun.

UNITE has issued a press release which is already getting coverage, such as this BBC report. PCS has also issued a press release about the job cuts. There is more detail on the ballot result and campaign plans on the UNITE Fujitsu "OurUnion" web site.

Another watershed in the decline of manufacturing

2009-08-29T11:12:00.002+01:00

The news of the end of manufacturing at Toshiba's Plymouth plant, with the loss of 270 jobs, means the end of mass TV manufacturing in the UK.

The government's failure to intervene to protect jobs and working people is an absolute scandal, especially set against their blank cheques for war and to bail out the banks.

After the economic disaster unleashed by the "free market" lunacy that has dominated the world in recent decades, you might have thought that all parties would be distancing themselves from such policies as quickly as they could. But you would be wrong. Instead, the prescription is basically more of the same.

I hope there's a good UNITE presence on the "Jobs, Education, Peace & Justice" demonstration on 27th September at the Labour Party conference, which has been called by PCS, UCU, NUT, NUJ and a variety of campaigning organisations.

UNITE Sector, Area and Equality Conferences

2009-08-21T14:22:00.004+01:00

Further to my previous posts on the subject, the UNITE web site now has a list of the dates of the various conferences. Scotland still seems to be missing.

I know it seems quite bewildering, would I encourage all reps to get involved in the conferences and committees. Only a high level of involvement from the activists in the workplaces can ensure that our union is fully responsive to the needs of our members and can run effective campaigns on all the issues. It can be tempting to limit your union activity to your own workplace, but our members lives extend beyond the gate and the world beyond the gate impinges on what happens in the workplace economically, politically and ideologically. We are all affected by government policy, union policy and what other companies and their employees are doing.

The Electrical Engineering and Electronics Regional Industrial Sector Conferences are:

North East, Yorks & Humber: 10th September 2009
Wales: 14th September 2009
North West: 15th September 2009
South West: 16th September 2009
West Midlands: 17th September 2009
South East: 19th September 2009
East Midlands: 21st September 2009
London & Eastern: 23rd September 2009
Ireland: 24th September 2009
Scotland: TBC

The IT & Communications Regional Industrial Sector Conferences are:

3 Sept: Scotland
7 Sept: South West
7 Sept: Wales
8 Sept: West Midlands
9 Sept: Ireland
12 Sept: South East
19 Sept: London & Eastern
21 Sept: North-East, Yorkshire & Humber
21 Sept: East Midlands
22 Sept: North West

IBM Pensions Protest on BBC South

2009-08-20T23:24:00.002+01:00

Pension Deficit Snapshots - Pictures for Fools

2009-08-12T07:09:00.002+01:00

This BBC report yesterday, which includes PPF figures that deficits in pension funds fell from £200bn to £158bn during the month of July, shows why focusing on the deficit at a moment in time is such a bad way of judging the state of a pension fund.

Pensions are long-term investments, so it's not sensible to make major decisions based on their state on a particular day. Don't take this from me, take it from Richard Christou, who wrote a magazine article last year saying:

"I personally believe that a snapshot on a single day, based on clearly defined criteria, is not the best way to analyse your liabilities."

Mr Christou was, at the time, Chief Executive Officer of Fujitsu Services. He sits on the company's Pension Policy Committee, the body that decided to propose closure of Fujitsu's main defined benefit pension scheme (the ICL DB Plan).

Perhaps employees should listen more to what senior executives say to each other than what they say to us?

Barclays Pensions: Resistance Works - Keep It Up!

2009-08-08T10:10:00.004+01:00

The reported concessions from Barclays' senior management in response to the strike threat and demonstration organised by UNITE over the plan to close the final salary pension are good news. It seems unlikely this progress would have been made without the pressure staff have applied.

But let's be clear - phasing in contribution increases only delays the pain and doesn't deal with the reduced pension provision, which is surely the main issue. Barclays still proposes to close the final salary scheme.

Any pension scheme member would welcome their employer putting in more to pay off the deficit, which helps make pensions more secure. But this won't impact Barclays' overall balance sheet - it means moving some of the company's huge profits from one part of the balance sheet to another, reducing both their assets and their liabilities.

Given the huge profits Barclays announced, there can be little doubt that the company can afford to maintain a good defined benefit pension scheme. As the Grangemouth workers put it - "Mind the GAP":

Greedy Employer
Affordable Pensions
Profitable Company

Let's hope Barclays staff keep pushing for more.

First wind-turbines, now batteries - more jobs under threat

2009-08-06T23:06:00.002+01:00

The threat to close the Vestas wind-turbine factory in the Isle of Wight has provoked widespread outrage - how can the government claim a commitment to green jobs while allowing these jobs to go to the wall? Why should we stand by and see these jobs lost when they are essential to countering climate change? Why should the government spend billions of our money bailing out banks and yet do so little to protect manufacturing?

The campaign by Vestas workers and their supporters has been truly inspirational. Whatever the final outcome of this dispute, they have pushed the issues of jobs and the environment far higher up the political agenda than if they had walked away. It looks likely that tomorrow the management will try to evict the occupiers - let's hope that there is enough support to prevent that happening. Either way, this is not an issue that will go away.

In this context, the announcement that Exide intend to close their battery plant in Bolton is even more outrageous. If we are to successfully tackle climate change, the ability to store and move energy will be crucial, so that power can be generated from low-carbon sources and used where it is needed.

Nobody can be left under any illusion that this government has any commitment to protecting manufacturing jobs or the environment. But that doesn't mean they can't be forced to act if the campaigns are strong enough.

Minutes of UNITE Executive Council meetings

2009-08-03T07:33:00.002+01:00

I'm pleased to see the minutes are now being published on the union's web site.

There's an inevitable delay, as they can't be published until agreed at the subsequent EC meeting.

UNITE conference dates

2009-08-02T23:33:00.010+01:00

Despite the last EC meeting (nearly a month ago now) agreeing to my proposal that the dates and arrangements for all the conferences etc should be posted on the union web site, this still hasn't happened as far as I can see, even though some conferences have already been held.

These are the dates I've been told so far for the EEE sector Regional Industrial Sector Conferences are:

North East, Yorks & Humber: UPDATE: 10th September 2009
Wales: 14th September 2009
North West: 15th September 2009
South West: 16th September 2009
West Midlands: 17th September 2009
South East: 19th September 2009 (NB: union web site says 12th September, so worth checking)
East Midlands: 21st September 2009
Ireland: 24th September 2009
London & Eastern: TBC
Scotland: TBC

If you get any updates, please let me know and I'll post them here to encourage attendance.

I haven't got any of the dates for the IT & Communications sector yet.

Update on ITC Regional Industrial Sector Conferences (from UNITE web site):

South West: 7th September 2009
Wales: 7th September 2009
West Midlands: 8th September 2009
South East: 19th September 2009
East Midlands: 21st September 2009
North East, Yorkshire & Humber: 21st September 2009

For details of the constituencies etc for the conferences, please see my report from the July EC meeting.

In the North West, I've also heard:

Manchester Area Activists: 10th September 2009
NW Disabled Conference: 7th October 2009
NW Women's Conference: 8th October 2009
NW Black & Minority Ethnic (BAME) Conference: 9th October 2009
NW LGBT Conference: 12th October 2009

UNITE equality structures

2009-08-02T23:25:00.004+01:00

There's a helpful piece on the UNITE web site explaining the new equality structures.

I particularly like the diagram:
This particular picture is worth several thousand words!

If you're eligible for any of the equality structures, please make sure you get involved.

Pensions fight hots up - IBM & Fujitsu

2009-08-02T22:40:00.003+01:00

If the posts to the "Association of Members of IBM UK Pension Plans" forums are anything to go by, there is an astonishing growth of union membership at IBM, once a bastion of non-unionism.

It's good to see UNITE working to ensure that this builds organisation, not just membership, with UNITE meetings open to all IBM staff organised for:

7pm on Wed 5th Aug, in the Holiday Inn (M3 junction 13), Leigh Road, Eastleigh, S050 9PG.
Midlands on Thu 6th or Fri 7th Aug.
A meeting in Scotland is being also discussed.

Meanwhile we at Fujitsu start our consultative industrial action ballot over pay and pensions this week. If you'd like to send us a message of support, click on the link below to see the email address:
supp...@..union.org.uk

I'm pleased to say that our sister union in Fujitsu, PCS, is balloting its members too - unity is strength!

For more information about our campaign, see www.ourunion.org.uk.

Save Vestas - solidarity needed

2009-07-24T08:15:00.003+01:00

The occupation and campaign to save the Vestas wind turbine factory in the Isle of Wight continues. It is vital that the courage of the workers occupying the factory is quickly matched by solidarity from across the trade union and environmental movements.

Given the ease with which the government could use billions of our cash to bail out the city (the very same people who are now baying for public spending cuts to pay for our help), there can be no excuse for government inaction in this case. It's not good enough to privatise the profits and nationalise the debts. We must demand intervention for jobs and the planet, that should be a higher priority than rescuing the financial markets from a self-inflicted disaster.

I was pleased to be able to join the solidarity demonstration outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on Tuesday. More protests and activity is planned all round the country. Make sure you've sent in a message of support, taken a collection etc.

The campaign now has an excellent web site:
http://savevestas.wordpress.com/
It is being updated frequently with reports, plans and ways you can help.