{"id":10189,"date":"2016-10-13T13:42:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T12:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10189"},"modified":"2016-10-13T14:03:39","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T13:03:39","slug":"fujitsu-hammer-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10189","title":{"rendered":"Fujitsu hammer blow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fujitsu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans to axe 1,800 jobs – about 18 per cent of its UK workforce \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has been branded \u00e2\u20ac\u0098a hammer blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to the British economy by Unite.<\/p>\n

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Unite national officer for IT, Ian Tonks, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is a hammer blow for these hardworking employees who have given their all to make the UK subsidiary highly profitable.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is not good news for the UK economy as the company says that it intends to offshore many of these jobs, with increased automation also responsible for job losses.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098No reason\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFujtsu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s main UK subsidiary made \u00c2\u014185.6m profit last year and we see no reason for these job losses.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite will be doing its utmost to fight for these jobs, as well as giving our members maximum support at this very worrying time.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Workers will be affected at the IT giant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s major sites which include Belfast Bracknell, Crewe, Londonderry\/Derry, Manchester, Stevenage, Wakefield and Warrington.<\/p>\n

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The company, for its part, says it is simply planning a restructure based on what it described as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098customer needs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

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In a statement it said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFujitsu is planning a transformation program that will enable it to better support customers in the era of digital transformation.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs part of the programme, Fujitsu plans to streamline operations in order to remain competitive in the market.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bProposed measures include changes which would result in a reduction of up to 1,800 jobs in the UK. All affected employees will be offered guidance and support and Fujitsu is establishing a consultation process with elected employee representatives.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The announcement comes as Fujitsu staff in Manchester are voting in an industrial action ballot over pay, pensions and job security.<\/p>\n

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Unite claims that the company has been cutting pay rates for years, despite healthy profits and it is failing to tackle a significant gender pay gap.<\/p>\n

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The strike ballot result is expected on Wednesday 19 October.<\/p>\n

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The company has also given notice to terminate its UK works council – Fujitsu Voice – from January 2017, which, the union says, will reduce workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 redundancy and consultation rights.<\/p>\n

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Unite is fighting this, with the aim of securing union recognition for Fujitsu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 10,000 UK workers.<\/p>\n

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Ian Tonks added: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFujitsu claims to be a responsible business – it needs to start acting like one. Its UK staff make the company excellent profits.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Had enough\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey deserve to be treated better than \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unit costs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that need to be minimised. Fujitsu staff are saying they have had enough of job and income insecurity and of being denied a real voice in their working lives.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey can rely on the backing of Unite in challenging Fujitsu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fujitsu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans to axe 1,800 jobs – about 18 per cent of its UK workforce \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has been branded \u00e2\u20ac\u0098a hammer blow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to the British economy by Unite.   Unite national officer for IT, Ian Tonks, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is a hammer blow for these hardworking employees who have given their all to make the UK […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[196,122],"wps_subtitle":" Unite says plans to axe IT jobs will hit economy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10189"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10195,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10189\/revisions\/10195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}