Fujitsu Ups UK Minimum Wage To £14k

Fujitsu has agreed to raise the minimum wage of all UK workers to £14,000, following pressure from the trade union Unite.

The relationship between Fujitsu and Unite has been thawing of late, after last year’s quarrels over alleged breaches of agreements, covering issues such as benefits, redundancy terms, and redeployment and victimisation of union representatives.

Some Unite members decided to strike last year, but the tension has eased thanks to concessions from Fujitsu. Now the IT supplier has increased its UK-wide minimum wage to £14,000 for all staff, but Unite said that where it has “collective bargaining” the minimum wage has gone up to £14,500 and other pay awards recently agreed which are expected to take all employees to over £15,000 per annum.

A ‘fairer approach’

“Members welcome a fairer approach to pay from Fujitsu this year, which will mean many employees receive bigger rises than they have done for years,” said Kevin O’Gallagher, Unite national officer for IT and communications.

“However, the company has made clear that it sees the 2012 pay review as a ‘one-off’ so it will be important for staff to continue campaigning to ensure Fujitsu establishes a fair and transparent approach to pay and benefits. We are calling on Fujitsu to sign up to the ‘Fair Pay Charter’ for the IT services industry.”

Fujitsu said it had nothing to add to the Unite press release. The vendor and Unite reached an agreement in January to end strikes, following a revised offer from Fujitsu. That offer included a small additional pay increase for most Manchester-based staff, as well as more protection for the pensions of 11,000 staff in the UK.

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