UK workers offered pay rise almost ten times less than their Japanese counterparts
Workers employed for Fujitsu Services in the West Midlands are taking strike action tomorrow (Wednesday) after receiving a pay rise almost 10 times less than their Japanese counterparts.
The industrial dispute is separate from the Post Office scandal which the technology firm has been embroiled in, having provided the faulty Horizon IT system that led to discrepancies in branch accounts which postmasters were wrongly blamed for.
More than 300 Public and Commercial Services (PCS) members working predominantly for HMRC at Stratford and Telford are involved in the separate industrial action, which comes after Fujitsu workers in the UK were offered a 3-4% pay rise, almost ten times less than their Japanese counterparts who were offered a 29% increase.
The walkout will take place from January 17, with members working in IT roles fixing HMRC computers to take additional action from January 18 to February 15. Some striking staff are also responsible for protecting critical HMRC high end user systems.
During a business select committee hearing today, spokesperson for the tech company, Paul Patterson, apologised on behalf of the firm and said it had a “moral obligation” to contribute to a redress scheme for Post Office victims.
The Horizon developer has received £6.8 billion in public contracts since 2012, despite findings that the company’s software was responsible for the faults in the Post Office scandal.
MPs have called for a moratorium on Fujitsu public sector contracts following the Post Office miscarriage of justice and a petition has been launched calling to ban the firm from holding government contracts.
PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwotka, questioned why the UK Government gave contracts to the firm given its discrepancy in a pay rise to UK workers.
“Why is the UK government giving Fujitsu lucrative contracts when the company treats its UK workers so badly?” said Serwotka.
“Why is it that workers in Japan are deemed worthy of a pay rise almost ten times more than those in the UK?
“Fujitsu made £22m profit last year in the UK, so it can afford to pay our members a decent wage – it just chooses not to.
“Our government should be standing up for our members, demanding a fair pay rise in line with Japanese workers.”
In response to the strike action, a Fujitsu spokesperson said: “Fujitsu will be taking all necessary steps to ensure operational continuity for all our customers and are working closely with those customers throughout the planning process.”
Those hoping to complete their self-assessment tax returns by 31 January could face disruption from the walkout due to IT disruption.
(Image credit: JiriMatejicek – Creative Commons)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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