Talks between the Unite union and the Fujitsu Services IT company to resolve the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and pensions ended last week with the company making a new offer.
The union’s national combine committee is recommending members reject it because it contains few firm commitments.
Unite is to hold members’ meetings across many of the company’s sites this week to discuss the offer.
The result of the vote on the offer by Unite’s 1,600 members is expected on Thursday of this week.
The meetings will also be discussing what action to take if the offer is rejected. Industrial action would have to start by 23 December at the latest.
The dispute is over Fujitsu’s imposition of a pay freeze (despite having reached a pay deal with Unite for many workers), its intention to close the final salary (defined benefit) pension scheme to existing members, and its plan to make nearly 1,000 staff in Britain redundant.
The company announced record profits last year and is forecasting over £100 million profits this year.
The campaign has already forced Fujitsu to put back the date for closure of the pension scheme by a year, to delay many of the redundancies and to take a number of steps to reduce compulsory redundancies.
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