150 HP workers face benefit cuts worth around £2,000
HP faces UK strike action over pay and pensions
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27 Oct 2009, Iain Thomson , V3
The UK's largest trade union is balloting its members working at HP on strike action after the company changed the status of some of its engineers and support specialists.
Unite announced the action over HP's planned changes in staffing rules, which would see 150 employees of HP IT services shifted to jobs at HP CDS. The workers would lose final salary pension schemes and performance benefits worth around £2,000.
"Our members face cuts to their pay and pensions and have no choice other than to begin an industrial action ballot. This is the latest in a series of attacks by the company on our members' pay and conditions, while senior executives and shareholders do very well indeed," said Peter Skyte, a Unite national officer.
"Unite remains willing to seek a resolution to this dispute with HP, but not on the basis that one employee's pay cut results in an HP executive's pay and bonus increase."
HP reported profits of £973m its last financial quarter, and claimed that European demand was lower than in any other major market.
The company has already confirmed that it is cutting some UK staff, but has not confirmed numbers. Unite expects 850 jobs to go. HP has already axed jobs at EDS and has repeatedly cut salaries for those staff still employed.
Unite has become increasingly active in the IT sphere, taking on IBM and Fujitsu over pensions and job losses. If the ballot is successful it will be the first time HP has faced a British strike.
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More on their way
This will be the first of many strikes against HP in the UK. Union membership within ex-EDS employees has skyrocketed because of the CEO's greed.
2010 will be the year Mark Hurd leaves HP
Posted by EDS UK, 03 Nov 2009
HP Greed
HP has become one of the most greediest companies I have ever known. It's swimming in cash, it's CEO and management cronies took over $170M in compensation last year (Hurd, HP's CEO, netted more than $42M in salary and bonuses alone), meanwhile it's leaving it's hard working employees out in the cold, cutting their benefits and salaries and recently cut shift differential pay for anyone in the U.S. working swing/graveyard hours. They should be ashamed of themselves. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard must be rolling over in their graves about now. This was not the company they envisioned building and certainly isn't the HP Way. Shame on you HP!!!
Posted by HP employee -name with held, 28 Oct 2009
EDS Morale
EDS has always had a serious morale problem. The technical staff work hard, the management live high on the hog with expenses, bonuses and big salaries. For the worker, there is little in the way of salary increases and bonuses. EDS line managment is always under stress to produce the numbers, reduce headcount and try to get rid of employees avoiding redundancy payments. This is a truly gruby company. I cant see why anyone would work for them if they had a choice, and I dont understand customers, especially the government, doing any business with them. With all the stress they deliberately apply, they dont worry about pensions, not many staff live that long, just Management.
Posted by Sharon, 09 Dec 2009