HP staff vote for strike action

HP staff under two different unions have called for strike action

Workers at HP's CDS subsidiary are set to strike on 7 December, and have threatened further action for the new year.

Nearly 100 mobile workers, who are members of Unite, have called for the action after expressing anger at the way the company is treating them over a business transfer of staff to HP CDS.

The members believe that HP is taking advantage of a weakness in current employment legislation to remove pay and pension benefits, final salary pension schemes and a bonus system worth up to £2,000.

Unite said in a statement that it had told HP it was willing to have a discussion, but that HP had failed to respond. The Union added that approaches from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service had also been ignored.

Andy McDowall, Unite regional officer, said that the dispute would be relatively easy to resolve if HP agreed to sit down and talk, and urged the company to return to the negotiating table.

"The members have had an irreplaceable pension benefit removed by a cash rich employer. They have also removed members' contractual bonus arrangements resulting in further wage cuts," he added.

HP said in a statement that it respects the decision of the 98 staff to take industrial action, but did not believe it would hamper its services to customers.

"In the event of any local industrial action we would not expect any interference in service, and we will take the necessary measures to deliver the services that our clients require," the firm said, adding that it will continue to maintain a dialogue with the union in an attempt to avoid any form of action.

Further planned action is set for 11 and 12 January, 1 and 2 February and 22 to 26 February.

The news follows on from the announcement on Tuesday that over 1,000 staff working on HP's contracts for the Department for Work and Pensions in locations around the UK will strike on 10 December. The employees, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), voted for the strike action in a dispute over pay freezes and job losses.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said that it is "disgraceful that hardworking staff who are shouldering greater workloads and contributing significantly to HP's revenue and profits should be rewarded with pay freezes and job losses".

"The ballot result illustrates the depth of anger among a workforce who face a second year of pay freezes, despite the company delivering fourth-quarter revenues of $30.8bn [£18.4bn]," he added.