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Hewlett-Packard Layoffs Could Trigger Strikes In U.K.Hewlett-Packard Layoffs Could Trigger Strikes In U.K.
After narrowly averting strikes among its Enterprise Services division in the U.K. earlier this year, Hewlett-Packard could face more labor unrest there following word that 934 HP professional-services employees based in England will be losing their jobs. A union representing the HP employees is seeking for "a job security guarantee."
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After narrowly averting strikes among its Enterprise Services division in the U.K. earlier this year, Hewlett-Packard could face more labor unrest there following word that 934 HP professional-services employees based in England will be losing their jobs. A union representing the HP employees is seeking for "a job security guarantee."From the website pcr-online.biz:
Hewlett-Packard is set to make redundant 934 of its UK employees as part of its plans to cut a total of 9,000 jobs worldwide.
The mass job cuts across HP's Enterprise Services division were announced last month, with CEO Mark Hurd waxing lyrical about the benefits of 'consolidation'.
Trade union Unite has condemned the latest round of redundancies, predicting a further 1,000 HP employees in this country will lose their jobs by the end of the year.
Three months ago, employees at five HP facilities were prepared to walk off the job before their union and HP reached an agreement. This earlier pcr-online.biz article describes what triggered that labor unrest:
Hewlett-Packard has narrowly avoided fresh strikes in its Enterprise Services division, after holding last minute talks with trade union PCS [Public and Commercial Services] in an attempt to pacify disgruntled staff.
Around 1,000 HP employees working on Government contracts were due to take part in two 48-hour stoppages on March 29th to 30th and April 6th and 7th, but the action was suspended following discussions with HP and mediation organisation Acas. The strikes were due to take place in five HPES locations across the north of England.
"What we're looking for is honouring an agreement to an annual pay increase-HP imposed a pay freeze in 2009 and again for 2010," said PCS national officer Jim Hanson. "We're also looking for a job security guarantee. When HP took over (technology services firm) EDS in 2008 it had a two-year programme of 25,000 job cuts worldwide. Enough's enough; people want some security."
And in late March, a few weeks before that flare-up, HP was again confronted by the threat of "industrial actions" within its Enterprise Services division over the prospect of job cuts. Again, from a pcr-online.biz article:
Hewlett Packard is facing another round of strikes in the UK, as the row between management and union employees continues over jobs and pay cuts. . . .
"Staff have worked hard to help the company deliver billions of pounds in revenues and feel betrayed by HP's refusal to address concerns on jobs and pay," said the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, Mark Serwotka. "The company needs to start valuing its own workforce and negotiate a settlement that addresses the concerns of the workforce."
Several weeks ago, HP CEO Mark Hurd announced the company's plans to cut 9,000 jobs over three years, primarily from the Enterprise Services group (formerly EDS) as the company upgrades its data centers and automates more processes currently handled by some of those workers.
While those cutbacks drew a huge amount of coverage, less widely reported was HP's concurrent plan to add 6,000 salespeople, reducing the net job loss to 3,000 over three years. For more details on that, you can check out our recent column, Global CIO: In Praise of Mark Hurd's 9,000 Layoffs At Hewlett-Packard.
RECOMMENDED READING: Global CIO: Hewlett-Packard Attacks Innovation Gridlock That's Killing CIOs Global CIO: Hewlett-Packard CEO Hurd Shifts Strategy Toward Services Global CIO: Why IBM CEO Sam Palmisano Earned His $24.3 Million Global CIO: Hewlett-Packard CEO Hurd's Strategy: The Infrastructure Company Global CIO: IBM Claims Hardware Supremacy And Calls Out HP's Hurd
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