March 22 (Bloomberg and San Francisco Business Times)The Public and Commercial Services Union said up to 1,000 members working for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services will take a further four days of strike action in a dispute over pay and job security.
Workers at Hewlett-Packard Co. plants in the north of England plan for four days of strikes, starting next week. The Public and Commercial Services Union, based in London and representing some 300,000 members in the United Kingdom, said as many as 1,000 of its members will strike for four days at HP plants. Workers at some of the sites have already walked off the job for two days earlier this month.
Work stoppages are planned for March 29 and 30 and for April 6 and 7. They'll affect plants formerly run by Electronic Data Systems, which is now owned by HP. The plants are in Newcastle, Washington, Preston, Lytham St. Annes and Norcross.
"There has been growing anger amongst staff since HP took over EDS ... with 3,400 staff already axed across the UK. Staff have been further angered by the imposition of a pay freeze last year and for 2010 despite the company delivering record revenues worth billions of dollars," the union said. Mark Sewotka, the general secretary of the union, said employees at the HP plants felt "betrayed. "Hewlett-Packard bought Plano, Texas-based EDS in 2008 for $13.9 billion and laid off some 25,000 of its workers. Last September, HP renamed the unit HP Enterprise Services. Perennial presidential gadfly H. Ross Perot started EDS in 1962.
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HP staff call four-day industrial action
V3 (UK), 3/23
1,000 employees could walk out, warns Public and Commercial Services Union
Up to 1,000 HP employees will take part in a four-day strike later this month over pay, conditions and job security.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU) said yesterday that the HP staff, who work on government contracts in the north east and north west, will walk out on 29 and 30 March and 6 and 7 April.
The industrial action follows three days of strikes that have already taken place as part of an ongoing dispute since January.
The PCSU claims that the previous action affected HP's 'always on' IT that supports mission-critical services used by the UK benefits and frauds office. HP's service was down for a few hours, and the PCSU alleged that this disrupted important IT system updates for the Department for Work and Pensions.
"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 Mark Serwotka, PCSU general secretary.
"The escalation of their campaign illustrates the determination of HP staff to achieve guarantees on job security and a fair pay rise. The company needs to start valuing its own workforce and negotiate a settlement that addresses the concerns of the workforce."
The problem for HP is that its former EDS employees are pushing for the UK strike action via the PCSU.
HP has been involved in ongoing disputes since acquiring EDS in 2008 and rebadging the team as HP Enterprise Services.
The PCSU and HP have been trying to resolve the dispute for several months to no avail, even with the involvement of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).
The union will also be launching a petition and seeking the support of MPs.
Strike Action in the Commercial Sector on 8th and 9th March
In addition to the strike across the Civil Service, over 1,000 PCS members in the Commercial Sector will also be on strike on the 8th and 9th March in a separate dispute across the HP/EDS DWP Enterprise accounts.
Our members in HP are striking over an imposed pay freeze and for improved job security. The dispute also covers the members’ claim for the extension of union recognition rights to cover staff on standard contracts.
Our fellow workers in the Commercial Sector fighting to save jobs and to win fair pay deserve our full support.
Dear Colleagues,
As you may already know, members in the NE and NW branches are further strike action, comprising 2 days on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th March as part of the campaign to win better job security and pay.
Members voted during November for a campaign of action short of a strike, and strike action. Some 460 out of 914 members voted, with 92% supporting action short of a strike, and 78% supporting strike action.
Since the action on 22nd January, PCS and management have met on two occasions, with the help of ACAS, in an attempt to resolve the dispute. There has not been sufficient movement from management to settle the dispute, and with the full backing of the union’s national disputes committee, and the EDS GEC, the strike committee have called further action in an attempt to win improvements.
We are asking you to support your colleagues in the NE and NW.
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