26 May, 2012Unite the Union talks with Hewlett-Packard to safeguard 1,600 jobs under threat in its UK operations. Earlier, the union secured delayed compulsory lay-offs at IT services company CSC giving staff time to find alternative employment.
UNITED KINGDOM: Unite the Union is to hold urgent talks with Hewlett-Packard as of 24 May 2012 to safeguard up to 1,600 jobs under threat at its UK operations.
Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest maker of personal computers, is to cut 27,000 jobs across the globe by the end of 2014. Unite believes that up to eight per cent of the UK's workforce of 20,000 are under threat and use every means possible to protect those jobs.
Unite has about 4,500 members working for the company, including computer programmers, desktop support, software engineers and software architects.
Earlier, Unite the Union announced on May 16 that it had negotiated for delayed compulsory layoffs of staff at the IT services company CSC, giving as many at-risk staff as possible the chance to find jobs elsewhere.
The company has also now embarked on an undertaking to invite other IT companies to share job vacancies with a view to finding other employment for redundant employees.
CSC announced two rounds of cuts this year, totalling an estimated 1,100 jobs. CSC's first announcement of compulsory layoffs prompted a national protest of Unite's CSC members on April 19, which increased the pressure on the company to find alternative solutions for staff.