HP Enterprise Workers Go on 24-Hour Strike

Posted 01/25/2010 at 6:20am | by Paul Lilly

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Unhappy with repeated job cuts across the UK, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) late last week announced a one-day strike at HP after talks with the company broke down, ZDNet's UK division reports.

"Strike action is not a step that our members take lightly," said PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka in a statement. "They have worked hard to help the company deliver fourth-quarter revenues of $30.8 billion, yet have been slapped in the face with job losses and a pay freeze for two years running.

Over 1,000 workers participated in the strike, all of which are employed with HP's Enterprise Services division spread across several sites, including Newcastle, Washington, Preston, and the Fylde Coast. Most of them are contract workers for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Ever since HP scooped up EDS (since renamed to HP Enterprise Services) in 2008, the OEM has handed out 3,400 pink slips, and plans to cut some 1,000 more jobs in the first quarter of this year, PCS said