1carl johnson  18.06.2009 07:44:50  Again strike action at EDS in Germany

I had a chance to visit ruesselsheim during the strike, and i have to say it's more of a convenience strike rather than something I would expect to take seriously. With catered breakfast and lunch, music playing most of the day, and games such as horse-shoe tossing, shuffleboard, etc., it felt more like a festival than a strike.

Keeping true to the Euro-attitude of a 34-36 hour work week, they set up each morning by 8:00 and prompt close down by 3:00. When it rains they go home, when it is sunny, they play.

The intimidation factor is still there. Blocking off building entrances with benches and tables, force many people who 'have to' work to support their customers, a very stressful beginning of their day.

Luckily there are security guards at every building entrance which have been instructed to ensure that for those people who want to get to work, that the union representatives don't prevent them.

Nothing violent as far as action though, so that's a bit different when strikes are done in the USA.

I think if any concessions are given to the unions here for the EDS employees, that the negative effect is that the HP/EDS employees in the USA and other countries, where employees don't have a big say in what goes on, will be negatively felt.

The money has to keep coming in to meet HP projections of revenue for the stock holders. Make no mistake, HP is in the business to make money. The largest costs are people and real-estate. Sometimes it just get's treated the same.

If i were in charge, I would just 'fire them all', and start over in Germany.

Sincerely,

Carl Johnson

(Soon to be a former HP employee)

2Jo  08.07.2009 14:16:24  Again strike action at EDS in Germany

Hi Carl,

I have to correct some of the things you say.

You forgot to mention our Texas Hold'Em Poker table. :)

We didn't start with our strike at 8:00 am. We started at 6:00 am and some of us even as early as 5:30 am.

We didn't go home when it rained. Last week after our 'die in' at the Frankfurt stock exchange we had a big thunderstorm during our lunch and of course nobody went home. We weathered the storm and ended our strike day just like every other day at 15:00.

We did block the entrance to the buildings but our goal was not to intimidate anyone, but to talk and convince them to join us.

If you fear that our strike has negative effects to HP/EDS employees in the USA and other countries then the only thing I can say is. Join your local unions and make a stand for yourself. It's not us against you (workers). It's us (workers) against the misguided, greedy, selfcentered bosses at the helm of HP and other big international companies.

You are right with 'HP is in the business to make money'. But what they are actually doing is exploitation of the workforce and I will not tolerate this.

This strike is an attempt to better HP/EDS and get the focus back from the anonymous shareholders to the customers/employees.

I don't want to be treated as a cost factor. I earn the company money every day.

If this does not work I will not be working for HP/EDS any longer and take my experience and skills to some other employer with hopefully better ethics.

If you would fire us all and start over then good luck with getting some customers to buy your services.

The strike is on hold right now. We will soon vote for ending or continuing the strike.

The moral of the people is worse than ever before.

regards,

angry HP/EDS employee and ex-HP customer

3  28.10.2009 20:56:49  Again strike action at EDS in Germany

HP faces first ever UK strike action

Big name customers could suffer if staff walk out

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in Servers, 28th October 2009 14:31 GMT

Cisco - help your small business achieve greater efficiency

HP faces possible strike action from some of its employees in the UK, after trade union Unite announced a vote among its 150 customer engineers, whose jobs are being shifted to a subsidiary firm.

If the strike gets the go-ahead, it will be the first of its kind at HP, which in the past two years has undergone dramatic job culls in a move to cut costs at the computer vendor.

Unite said in a statement that it had begun a ballot that covers home-based customer engineers and support specialists who operate across the UK for HP.

Staff are angry about being shunted over to HP’s subsidiary company HP CDS at the start of next month. Unite claimed the computer giant is removing pay and pension benefits, including a performance bonus scheme worth up to £2,000 and a final salary pension scheme.

"This is HP's highest level of support for its biggest customers - and they're going to be seriously hacked off if there is a strike. It is staggering how the engineers are staying positive when they're being treated like garbage," an ex-HP insider told The Register.

The union said it had served HP seven days notice of the ballot, which kicks off today. The outcome of the vote will be announced in the middle of November, added Unite.

Unite said it had asked workers to vote after a consultative ballot at the start of October came out in support of HP workers downing tools. The computer maker employs around 18,000 staff in the UK.

"Our members face cuts to their pay and pensions and have no choice other than to begin an industrial action ballot,” said Unite national officer Peter Skyte.

“This is the latest in a series of attacks by the company on our members' pay and conditions, while senior executives and shareholders do very well indeed.”

He added that the union was willing to talk to HP to “seek a resolution to this dispute... but not on the basis that one employee’s pay cut results in an HP executive’s pay and bonus increase.”

A HP company spokesman echoed Unite's stance on looking for ways of settling the spat to avoid action.

"HP respects the rights of its employees to be part of a union. We will evaluate the situation as soon as the result of the local ballot is available. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with the union in an attempt to avoid any form of industrial action," he told El Reg. ®

4James  25.01.2010 04:15:51  Again strike action at EDS in Germany

HP and EDS seem to be just awful companies to work for. When employee morale is so poor, you cant expect the staff to work as a team, or to make that extra effort that will make them stand out from the competition. I think it would be accurate to say that the employees I know, actually dont like working for HP/EDS and if they could find jobs in this recession elsewhere, they would be gone. It is hard to understand the decline in morale that has occurred over the past 8 or so years. But I suspect that the leadership, at EMEA, country and even account level is to blame. Respect is not fear, and you dont get respect if the employees think you are liars, and dont trust you. I dont see why companies actually do business with HP and EDS when they have so many issues, they should be concerned that it might be contagious.