EDS union APESMA has met with representatives of HP and
EDS today following the news that employees in Australia will
be facing pay cuts.
They've indicated to us that they see this as an alternative to
mass redundancies.
Michael Butler, APESMA
EDS VP Australia New Zealand David Caspari had written to
employees in Australia and New Zealand to say that the company
would also look to put through cuts here, depending on
legal issues and employee consent. A spokesperson from HP
said
that the cuts would be across both HP and EDS.
Michael Butler, industrial relations director at the union (the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia) said
that he met with representatives of both HP and EDS today.
"They've indicated to us that they see this as an alternative to
mass redundancies," he said, although he added that they also
wouldn't give any commitments that there wouldn't be job losses
in the future.
The union will be meeting with HP/EDS again next Wednesday,
where it will put forward what it believes needs to happen for
pay cuts to go ahead legally and without discrimination.
In order for the cuts to go ahead, there needed to be employee
consent, which the company has acknowledged. Butler believed HP/EDS
required a process to make sure that all employees understood the
choice and that the message didn't get garbled as it travelled down
the levels of the company.
"We will do all we can to make sure the process is fair and
make sure that there's genuine consent," Butler said.
Butler also intended to speak about other general issues such
as what it will mean about jobs in the long term if employees do
agree to the pay cuts.
