Great Britain: PCS union to try first knowledge transfer “strike”

At Hewlett Packard, about 1,500 information technology staff, affiliated with the PCS, are being balloted over industrial action short of a strike to save the jobs of 400 of their colleagues whose jobs are being transferred to another area.  They will vote for a strike or for industrial action short of a strike will be to refuse to train up those who are to replace them.
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In February 2014, Hewlett Packard announced it was preparing to axe the 400 jobs at Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, ending more than 25 years of government computing in the area. Those facing dismissal work on major Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) computer systems such as Job Seekers Allowance and the Personal Independence Payment system. The move is part of the company’s plans to migrate jobs away from Lytham St Annes to its two chosen ‘hub’ sites in Erskine, Scotland but principally C

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