Union members are protesting at Ascot race course this morning against Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) decision to axe 3,400 UK jobs.
Members of the Unite union were planning to drive a van on the roads outside the racecourse, where Mark Hurd, chief executive of the global IT firm, will be addressing up to 1,000 staff.
HP recently announced that it intended to shed 24,600 staff across the world in a restructuring programme. Up to a fifth of the firm’s UK workforce could lose their jobs.
Unite national officer Peter Skyte said: “Unite is not against change, but we will oppose any compulsory redundancies and require full consultation.
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“We will be taking our message to Mark Hurd to remind him that the decisions he makes in the boardroom have human consequences for people’s lives and livelihoods. HP is a wealthy company with very healthy finances. We are seeing the workforce pay the price for the recent takeover of EDS.”
HP has UK offices in Belfast, Birmingham, Bracknell, Bristol, Derby, Erskine, London and Warrington.
