Flightdeck EBA Campaign
IBM redundancies and negotiations update
- Details
- Published on Friday, 28 May, 2010
IBM have informed individuals at their Baulkham Hills Flight Deck that they are losing their jobs. So far 16 employees have been told there jobs will be abolished.
The hardest hit are operators on the Westpac contract. IBM is not offshoring or relocating these jobs, they are just abolishing them and expect those remaining to pick up all the extra work. Two IBM employees who work on the Westpac contract were witnesses in the case the ASU won against IBM which has forced them to bargain with the Union. ASU members believe this is part retaliation for their Union activism. ASU members who work on the Westpac contract believe that IBM is making a serious mistake as they have targeted some of the most experienced operators. They are highly skilled in Tandem which operates Westpac’s ATM and POS network. Members believe this has the potential to have a serious negative impact on Westpac customers as ASU members keep their ATM and POS system operating. Should there be a fault once these workers leave, there will not be enough skilled workers to respond in timely manner to fix this fault. It is also a complicated system – workers cannot be easily trained up and it takes years to obtain the skills that the workers who are being made redundant have.
Workers who have not been made redundant are now even more resolved to win a collective agreement as IBM managers have told them there is likely to be even more cuts in the future. Workers are unimpressed with IBMs actions to date and their latest announcements have just further angered their Flight Deck workforce.
The ASU has been in negotiation with IBM for a collective agreement for several weeks. IBM has stated they will be giving a “lengthy” written response to the Union’s claims. ASU members will be meeting to consider this response from IBM. Unless IBM show they are serious about coming to an agreement with the ASU, IBM will be adding fuel to the fire. IBM can address this situation by showing their workforce they are listening by making progress in the negotiations.
