The
Unite union has said it is "astonished" at HP's proposal to cut
the pay of 300,000 workers worldwide.
HP reported its first quarter results for 2009 today, which
included revenue growth of 1% compared to last year to £20bn and
profits of £1.3bn.
The company says it will cut the pay of its entire global
workforce by up to 5%, with more for senior executives. The CEO
will take a 20% pay cut, executive council members 15%, other
executives 10%, and the rest of the company by either 5% or
2.5%.
Peter Skyte, Unite national officer, said "UK employees who have
made a key contribution to the doubling of the HP services revenue
and borne the brunt of redundancies in Europe will be astonished
that a company that is increasing revenue and still making
substantial profits is seeking a pay cut from its UK
workforce."
A spokesperson for HP said, “While the actions that we are
taking today are difficult, we believe they will allow us to emerge
from this recession in a powerful position to create value for our
customers, employees and shareholders over the long term and be in
a better position to fund 2009 bonus programs.”
Skyte said the union would be seeking assurances from the
company that any pay reduction would only be with employee
agreement.
HP has recently come
under fire from the union for the way it handled its
acquisition of EDS and resultant redundancies.
HP acquired the company in May last year.