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Many of you read and participate in the comment sections and find them a valuable resource for what is going on inside IBM.
But in order to keep this resource we need growth in our dues paying membership.
Please click the links above and join the Alliance. Your only source for the real news inside IBM.

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Has the alliance considered a paypal link? An easier way for some people to pay you. Just a thought. I am happy to contribute and that would be an easy way for many people. -StillanIBMer-
Alliance Reply: Use this link also: http://www.endicottalliance.org/amemberform2.htm The donate through PayPal is at the top. You need to have a paypal account to use this feature. Please let us know of any issues regarding this new feature to Alliance@IBM. 2/3/2009

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Alliance@IBM is now on Send us a tweet and send one to your co-workers.
Let's keep the focus on the rumor of job cuts in the USA and the World; and other subjects, pertinent to IBM workers.

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09/03/09: Alliance needs contact with ex-IBM employees who were RA'd while h1b visa worker remained.
Please contact Lee Conrad ASAP at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 04/26/12: IBM just lost VF Corp account because of poor security -Anonymous-

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Comment 04/26/12: The IBM brass is not putting the customer number one. They only put themselves number #1. The IBM brass only cares about signing the contract so they get their stock bonuses and awards. After that they could care less and always know they can scapegoat the sales, delivery, and support teams for anything the customer might target. If the customer has praise then the IBM brass only see it. It is no wonder Disney, State of Texas, and AstraZeneca among other have quit their contracts with IBM. The Alliance response to -toolatebaby- is right dead on. -anonymous-

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Comment 04/26/12: Yahoo finance wants to hear our stories. C'mon people. If you don't want to show up at a picket line, at least SHOW UP virtually. What have we got to lose except our jobs? Tell your story. Yahoo might not be the most prestigious media outlet but at least millions of people will hear what they are doing to US!!! Are you a current or ex-IBM employee with a story to tell? We want to hear it. We are discreet. jbort@businessinsider.com -StandUpForUSWorkers-

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Comment 04/26/12: One New Yorker! One person? At one of the most decimated sites in IBM America. One? Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto for s*** sake. Not a single solitary IBMer in North Carolina had the Intestinal Fortitude to show up! The top guy shows up to support you at what I am sure he thought would be a big turnout and you leave him standing there all alone. IBM wins another round as the opposing team fails to take the field yet again. No whining or complaining on the board for RTP people. They are all perfectly happy. Well Johnnie, tell em what they won with this stellar showing! Well Exodus, they have won more RA's, More salary cuts. More commission grabs and less benefits for the buck then ever before. All raises for the southeast region have been cancelled as there is no need to appease anyone, they are all whipped already. The Manager in charge of RTP will get a huge bonus for sure. A huge publicity win for IBM management. It makes me sick. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 04/25/12: In the past few days have been getting "inspirational" emails from IBM brass. Such as "wins" and another about putting our customer first. They sense the ship is sinking. The win was a $5K (hoping that was a typo) for Simba. Also employee sat survey for Education and advancement. LOL! All they need to do to regain morale is admit their mistakes and assure us that the madness will stop. -toolatebaby-
Alliance reply: Ok let's review: It doesn't matter what IBM brass does; it's what IBM workers need to do to "stop the madness". Whether IBM brass 'sense the ship is sinking' or not, makes no difference. Their actions, that imply desperation may be in fact; rats repositioning chairs on the deck. It's the IBM workers that need to unite and do something that can steer the ship in a new direction. First step: Organize. Gather yourselves together and take action to let IBM brass know that you've had enough. Staying away from public pickets only encourages IBM brass to continue with their same destructive policies. Overcome the fear. Join Alliance@IBM and let's do this!

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Comment 04/25/12: What happened to the RTP supporters?
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/story/11019666/ -member-

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Comment 04/25/12: The following links need to be sent to any Government, Educational, Investor people you can think of. The word is starting to get out but needs to continue.
"IBM to Offshore 78% of US Workforce." http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/not-your-fathers-IBM/
Senior management walks with $millions. http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1180618.htm -ananymous-
Alliance reply:
1)The "78%" is a prediction made by Cringley, it's not established fact. It is possible, though.
2)The SECform data could be accurate; however, Sam Palmisano has not yet been indicted for any of these activites or considered to be an insider trader.
3) The government, educational, and/or Investment Bankers will not blink an eye to this data.

The best way for IBMers to fight back is to organize and unionize. Yes, these ideas can be used; but they bear no fruit unless attorneys$$$ are involved. The first step for employees is to decide to fight back. The next may be as simple as showing up at an informational picket. Fear is being used against you, by IBM. They KNOW you are afraid of losing your job; but they will make sure you do anyway, if you don't fight back. So why not fight back? Why not step forward and grow the membership at Alliance@IBM and then actually do something to fight back, that can help to gain a contract and a seat at the bargaining table. The word IS spreading; but the EFFORT TO ORGANIZE needs to continue and to grow.

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Comment 04/25/12: LOL - just got an email about the "Simba Technologies Win" - for $5K. That'll make up for Texas and Disney. LOL, way to win the big ones, IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 04/25/12: I was notified on Feb 27, 2012. I was an IT Specialist with over 12 years at IBM. I don't see this list on your web site. Under the title "S&D Non Brand Employees Selected" There are a total of 96 people that got let go. -IT guy in S&D-

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Comment 04/24/12: Good luck to all my Blue brothers and sisters today with the informational pickets. All here wish you luck! We will win! Whether it be via the media to stop this or by joining together to have a unified voice against the wrong and unfair treatment of IBMs most precious asset...their American workforce. It's just not right. We will win. Money is not everything. IBM will pay dearly with its collapse if Roadkill 2015 continues. -Cringing-

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Comment 04/24/12: To -Anonymous- of 04/23/12: Thank you for collecting data but watch out. An IBM recruiter who doesn't know you've been RA'd might offer you a job. If IBM offers you a job during these 30 days and you don't take it, you could lose your severance. Details should be in your RA documents. -Gorya-

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Comment 04/23/12: It is amazing how management removes the jobs and then repost them after the big day. I checked from March 30 - April 3rd and hundreds of jobs were posted during those dates -IBM Rochester-

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Comment 04/23/12: It's starting to Happen............word is out:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibm-tries-screw-salespeople-commissions-190045853.html -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 04/23/12: What happened to the Austin, TX picket? C'mon Austin and Tivoli. Surely you are suffering the wrath of IBM off-shoring and RAs too! -Texas_no_step-
Alliance reply: We tried to get something going but did not get a picket captain or confirmation that people would be there. The other sites will do well though.
To Austin employees: if you want to do something in the future contact us.

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Comment 04/23/12: Having been laid off at the end of March, and looking at job sites, I see a few things. One, IBM has posted a LOT of "intern" jobs. While they will use this to say they are being positive; what they have actually done is fire seasoned professionals and their business model is to replace with interns. So interns, if you like 70-80 hour weeks, you are in luck! For even low level jobs on an IBM job site, they do specifically ask if you have previously worked for IBM. I am sure this is in place so they can filter out anyone that has been laid off. I am going to apply both ways one saying I have and one saying I have not. My thinking is if you check yes that you have worked for IBM before, they have a filter to take you out if running. I really do NOT want to work for IBM again, but since I am job searching, I'm going to take some time with recruiters and collect data. -Anonymous-

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Locations:

• Poughkeepsie: Sidewalk in front of Spackenkill Plaza, Rt 9 4pm to 5pm
• Endicott: Corner of North Street and McKinley Ave, 4pm to 5pm
• Boca Raton: Congress Ave. 4pm to 5pm.
• Burlington, VT: Corner of Park St and IBM exit, Essex Junction 4pm to 5pm
• Boulder: Diagonal Highway (Rt 119) and Mineral Road (shoulder) 4pm to 5pm
• Rochester, MN: Peace Plaza 4pm to 5pm
• RTP: IBM Main site front gate
  (intersection of Davis Drive and E Cornwallis Road) 4pm to 5pm

If you want to participate or have an information picket line at your site please contact: ibmunionalliance@gmail.com
-Alliance-

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Comment 04/22/12: I am glad to see much more media coverage on IBM's fall from grace.
What they are doing to their US work force is disgusting. We need this to get on national TV. IBM is a train wreck out of control and Wall Street seems to be unaware. -Cringing-
Alliance reply: The job cuts and downsizing of IBM has been reported throughout the media over the years. We have alerted everyone about this. Maybe employees should be contacting them as well.

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Comment 04/20/12: Cringely has now posted all 4 parts are now on his current blog. Permanent links:
Preface -- http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/watch-out-IBM/
Part 1 -- http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/not-your-fathers-IBM/
Part 2 -- http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/somethings-rotten-in-IBM-dubuque/
Part 3 -- http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/magical-thinking-at-IBM/
Part 4 -- http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/how-to-fix-ibm-in-a-week/ -Gorya-

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Comment 04/20/12: I made a comment on Cringely's page that what he was writing about was not new news, I guess gossip travels slowly. However, what he is doing is being a voice for us and I think we need all the help we can get from any source. It is amazing though, how many people are so un-aware, their heads are stuck somewhere else in the cloud. His numbers are actually correct when he used the figure 150,000. His timing was just wrong, that is all. In the year of 2001 when the roadkill to 2010 was initiated, the number of USA employess was around 165,000. A manager of my aquaintance did indeed say they had meetings specifying there would be 150,000 laid off. Read and take note and stop politicizing the small stuff. Numbers change over the years because business changes and the model is not perfect. The fact remains there will be an 80% reduction in US employees by 2015. the starting point was around 2001. A Thanks to Cringely for being a voice for our movement. -Take-What-You-Can-Get-

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Comment 04/19/12: I think R. X. Cringely might be totally correct this time. IBM was tipped off by him the first time and IBM tried to play him as a fool (which he certainly is not!) by curtailing the soon to be accelerating planned RAs until now. I bet Robert has done the math to find out how IBM can make $20 EPS based on it's current USA workforce and average exploitative salaries of Indians, Chinese, Brazilians, etc. And 78% cut is what it will take. So when you got to work at Big Blew tomorrow take a look around at your colleagues. Three of every four you see (possibly including yourself)will be gone by 2015. Talk about a funeral dirge of IBM careers all to make the current USA executives and the big stockholders richer than Richie Rich. Then IBM will become a relic of USA capitalism. Another failed but once success story. If you join the Alliance maybe you can curtail or even stop future RAs. Isn't that worth a try? -IBMisGoingGone-

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Comment 04/19/12: IBM-Union-Calls-for-Pickets-to-Protest-Job-Cuts -member-

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Comment 04/19/12: Read the comments about not getting the last month's vacation pay because all termination dates fall a few days before the end of the month. What other things do we lose out on? 401K match? Month of service for Severance package? -RA_Dave-

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Comment 04/18/12: http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/somethings-rotten-in-IBM-dubuque/ -curious-

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Comment 04/18/12: Wow - this hits the nail on the head: -leftin2010- 78% of US workforce to be eliminated.
I don't know about that. He also said last time 150,000 would be laid off and he was off by 120k.
Obviously, they will keep laying off since they can't gain contracts.
At some point they will run out of people to get rid of and the stock will just crash. -whatever-
Alliance Reply: Regardless of whether he was right about the number; he was right about IBM's determination to eliminate US IT jobs in IBM. 39,000 jobs lost is still an obvious result of the very plan IBM hatched in 1999 or before. If US IBMers want to sit around and wait until IBM "runs out of people" to fire; instead of organizing and fighting back with every tool in the shed, then why bother complaining about it, here? IBM has made many bad decisions over the past 2 decades. Their decision to gut the US IBM work force for the sake of low cost labor and EPS gains, will eventually bite them very hard. Why not be proactive, just like IBM used to preach for years? Join the Alliance and then join your co-workers on April 24th and start making some noise.

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Comment 04/18/12: A history major with just a bachelor's running a technology firm for almost a decade. What a rip off. I am fairly sure the execs are obsessed with making their numbers and as Cringely puts it, management have lost touch of reality. Actions do speak louder than words. -non-tech CEOs-

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Comment 04/18/12: I am hearing rumors that IBM will do another RA action at the end of the month. Victims will be notified April 30th, for a departure date right before Memorial day. -dun-4-

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Comment 04/18/12: I saw in our new CEO's first quarterly results letter that she closed saying the goal was to make IBM the world's most essential company... I wonder how management squares this with their belief that they have the most disposable or non-essential employees. -Joe-

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Comment 04/18/12: Any way to tell how many contractors also become roadkill during an RA? -roadkillMarch'12-
Alliance Reply: Difficult without RA pkgs being distributed to contractors. If all the contractors sent Alliance@IBM notice of their firing, it would help. It's certainly not scientific or exact; but we've been able to get fairly close numbers from inside IBM, for years.

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Comment 04/18/12:
Cringely posted..... -GladToNotBeBlue-
Wow - this hits the nail on the head: -leftin2010-
78% of US workforce to be eliminated.
If you are not ready to unionize then start looking for another job. -ananymous-
http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/not-your-fathers-ibm/

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Comment 04/18/12: IBM had bad revenue action due to a flat QTR. report that disappointed the Greed machine on Wall St. bad revenue action will always give: RA -it's_coming-

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Comment 04/18/12: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA:
RSS sale to Toshiba: "No layoffs are planned for the local staff of 330 workers".... "They keep their jobs"
Yeah, I believe that, like I believe IBM has 'respect for the individual'. -dun-4-

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Comment 04/18/12: IBM revenues fall flat; more downsizing head.
poughkeepsiejournal.com/IBM-revenues-fall-flat-more-downsizing-ahead? -Anonymous-

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Comment 04/17/12: RSS sale to Toshiba: "No layoffs are planned for the local staff of 330 workers"....
"They keep their jobs"
Right. IBM won't be laying off the employees; they sold them. There's a name for that. Ask the PCD, Mfg, and other employees sold before them. -Anonymous-

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Comment 04/17/12: -Lizzy-: Aren't the new laptop refreshes now Toshibas? If so, the RA notice could be predicted by this. -funny_ways-

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Comment 04/17/12: The IBM's Retail Store Solutions (RSS) business was just sold to Toshiba TEC of Japan. Some maintenance jobs to remain for awhile as IBM jobs but the future is even more cloudy than it was before. Another part of the 2015 Roadmap/Roadkill for USA and other first world countries. Who will be there on April 24th to protest the imminent death of your career built on blood, toil, tears and sweat?
-Poughkeepsie Engineer-

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Comment 04/16/12: "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." Frederick Douglass, former slave -anonymous-

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Comment 04/16/12: POS Division sold to Toshiba. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16 -Lizzy Borden-

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Comment 04/16/12: While it may give people a good feeling that someone else sees what is happening in IBM I doubt it will fix anything no matter what he(Cringely) reports. I can't help but feel that IBM US employees have been warned over and over and yet most do nothing to prevent the impending massacre. Obama himself can't force IBM to organize into a union shop. Only you and your actions can. No one else. No cavalry is coming to save the settlers in this real life drama because its no one elses fight but yours. Not a single solitary union was formed by congress or government mandate. No law can create one. The laws only enable YOU to form one. If you don't step up nothing happens. Have all of you who read this site got the person in the mirror to sign up? If not then I guess you are satisfied with the status quo. Happy with your lot in life. Enjoy the uncertainty that being an at will employee brings you. Good for you. If you are really happy with your current situation that is. But if you are why do you keep coming here? The absolute worse that can happen after you organize is you feel things are worse and you no longer want to be a union shop. Then you have a vote and vote out the union just like you voted them in. IBM would even gladly help you with that vote. Its funny how you never see that happening. Something to ponder. -Exodous2007-

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Comment 04/14/12: I, Cringely appears to have an explosive revelation about IBM scheduled for Wednesday. http://www.cringely.com/2012/04/watch-out-ibm/

[Excerpt:

Back in 2007, when I was still writing for PBS, I posted a couple columns (here and here) about IBM that caused great consternation for the company. I predicted an acceleration in offshoring and outsourcing that upset IBM employees and customers alike. Thousands of IBM careers were about to be disrupted. The company denied my story and even, I'm told, made a few changes to its plan in response to what I had written. It showed the power of the blogosphere, how one person with a little insight and good sources can affect an industry. And it's about to happen again. This coming Wednesday I'll post another IBM column based on a look I got recently at the company's plan for 2015. It's audacious and surprising and I'm pre-announcing it now, frankly, in hopes that doing so will knock loose a few more details that I can include in that column. If you have anything to share, please contact me at bob@cringely.com or 707-525-9519.
Though IBM completely denied that 2007 column, the more telling response came from an IBM senior manager I bumped into a few months later. "You busted us," he said. Until Wednesday....]

Maybe he's talking about the impending sale of all of STG? That's what I've heard lately.... -Rich the Mongoose-

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Comment 04/14/12: Where are the West Coast locations on April 24?
-What about Tucson and San Jose?-
Alliance reply: We didn't get any volunteers to say they wanted to hold one in Tucson or San Jose.
If someone does want to by all means contact us asap at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com. That includes other locations as well.

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Comment 04/14/12: I was an SSR for 14 years and was resourced April 2010 and looked for work for a year and a half in my local area, but could not find work. I opened up my possibilities to Texas, and found a job. It is with a big national company and if I knew life without IBM would of been so good (less hours and more money), I would of left ages ago. For current IBM employees, join the Alliance! It's your only shot to make a difference! IBM is falling apart, and you need a voice. -GladToNotBeBlue-

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Comment 04/13/12: "I am almost thinking about taking the job then doing the absolute least possible and see how long it takes to get fired to see how many dollars I can get from them"
Better have another job lined up since IBM can challenge any unemployment claim you make if they fire you for poor performance. That is why PBC 3 employees have a big bullseye on their back constantly. If you do want to join IBM then also join the Alliance. -anonymous2-

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Comment 04/12/12: Getting a lot of emails out of companies from New Jersey, not all the contacts are Indian, immediate need for desktop support, no benefits 15$ an hour, I am almost thinking about taking the job then doing the absolute least possible and see how long it takes to get fired to see how many dollars I can get from them, oh yeah sure I am all up for it, then let the politics see how long it takes, yep gonna do it, I can give s*** support on a contract and then delete from resume. -Anonymous-

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Comment 04/11/12: IBM loses the big Disney contract but does not try and help its employees find alternate jobs at all. Instead they might freeze internal re-hiring. I hear that top management as well as managers are telling employees that they have a better chance of finding employment with Disney or with the new company that has got the contract!! One IBM honcho even sent out the Disney jobs URL to the IBMers!! Amazing! -Another_worried_IBMer-

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Comment 04/11/12: Did you know the most recent RA was called "Phoenix"? It was actually treated like a project and had a code name. I was on a call with several people when a Director and a Manager made reference to Randy's Phoenix Project, but I didn't know what they were talking about. Little did I know they were talking about everyone on the call except themselves. We were all RAd. -Anonymous-

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Comment 04/11/12: To -dun-4- IBM in recent years has circumvented US based personnel requirements on contracts by giving foreign nationals userID's in the us.ibm.com Notes domain and not in their home country. Customer's and even IBM'rs are miss lead thinking that by communication with userxxx@us.ibm.com that person is actually in the U.S. Sometimes you can catch this in Bluepages for example where a 'first last name' has both a cn.ibm.com and us.ibm.com entry, with the same picture. -Anonymous-

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Comment 04/10/12: To work4deman: There is a rule in ibm where US employees cannot be directly assigned to a manager outside the US. So, to get around their own rules, they assign you a bluepages manager. Undercover, you actually report directly to the manager outside the US. IBM is so messed up, they even break their own rules!!! -dun-4-

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Comment 04/10/12: Does anyone know how many L1B visa workers IBM employs in the US? Do they use us.ibm.com email addresses instead of their home country? -anon-

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Comment 04/10/12: This story sheds some light on the plight of skilled engineers that have lost their jobs to H-1B visa holders. Proof of what Alliance has been saying all along:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/09/144558/texas-engineer-who-sent-obama.html#storylink=omni_popular -Reduce_H-1Bs_now-

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Comment 04/09/12: Update Note to All Affected by 2/27/12 US Job Cuts:
Before you sign the Separation Agreements - CONSULT AN ATTORNEY and read the EEOC website! Also look up the Syverson law suit referenced in the Separation Agreement. So glad I did - I just sent off my response to the Separation Agreement - can't wait to see response --- -NoLongerBlue-

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Comment 04/09/12: To work4deman: IBM jobs in the US have been on the decline in the last decade while IBM jobs in India have been on the rise. The bottom line is employee cost. IBM CEOs found that they can replace a US employee with an employee in India at a fraction of the cost. Once your new manager in India figures out what you do and how to do your job will probably be gone too. Sorry to give you such sad news but welcome to an IBM without a Union to protect their employees. -BearerOfSadNews-

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Comment 04/09/12: At least 3 good friends were part of the 2/28 layoffs... and now I find out that I am going to be reporting directly to a manager in India - although they have assigned a new bluepages/HR manager in the US, it was made very clear that I will take all direction from the person in India. I guess this type of ethics was not part of the latest BCG course? -work4deman-

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Comment 04/06/12: Shouldn't the real question be how many US workers are actually US citizens and were born and raised here vs how many were brought here via onshoring regardless of whether they now have a green card or even citizenship? An onshored employee may be working on American soil and may officially be counted as a US worker but they were brought here to take away a job from a US citizen. The ~96K US employees is probably significantly less if you take these onshored employees out of the equation. I am already a full dues paying member of the alliance. -Dave-

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Comment 04/06/12: To -AllHandsOnUnemploymentLine- Yes I heard the speech. I was so annoyed to here her talk about how much money IBM is investing in education. She failed to mention most of that education is for the off-shore workers and little is spent in the US unless you have top director level approval for something! It's all smoke and mirrors and how they can spin something to look better than it really is. -Dun-4-

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Comment 04/06/12: Response to -AllHandsOnUnemploymentLine-: She is right they will take care of IBMers - But not in US. I don't get to go for training on Advance AIX technologies, but SAs in India recruited as AIX admins get to for Basic AIX training. Go Figure -StillHere for Now-

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Comment 04/06/12: How many others listened to Dianne Diggleman's All Hands webcast? I don't know how she got through it without exploding and telling us all it was a bunch of hogwash and they made her do it. She spoke about how IBM values their employees and is dedicated to their development and career growth. Meanwhile, all that was on my mind for the hour of HOGWASH was will I dodge the next RA bullet. I signed up to question her about Roadmap 2015...but as you would guess there was little time (about 2 minutes) left for answering questions. They had a moderator of course...if it were an open call I bet she would have been put on-the-spot for sure. She seems like a nice person though, nothing against Diane personally, we all know she probably HAD to deliver their bullcrap to the masses. I am a member of the Alliance already. -AllHandsOnUnemploymentLine-

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Comment 04/06/12: Why does everyone think that IBM gave us all 7 shares of stock to be vested in 2015? Because most of us will not be employed. The worst part for survivors is the work doesn't go away, you are left to add it to your already over burdened workload, and blames the worker that things are not getting done (lower PBC ratings). There is not a single manager 1st-3rd line that could make a decision if their life depended on it. They are simply YES men looking out for themselves to avoid the axe. -SlaveLabor-

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Comment 04/05/12: There were circa 3000 US IBMers RA'ed on 3/28. Alliance estimates are low. That equates to about 3% of the IBM US workforce. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: The estimate for 2.27.2012 has been suggested as 2560, in a previous comment on this board. Alliance numbers are calculated from the RA Pkgs. we receive from those people that have been RA'ed. We can only post those numbers as accurate. If we had received ALL the RA packages we would probably be closer to the 2560 estimate, as accurate.

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Comment 04/05/12: Is there a way for us to find out how many FTEs IBM currently has in the US? I have a feeling it is already significantly less than the estimated 96K. -Curious-
Alliance reply: Based on some estimates, the number seems to be less than 95,000; however, Allaince believes there are more firings coming. Possibly in June.

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Comment 04/05/12: To anonymous posted on 04/04/12: Who is R. Mac? I worked until 3/28 also but was told by my exit mgr that the rule is that I only got 2 months credit of vacation. I would like to know more about how I can get additional almost 1 month's vacation. Is it too late now? -exit_2012_03_28-
Alliance reply: R. Mac is Randy MacDonald, IBM's Corporate HR Director. Yes, It may be too late to get anymore vacation pay. Sorry for your job loss.

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Comment 04/05/12: Had the opportunity to ask a third line manager about Roadmap 2015 and the drive to have as few US employees as possible. He confirmed the RA's will continue, as it was a "fact of life". For any IBMer that thinks they do a bang up job and will be exempted from an RA action, I have a bridge to sell you......... -Jaded-

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Comment 04/05/12: @areyoukiddingme, "PLAN NOW", it should read Take Action Now. -Unionize-

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Comment 04/05/12: If the Senate "CPU" bill (S1747) goes through who here thinks IBM will give back the 15% they took since computer IT workers will no longer ever get OT pay? -ya_think?-

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Comment 04/04/12: In case you are thinking job cuts only happen once per quarter, there were job cuts announced in Canada the other day with end of April as last day. We were clearly told there are more cuts coming due to global resourcing initative. -Canada GDF-

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Comment 04/04/12: So IBM has still not discussed the loss of the contract with Disney with employees? All they get are rumors and notices that pass through the wire from their client. How is this a way to treat the people that worked for you for years and brought in profits to the business? A lack of communication is a sign of poor leadership. -MooCow-

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Comment 04/04/12: Wouldn't a contract define what constituted overtime for what band levels? I agree the law needs to be opposed but how much longer are the players who will be most affected going to just sit on the sidelines and hope someone else protects them? Organize people. The sooner the better. Every day you delay IBM think tanks come up with new ways to take away from you, to prop up the companies false bottom line. Can you imagine an SSR who already works 60 hours a week and more and is on call 24x7 not getting paid overtime? That 60 would become 100 or more. IBM would work them till they died. They will beat employees like rented mules if you do nothing to stop them. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 04/04/12: Also got my "exit" 3/28. Same sob story ... 15+ yrs of glowing PBC's ALL with 2 and 2+ ratings. Cust facing position with multiple active project assignments. Last review was 2 weeks before the infamous Mon morning 'thanks for stopping by' call. Reasons given are of course 'staff reduction' while there were multiple open Career Marketplace opportunities for my position posted. I've dodged 4-5 previous bullets but knew law of averages would take over at some point. What a relief; I physically feel better now then I have in years. I'll make out just fine. Now, most of you have heard this many times before, but I'm going to stress it here again. A sincere warning to the survivors:
PLAN NOW! Look at your bank accounts, debts, and monthly expenses, and short term new expense needs (kids schooling, braces, what cars falling apart, etc). Ask yourself how you'll manage > WHEN < someone comes along and says your employment is ending in 30 days. I know first hand from the exiting manager that THERE IS MORE RA planned for this year once they've closed out this last one. And it will not stop. My own opinion is IBM won't make it's 2015 'road map'. Sammy saw the big picture and bailed in time. This was HIS vision, his 'baby' to corp America. Why else would he bail in the home stretch if he actually thought he had chance of victory. It will now be Ginny's failure whether the house of cards collapses before the road map goal, or during 'her' dismantling approach to it. God speed all. -areyoukiddingme-

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Comment 04/04/12: I was laid off in the recent resource action. I initially was told I would only receive credit for vacation accrual for Jan & Feb. When I pursued it with the ESC due to the fact that I was on an AWS schedule and 3/28 would have been my last workday regardless I was again told that I would only receive credit for 2 months. I sent an email directly to R. Mac and I eventually received a check for an additional 12 hours of vacation time. I also noticed that my final salary payout was 2 days short. I contacted the ESC again and was told that my manager never followed procedures to correctly identify me as an AWS employee. They are now sending me a check for the additional 2 days... those that got RA'ed..check your final payouts to be sure they dont short change you..If they can..they will. -anonymous-

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Comment 04/03/12: I too was affected by the 2/27 RA and was told it was to "streamline operations and increase productivity". I received a 3 on PBC because"a delivery executive observed one day that I more readily identified problems than solutions" - I contested it which was a waste of time - and here I am looking for a job. What hurts even more is that I know FOR A FACT there are other employees that weren't affected that have been sub-par employees for YEARS and they are still there. -NoLongerBlue-

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Comment 04/03/12: Urgent action needed for Minnesota and New Jersey IBM employees but others feel free to call the Senator and Representatives below. It appears IBM is putting a lot of pressure on them to support S.1747 the bill that takes away overtime pay for computer workers. We need you to call Sen. Franken and Rep Waltz in MN and Rep. Rush Holt in NJ asap to urge them to oppose this bill. They need to hear from IBM workers and ex-employees on this. IBM is taking a PR team with 4 "supportive" employees to congress urging support of this bill.
Phone numbers:
Senator Franken: 507 931-5813
Rep. Waltz: 507 206 0643
Rep Holt: 609 750 9365 Thanks for your support. -Alliance-

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Comment 04/03/12: People often ask me, "But if IBM is such a bad company to work for then why does the IBM stock price do so well?"
Here is the answer I give them. If you cut your costs each quarter to beat the Wall Street financial targets simply by cutting the number employees then the stock price is bound to go up. Also know as Lou's First Law. This answer comes straight from the Stupid IBM CEO Business Manual. -AskTheProfessor-

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Comment 04/03/12: If you do not like your PBC rating, there are only 2 options to take:
not sign it or appeal through HR. Not signing will have you out the door quickly. Appealing is a joke. You have a choice at an Exec review or a trial by peers. Either path is not retroactive and simply a bit flip in your file. You do not get any compensation for the change. You GDP does not increase and it has no bearing on pay raises. The Exec review is simple. They assign an Exec to "look" into it. A month later, they raise it. Total time spent is about 30 seconds: 10 seconds to change the rating and 20 seconds to put you at the top of the RA list. The other is a trial with 3 peer employees of your band level and 2 managers. You have to convince them that you deserve a better rating. The 3 peer employees are screwed if they side with you, so it is unlikely you win there now. The verdict is given and your PBC is updated accordingly in HR. Then, you are put at the top of the RA list. -PBC Ratings-

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Comment 04/03/12: IBM does not shake in its boots if they lose a contract. The reason is two-fold: the Execs and Sales team are compensated at the point in time of the contract and IBM only reduces expenses to cause the stock price to increase.
I am an IBM employee and almost hate working there. I cannot leave for another 18 months. My GDP pay could only cover 1 night's rate for Summer vacation while my manager sends a note that she is taking a week vacation right as it came out. My neighbor's sister is married to a Sales Exex at IBM who just used GDP money to purchase another $1.5M home in RTP. Yes, his GDP was over $1.5M take home. Whether it is cash (most likely not) or options given, his bonus after taxes was over 7500x more than mine. Sickening. -Stockholder-

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Comment 04/02/12: When corporations abandoned the 99%: http://tinyurl.com/7gs8fkc-Anonymous-

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Comment 04/02/12: At the current pace the 2015 roadmap will only leave about 70K USA employees. -anonymous-

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Comment 04/02/12: I bet the actual number of RAed is 2% of the USA employees. I use the infamous HR managed out presentation that Randy Mac pitched. So it is highly conceivable there could be another 200 or more that got the ax. -stillgoingup-

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Comment 04/02/12: Dear (you are reading this site and are afraid to join),
You have to join, it's join or die in place. Doing nothing guarantees failure. Doing something MAY work.
Isn't that worth trying? DO NOT GIVE UP
I know what you are feeling.
You are giving 150% of your time, your manager likes you, has already told you there are lots of projects for you on the horizon. You get small monetary awards each quarter, maybe your w3 photo is on a powerpoint slide and people clap in that all-hands' meeting. You say "oh good, they won't RA me, I am different - I am valuable" You continually learn and do more than anyone, you work when you are sick, you travel, do anything, you are convinced "it could not happen to you".
Guess what, I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong. We are all on the list somewhere. If your job can be done more cheaply, then it is a matter of when - not if. If you stay, then stand up for yourself, talk up, inaction will not guarantee anything at all.
How do I know? The story is not unique...
Top performer
1's and 2's
Awards, allocades, everything........ and part of the RA..... KNOW YOUR RIGHTS -recenthit-

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Comment 04/02/12: The numbers of IBMers fired on 02.27.12 are still increasing. See this link for the recent (today's) update: IBM JobCuts 2-27-2012 -Allliance-

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Comment 04/01/12: Wondering why there is not much media coverage by financial guru's commenting on how these recent events will affect stock price.
1) State of Texas ousts IBM
2) IBM Loses 100m+ Disney Account. Thought it would have IBM shaking in it's big blue boots. -Morgan Dollars-
Alliance Reply: In IBM's entire history; IBM has never been "shaking in its big blue boots". IBM certainly has had thousands of their employees shaking in their boots with fear of losing their jobs, for more than two decades. Ironically, IBM workers have always had and still have the power, collectively, to stop that shaking.... in their tracks. Organize your co-workers and join Alliance@IBM.

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Comment 04/01/12: "....the 2015 roadmap IS working. IBM is getting the EPS they desire.-anonymous-"
Yes, they are but how long can they maintain that EPS before their house of cards crumbles? It's coming. -Reply to anonymous-

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Comment 03/31/12: Counts are in - 2560 US IBMers disappeared from the network on 3/28. The Alliance estimates based on RA packages received are lower than actuals. So, when are the next 2500 going to be fired, and to those IBMers reading this - are you so naive and/or arrogant to think that it won't be you?? -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/30/12: As a former manager, I saw and was forced to participate in totally unfair appraisal ratings and RAs. The HR system in IBM is rotten. Employees below directors are not respected, not even the managers. I too, was caught up in the posibility of keeping my job at the time to later understand that I would be RA'ed, also. After 28 years and 2 months, I got the "boot". I was not 55 years old, therefore, I could not retire. Basically, told "get the hell out of here". Age discrimination has kept me from getting another job. My brother was a member of a union in another company and when their doors closed, he got his retirement and many other benefits because his union had negotiated these items. IBM employees need a union, so that, they can quit getting run over by "Big Blue." -RA'ed in 2009-

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Comment 03/30/12: Unbelievable! Nothing in the Ginni/Masters H-P comment sections on how IBM is hosing the American Worker. I had to add my two cents there:
"When Ginni gets her "Green Jacket" - let her tell you about the "2015 Roadkill" initiative, which is IBM's grand plan to "globally resource" (another fancy-dancy IBM term for offshoring work) the American worker, while ripping off their customers, who are paying top dollar, for low quality inferior IT Service Delivery, from the BRICs.
IBM is built on a house of cards, and run by a bunch of penny-pinchers, who have artificially inflated the stock, at the expense of the US worker. Sammy, Ginny, and Warren will undoubtedly have inside information and cash out long before the stock crashes. The remaining US workers, if there are any left in 2015 will get to enjoy their 5 whole shares of vested IBM Stock that were issued in 2011. Can't wait. It's going to be a helluva pizza party!" -bentoverbyBlew-

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Comment 03/30/12: I have been entertained by the posts of those who challenged their PBC. It seems most are realizing that they won the battle and lost the war. As a former manager, I saw first hand in management meetings how they were going to get that employee. It is very easy to completely crush an employee and NEVER violate any legalities or even IBM policies. I would politely suggest those who did challenge to start looking for a new career because they are toast in IBM. BTW, believing any of the nonsense about HR being on your side is amusing. Their goal is to stop you in your tracks regardless of rule violations. It is time to grow up and understand the ONLY hope is a union. But the rank and file just don't get it. They have the Superman syndrome!!! -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for your straight forward analysis. <humor> Any chance you have some advice on how the Alliance can convince the 'Superman' syndromes' to join the "Justice League" union and stand up for themselves? :-) </humor>

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Comment 03/30/12: To -Wants to be Proud Again- the 2015 roadmap IS working. IBM is getting the EPS they desire. The 2015 roadmap has nothing to do with employee satisfaction or customer service. It's all about lining the pockets of execs and major shareholders. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/30/12: -Ciao Big Blue-, Please post the HR policy that states your PBC should not be dropped without proper advanced notice from management. If it is not in writing it does not exist. -Biker1mike-

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Comment 03/29/12: I miss the days when our datacenters were full of busy, smart, productive people...happy to be working and living the American Dream. It was fun to go to work, and feel like we were of REAL service to our customers, and proud to work for IBM. The respect we felt from our customers was evidence of the level of service we provided. Over the last several years the datacenters have become ghostlands...and the customers have come to expect less than professional service and leave it up to the SDMs and PMs to cover up and gloss over all of the wasted time and effort that goes into simple tasks that were expedited to their satisfaction just a few years ago. IBM does not realize that their most precious asset, their REPUTATION is taking a hit. You get what you pay for. It s not too late, IBM. Stop the 2015 Roadkill. It is not working. -Wants to be Proud Again-

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Comment 03/29/12: Hi Anon - I fought my PBC and had it change and not even 6 weeks later I'm paying for it, every thing I do is being monitored, expenses are being rejected along with increased work hours, no budget for education, meanwhile others from my team continue to wine and dine customers along with taking education, shows up at 9:AM and leaves at 3:PM, so yes you may think you won if you had your 3 rating overturn but watch you back, personally I don't give a s*** anymore so they can take it all away, but I guarantee you IBM will not get me working no 60 hours a week, I will force them to package me out before I work 1 minute more that 40 hours a week.. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/29/12: Well, the Augusta National Golf Club is having a problem regarding IBM, a sponsor of the Masters, now that a female, Ginny, is the CEO.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/augusta-national-golf-club_n_1389774.html
"Rometty's situation, though, gives her leverage Burk never had. The CEOs of the other two Masters sponsors, Exxon Mobil and AT&T, are both members, and they'll both be donning the club's signature green jackets next week. If Rometty isn't allowed to join them (and given Augusta's history, she probably won't be), it will send another message to the 6 million American women who play golf and countless others who watch it that even if they are capable of breaking every last one of corporate America's glass ceilings, they aren't capable of playing golf with the boys." -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: It's a wonder the Huffington Post didn't comment on the job killing machine's efficiency, by the new IBM CEO, as being an issue with the US IBM employees, isn't it? Idea: Should US IBMers storm the comment section of this article on the HufPo's web site, and ask that question?

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Comment 03/29/12: I was hit by an RA from IBM in 2009. I am now wondering what I can do to create a union in my current job at another large American corporation. I don't want to be caught off guard again or put into the unfortunate situation of worrying every quarter whether my job will still be there. I want to know upfront what my goals, expectations, and career path may be. I want the security that is granted to the company executives, but I am willing to go work with the expectations and results I need to achieve. I don't want the people at the top to hold all the cards. I wish that everyone at IBM had made that decision many years ago. -MooCow-
Alliance reply: Send us your contact info and what company you work for to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com We will put you in contact with someone.

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Comment 03/29/12: I agree with Anon about fighting the PBC rating. I fought mine and met with my 3rd line manager weekly for about a month until he wore me down. He kept going over the same things over and over and over. I finally agreed to accept the PBC rating and move on and get back to work. They dropped me further in the PBC rating in the next cycle and I ultimately got laid off. Don't trust your management. They are very good at this stuff and they will wear you down. The ball is in their court without a Union on your side. You have absolutely no one on your side without a Union. You are totally on your own fighting the big bad Big Blue. -LostToBigBadBlue-

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Comment 03/29/12: To Ciao Big Blue --- Get Real! The only result of fighting a PBC rating is the satisfaction (sic) of maybe winning. You can be sure the 'victory', if not the fight, will surely put a target on your back for the next round of RAs. The only fight worth fighting is banding together with your fellow workers to fight the beast, as stated in the last part of your comment. Join up and make it count! -Anon-

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Comment 03/28/12: To Another Disgruntled Employee - Did you fight this? You should have because HR policy is very clear when it comes to rating drops. The employee is supposed to be advised by their manager they are in danger of losing the rating and they are to be given ample time to fix the issue...they can't just drop you! This is my situation but I am by no means sitting back accepting that package with grace and dignity. Hell no...I am fighting with every ounce of energy I have! I should have been gone today, but I'm here until resolution! At this point, either way is fine with me...bottom line is I fought for my rights and put some much needed spot light on the fact that PBC's are as worthless as paper anymore! Yes I am a member of Aliiance, yes I joined when I got RA'd but I'm here and I'm fighting, not just for me, but for everyone, current and future! To all, if there is a rally in your area, please attend! We need to get off the forums/Facebook/Twitter and be heard in public where it counts! -Ciao Big Blue-

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Comment 03/28/12: Just wanted to tell you what is happening at our company. We were bought by IBM ~half a year ago (close to a thousand employees). IBM started by saying how this brings a lot of opportunities to us, etc... Lots of lies, basically. But now they are getting serious: our managers we told that once anybody quits, the replacement will be hired in China/India. At least for development -- total outsourcing. Awesome, eh? -a new IBMer-

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Comment 03/28/12: This post isn't a report of a job cut / RA; however I'd like to thank *IBMUnionYes* for a thoughtful reply to my rather unhappy comment. [I wrote the original comment as 'No One', and my post was itself quite a rant. Sorry!] In any case, finding the old IBM handbook was an eye-opener. It clearly called out IBM's history of full employment [to paraphrase] and respect for the individual; and was kind of sad to find. Anyway, on a positive note, with so many leaving IBM, our networks are expanded to other companies. And no, I'm not happy that there is no true job security without a union or other protection [TAA, etc.] However, I'm also sorry for the negative tone of my previous post. -No One-

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Comment 03/28/12: age 42 20 years in IBM and the PPA account no real pension so I don't think there is a difference between retire/quit -Its Time-

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Comment 03/28/12: The IBM Legal Dept. is also handing out RA's to IBM Legal Dept. employees. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/28/12:
Charting_H_1B_users_as_attention_shifts_to_L_1
Charting H-1B users, as attention shifts to L-1. As H-1B visa use stagnates, experts say changes to less strict L-1 could bring U.S. job losses

Computerworld - WASHINGTON -- Offshore outsourcing firms rely heavily on the H-1B visa to deliver services, and the chart accompanying this story provide data on the top users of the visa since 2009.

The chart, compiled from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) data, provides figures on approvals of both new H-1B visas and renewals of existing visas (H-1B visas must be renewed every three years). To calculate largest users of H-1B visas, Computerworld consolidated various versions (and spellings) of some company names, such as IBM Corp. and IBM India Private Ltd. [...] -Anon-

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Comment 03/27/12: Tomorrow is my last day at IBM, as is many others, and we all know more to come, I leave having learned a lot, and worked with many, many of the brightest people, so was good ride while it lasted, onto the next adventure, now just need to find the key to my Tardis. -The Dr-

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Comment 03/27/12: Rumor is that the Greenviile SC Outsorcing Services division being sold off to Iron Mountain. Got this from the team leader in charge of imaging who claims to be protected and in the know. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/27/12: To It's Time- First and for most, join the Alliance. 20 yrs, are you at least 55 and are still under the defined pension plan? If so, that is your choice. I left IBM back in 2007 with almost 24 yrs in L2 Support due to an opportunity that does not come knocking except for once in a lifetime, I jumped and thankful for the blessing. I have many friends still at IBM that wish they were somewhere else. I got a fellow IBMer to join the same company I was employed by back in 2011. Brush up on your skills, join the Alliance and let's try and save what is left of this once great company everyone wanted to work for ! Unite and stand strong, join the Alliance! I am a paying member, it's peanuts! Stand up and do something your children, grand children will be proud of! -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/27/12: Well it is time for me to leave IBM and go to work for ___. Any pro's or con's of retiring vs. voluntary separation? I have 20 years. -It's Time-
Alliance reply: If you and others come here for answers, don't you think you should join the organization that makes this available?

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Comment 03/27/12: Gone_in_07.... We all have a bitter taste in our mouths, but, I just went to a friend's retirement lunch, and I am no way a brown noser. I have seen many friends "retire", that is, RAed over the years. One goes to these "parties" because you have worked with and respect the person. I also have had some mgr's that I would never attend their parties, but that is on an individual base. BTW I have been an active Alliance member since 1999, attended many ASM's and have passed out more fliers then most.. Even at Somers... -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 03/26/12: Do you think maybe this posting:
http://www.advertisingideaspro.com/word-of-mouth-advertising-html
might be IBM inspired?-Just Me-

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Comment 03/26/12: Just heard my old manager is retiring after 30 years and they are having a get together for him. I can't even imagine who will go except the anti union brown nosers. We all have a right to get in that 30 years security and then retire. Organize and Unionize. It's the only way. Then you can retire after a long and healty career, just like management. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 03/26/12: Do you have information on US IBM workers being terminated and the work filled by an L-1 visa holder(offshore IBM worker brought into the US by IBM). If so, send information to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 03/26/12: The Alliance will be holding rallies against job cuts and offshoring IBM jobs in April.
If you want to participate or help organize a rally please contact us at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 03/25/12: -No One-: The Alliance has always been active since 1999 (and it's roots even before that, i.e. the Resistor and IBMWU). Since IBM has the money, influence, and clout to control public opinion and the media, I can understand to a degree why you might not have heard about the Alliance. But the Alliance has been widely quoted in many news articles over the years since 1999; so if you paid some attention long enough, I think you could have had a chance to have heard at least a bit mention of the Alliance.
But, yes, America is largely turned against unions, and so the Alliance has suffered lack of exposure because of it. It does stink that IBMers finally find out about the Alliance once they are RAed. By why is that so? I don't want to rant myself. It really does no good for us all! But let's all unite now and spread the word. Let's expose IBM for what it is. BTW, Keep that "About Your Company Book"! See how IBM has broken their retirement promise to us all. Yes, that booklet is proof of why there is a movement to unionize and why the Alliance is still more than relevant! -IBMUnionYes-

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Comment 03/25/12: Ladies and gentlemen, please for your own job and for our children being raised, stand up. I have been gone from IBM since 2007 after almost 24 yrs of L2 IBM support. I see great individual talent be resourced at a alarming rate, to India and else where. Well let me tell you something. India there really is no Mainframe experience, they are great distributed. Work ehtic sucks and shoot as soon as they learn something they are walking next dorr to another company. I say join the Alliance (I have) and what the spanish say, grow some coohona's. This is just not you anymore, this is about our children and grand children, we need to fight for them and what little time we as older workers have. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/25/12: "If you have a union representing you, your raise will depend on that contract, not an "appraisal" by your manager. And, any layoffs to occur will have to go thru said union contract. That is why the middle class thrived when there was unions and is being depleted now that unions have been declining since 1975. Connect the dots-- decline of unions = decline of the middle class. -anonymous-"
This post is perhaps the best description in the simplest terms of why IBMers need to organize. This should be quoted on the front page. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 03/24/12: First, I'm prepared for the rants from either Alliance readers, or for the moderator.
That said, I found it quite funny to find my 'About Your Company' book of 1981. I don't see a copyright notice so... do you think there's a market to reprint this book, as a collector's item? I've lost at least $40K per year * 40 years. Instead, I received @ $60K cash balance, one time. Yes, please feel free to rant at me because I never heard of the Alliance until weeks after I lost my job. And, feel free to rant again, because I didn't then join the Alliance. My grandfather, and one uncle, were both union members. My father wasn't; however he was in that fortunate generation - it lasted @ 15 years - to have A PENSION. So, I guess there was a twenty year window in which a normal working person might have hoped to have a future. Rant away. -No One-

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Comment 03/24/12: A good piece on leadership from 1996. http://www.opi-inc.com/malden.htm -Why is IBM one of the 'Most Admired' companies?-

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Comment 03/24/12: It costs about a postcard stamp a day to join the Alliance as a full time member. Now how is that too much to ask financially -IBMUnionYES-

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Comment 03/24/12: I think I know why IBM folks visit this site and don't join: IBM is full of employee folk who want someone else to do the fighting for them for free and are brainwashed that unions are bad for them. This is apathy at it's worst. I am disappointed in almost all IBM management's actions since Gerstner. I am even more disappointed in most of my fellow IBM folk who don't join the Alliance but still visit this site. When are these folk gonna see the light? When are they gonna believe? -SoBlue-

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Comment 03/24/12: If you think you'll be gone by 2015, don't file "all" of the patents that you are pursuing. Keep a couple to file after your terminated. If you file, IBM owns them. Once your out you can pursue them on your own and if successful they will benefit you rather than the Greedy Bastards. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/23/12: I've often wondered why so many people visit the Alliance site -- yet so few people join. Since I don't believe there's anyone working for IBM who can't afford $10 a month, then I assume that it's one of three things:
1) You're afraid you won't be anonymous and someone "higher up" will find out and fire you
2) You don't believe in unions
3) You don't think it will do any good and that the Alliance will never get enough people on board to actually form a union.
First off, as the Alliance has said repeatedly in this forum, it's not possible for IBM to find out who you are if you want to remain anonymous. It would be illegal for them to try. So you can put yourself at ease for #1.
If you don't believe in unions -- or if you don't believe enough people will join the Alliance to form one, let me offer you this thought: Why are you here reading this? Because the Alliance is practically the only source that exists for real information about what is happening in the company. IBM is certainly not going to provide you with all of the dirty secrets they like to hide. I am happy to be a member and pay my $10 a month to, if for not other reason, support their efforts and get at least some information about what is going on. You should be too. Become a member and support the Alliance. -Big Blue Bayou Alliance member-

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Comment 03/23/12: Yes, I know I will likely be gone by 2015. So be it. Welcome to corporate America. The new era is start ups. I wish a union would help. But, until the American people wake up, it is a lost cause. Perhaps it may start soon. I just don't see it. We have some of the dumbest and smartest people in the world. I'm just concerned about the balance... My advice, if you work here at IBM, then don't rely on your job. If you have a plan B, C, and D they can't take anything from you and your stress goes way down. Use them, don't let them use you. Build your skills, gain knowledge, and don't do stupid jobs that won't benefit you. The US economy today is all about self interest. If you play your cards right, you can use IBM to propel you into something great. The days of working at IBM for 30-40 years are gone. We can debate whether that is good or bad for eternity. Personally, I only do jobs that help me, I focus on technical jobs popular on LinkedIn and other soft skills. If that makes me an RA candidate, so be it. I'll take the package and move on to something much better. As for those complaining that they are working too many hours. IBM does not have a gun to your head. I worked seven days a week in 2011. No more. Now, I work five days. I told my manager I will not do that job anymore. I'm focused and work hard. But I refuse to work the weekend. If that means I get canned, fine. We all need to take responsibility. If you believe in economics, IBM will not be able to do this forever. The market will shift eventually back to an employee market. Overseas costs will increase, and skill levels will not keep up. I'm not opposed to unions. I just think the current US climate is. With that said, even if you feel Alliance is right in the smallest way, I suggest you join. At a minimal, they do provide valuable statistics and work with government officials. The dues are cheap. Good luck everyone. It is no different than supporting a church, NPR, or whatever your favorite cause it... -AcceptReality-

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Comment 03/22/12: If you have a union representing you, your raise will depend on that contract, not an "appraisal" by your manager. And, any layoffs to occur will have to go thru said union contract. That is why the middle class thrived when there was unions and is being depleted now that unions have been declining since 1975. Connect the dots-- decline of unions = decline of the middle class. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/22/12: -Trouble-O-7- Yep, the only execution IBM knows how to do is the EXECUTION it's employees jobs. At least so far, Rometty is not a liar as Sammy was. But give her a chance and I know she will not disappoint in this regard! -anonymous-
Alliance reply: All the more reason to organize those still at IBM and fight for a contract that slows the process down and protects IBMers from this kind of treachery. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/22/12: 50,000 of you 'do-nothing but ignore RAs' will be gone by 2015. IBM will also take every benefit you have away from you and break every promise it ever made. So sit tight, continue to just "observe" the Alliance instead of joining and enjoy your coming RA. -Nothings-

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Comment 03/22/12: This in 2005 --> IBM_signs_730M_IT_services_deal_with_Disney
vs 2012 -->
https://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/blogpost/10882769/ -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/22/12: Seen this stuff many times, all signs leading to layoff in Tivoli soon. People being moved to new assignments in a hurry, others being moved into different departments, some management taking positions outside of Tivoli. Wouldn't be surprised if something is announced next week but this is just a hunch. -longtimebeemer-

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Comment 03/22/12: Here's someone who managed to get some media attention regarding her IBM layoff-
in-obama-donation-a-message-from-a-laid-off-ibm-worker -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/21/12: Right, a disciplined execution of IBM employees. Very, very sad Ginny. I hope you are haunted with your bad management decisions and have nightmares. -GhostOfChristmasPast-

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Comment 03/21/12: "Disciplined Execution"? I called it the 2/27/12 Massacre. I have 27yrs with the company and was RA'd on this black Monday. My mgr told me in Aug, 2011 that I was performing at bwn 2 and 2+. So it was a shock to find out at evaluation time that my rate went down to 3 with all fictitious explanations. Needless to say that this contributed to my getting on the chopping block. Mind you, I was always a 2to2+ employee. Signed: -Another Disgruntled Employee-

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Comment 03/21/12: Hi - Not sure if you have this number yet, but just in case. Thanks for sharing the info to all of us. AMS IBM Global Account - Employees Selected -2012RA-
Alliance reply: Thank you. This is already on our list on this page: ibmJobCuts2-27-2012.htm

To all: If you see that your RA is not listed, please send doc to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 03/20/12:
http://blog.contractcentral.com/ibm-cuts-more-workers-pushing-layoff-count-to-nearly-1800-2421.htm#comment-1590

Here’s how one disgruntled IBMer described the latest cuts:

“1,790 American employees have been executed under operation roadkill so far in 2012. 2,210 more to come this year to make the 2015 roadmap. The disciplined execution continues. War has been declared on the people of the United States of America. We need to unite and fight back! Don’t let the American dream die. One RA at at time, they want you gone. The fight is on — Save America!”

The posting name: “Joe Punchclock.” The reference to “disciplined execution” is to CEO Virginia Rometty’s letter to shareholders in IBM’s annual report for 2011 in which she cites “disciplined execution” as a key factor in Big Blue’s continuing success. It sounds like “disciplined execution” is the new millenium equivalent of “final solution”. IBM legal is very clever in keeping the numbers in any one area under the radar of the “Warn Act”. The IBM founders are rolling in their graves. -Trouble-O-7-

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Comment 03/19/12: I see a union working for those in customer facing positions if enough join up. Programmers are screwed as they have no leverage to negotiate with. The business sees programmers as interchangeable commodities these days. Entire products are being moved as we speak. Sametime is already gone from the US. The bean counters are giddy with the concept that they can get 5 programmers off shore for the price of 1 US programmer. If test has already been moved for your product, the rest will be following. -Gettin-Hosed-
Alliance reply: Programmers are only screwed if they let themselves be. Why remain silent? Organize, fight back, distribute leaflets, talk to your co-workers. Join us in rallies over offshoring jobs. There is lot to do.

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Comment 03/18/12: Three things to make perfectly clear about the Health Care Flex Spending Account:

1) If you are contributing, say $100 or $200 per month and you leave in March for any reason, you can spend the whole year's $1200 or $2400 today, get the check for the whole amount, and you never have to pay anything back. It's tough luck for IBM that they are out the money. The opposite side of use it or lose it we had to worry about.

2) If you are contributing, say $100 or $200 per month and you leave in March for any reason, you can spend the whole year's $1200 or $2400 today, get the check for the whole amount, and you never have to pay anything back. It's tough luck for IBM that they are out the money. The opposite side of use it or lose it we had to worry about.

3) If you are contributing, say $100 or $200 per month and you leave in March for any reason, you can spend the whole year's $1200 or $2400 today, get the check for the whole amount, and you never have to pay. anything back. It's tough luck for IBM that they are out the money. The opposite side of use it or lose it we had to worry about.

If anyone ever knows they are going to leave early in the next year, please sign up for the maximum amount allowed and spend it on Jan 2 on a long list of items. It will all be out of IBM's pocket.

For more information: For assistance, please contact Customer Service at: 1.888.880.2775, TTY 1.877.314.2240 Monday through Friday 8am to 8pm Eastern Time. -Must Spend Today the Whole Year's Flex HCRA - Today Stupid-

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Comment 03/18/12: -Exodus2007-: The problem I see with IBMers not joining is because they don't have the cash. Maybe the Alliance should make the membership free to all IBMers. Surely there are Alliance supporters out there with some extra cash to help the Alliance pay the bills. -NoMoney-
Alliance reply: We realize it is a tough economy and wages are not keeping up, but our dues are only $10 a month for full membership and $5 a month for associate membership. It is very hard to believe that IBMers can't afford that. The Alliance has manufacturing workers that pay dues and they are low on the pay scale. We even have members who are out of work paying dues.
Higher paid employees can't? It is really about priorities isn't it? Starbucks or Alliance dues?
"Free membership" means we shut down.

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Comment 03/18/12: I got the layoff notice on 3/11/2012 because I was out of town on 2/27/2012...
I have 30 days to find a job. I was there for 7 years. My job was cut after I got denied the chance to transfer to another group 9 months ago. they blocked the new group from opening a rec for me, and then gave me a PBC3 and put me on the RA list in Jan... 9 months of training my replacements to get the AX by those unethical *%#@&$. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/17/12: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_spending_account
One consideration regarding medical FSAs is that the participating employee's entire annual contribution is available at the start of the plan year, commonly January 1, or after the first contribution to the FSA is received by the FSA vendor, depending on the plan. Therefore, if the employee experiences a qualifying event during the first period, the entire amount of the annual contribution can be claimed against the FSA benefits. If the employee is terminated, quits, or is unable to return to work, he or she does not have to repay the money to the employer. If a company plans to lay off some employees, and announces such plans, then if multiple employees use their entire flexible benefit before they are terminated, that may cause the company to have to reimburse the plan. Typically, however, employers do not announce layoffs for specific employees with enough notice for employees to use the available benefits, and employees may actually lose their contributions in addition to being laid off. -MaxingMineNow-

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Comment 03/17/12: Not in a million years would I join some type of of union organization. Yet I did; the Alliance@IBM. I think the chances of any type of union having an impact at IBM are very unlikely, especially now. Yet even so, they are the only ones educating IBM workers on what is going on. Clearly IBM management has been instructed not to talk about it. I have been with IBM quite a long time. I saw things change from where almost no one ever got fired to now. In the 90's IBM was in big trouble; there was talk of breaking the company up and things had to change. They did, but things have continued to change--drastically. I guess IBM can come up with any business strategy they want. They have chosen to shift work overseas more and more, even at the expense of customer service. They obviously have decided the savings more than offset the disadvantages (poorer quality, lost customers etc.). I hope, and expect, in the long term their strategy will be proven wrong; at least to the extent they are following it. Although I have my job for now, I'm sure I will be gone long before then. I am not going to disparage workers in other countries; they didn't force IBM management to go this route and they want to make a living too. However, I don't believe IBM is entitled to tax breaks etc. when they are shifting so many jobs overseas. I also think they should be willing to come clean on their goals and not be circumventing things like the WARN act. Obviously, they could handle the whole situation with regards to reducing US headcount much better. In the past IBM felt their employees were their most important asset. Definitely not anymore. The only advice I can give anyone at this point is don't fall in love with your job or your company. Don't assume you will be with the company for many years--assume you won't. As a professional I will continue to do my job, but my loyalty to and respect for IBM is long gone. Even if you generally are very doubtful about unions (like me), you should at least consider joining. If nothing else, it can help you know what you can (and cannot) expect in your relationship with this company. Yeah, you can probably get that information from them for free, but providing it isn't really free to them. -NotTheIBMIJoined-

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Comment 03/17/12: 1,790 American employees have been executed under operation roadkill so far in 2012. 2,210 more to come this year to make the 2015 roadmap. The disciplined execution continues. War has been declared on the people of the United States of America. We need to unite and fight back! Don't let the American dream die. One RA at at time, they want you gone. The fight is on -- Save America! -Joe Punchclock-
Alliance Reply: Saving America is a tall order; but saving IBMers jobs in America and getting written and signed contract between IBM and IBM IT workers is a good start.

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Comment 03/17/12: I think its time IBMers realize that the continuing abuse is really their problem. Not the executives. After the first say 10 Resource Actions they have no one to thank but their co-workers who will not organize to stop this madness. IBMers can really no longer pretend its something new and they did not think it would continue. Have all of you gotten the person who you see in the mirror to sign up as full members? I didn't think so. Still buying those 5 dollar coffees at Starbucks? Give 2 a month up for the cause. Make your whole life better, not just your coffee break for 2 days. This situation within IBM can be fixed but only by workers uniting across America. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 03/17/12: AstraZeneca was also a big account IBM lost that HCL is taking over. Where did the IBMers working on AstraZeneca go? The State of Texas kicked out IBM in favor of Capgemini and Xerox to take over that contract that big blue blew:
http://informationweek.com/news/government/state-local/232602653
So I am sure the IBMers assigned to AstraZeneca and State of Texas will be RA toast soon. Like an RA, why doesn't this make big news? IBM sure seems to get to obfuscate it. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/17/12: Roadmap to 2015 formula is simple: Disciplined Execution = Resource Actions -Einsteiner-

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Comment 03/17/12: IBM management was sure they had it locked because IBM has become such a Mickey Mouse corporation they believed they were the perfect fit. IBM executives do not lose their jobs over poor performance. They will have a blame storming session, Find a low level person to blame and go happily on their way while the employees that serviced the Disney Contract line up for jobs running rides. Maybe Disney will take pity on them because IBM executives sure as hell won't. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 03/17/12: IBM loses yet another contract! IBM Lost the Disney contract to India based IT services company HCL. IBM & contract employees informed today. Transition to occur over the next several months which is to start in the coming weeks. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/16/12: Was RA'ed in 2008. It hasn't been easy. Posting this link:
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/family/story/10826556/
Thanks Sam for making my life a living hell since 2008. It's finally about to get back to normal though. -outofibm2008-

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Comment 03/16/12: Disney employees were told today that the big outsourcing contract with IBM had NOT been renewed and was instead given to another company HCL. IBM management however, is yet to inform its employees. IBM bigwigs had been touting for months that it was a done deal. However, Disney management decided otherwise. Wonder if any VPs and Executives will lose their jobs over this. IBMers have till the end of July to transition. So more RAs and cuts on the cards. -Another_worried_IBMer-

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Comment 03/16/12: Does anybody know of IBM losing out on the Disney contract renewal, today? Guess more job cuts on the hapless employees. -Anon-

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Comment 03/16/12: I was told that within GBS, there is no transfer and no exception. When applying jobs in other organizations (eg. Software group..), all the jobs I am qualified for, are only available for people in their own organization. I did try one job in CHQ and was told that they won't even talk to me because I am on the 'list'. Get real! The 30-day finding job internally is just a joke, a propaganda. -Another GBS AIS-
Alliance Reply: Sorry for your job loss...and we say again: This is the REAL policy of IBM. Lie to the employees, no matter what. IBM has been doing this for several years. You see, IBM Corporate determines what you will be told. IBM Corporate policy determines what will happen to you. A collectively bargained union contract is the ONLY document that can alter the power of IBM's policies and level the playing field between IBM workers and Corporate management. Until IBM workers organize and fight to HAVE a union contract, IBM will never "be straight" with you. Believe it. Encourage your soon-to-be former co-workers to join Alliance@IBM and fight for a collectively bargained contract.

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Comment 03/16/12: Thankfully, I left IBM awhile ago. When there though, the thing that really bothered me was some IBM employees trying to do such a great job training their offshore replacements. Perhaps these people think they'll save their jobs (while sacrificing others). If they look in the mirror, they'll see a brown nose holding a pink slip. -anon-

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Comment 03/16/12: In terms of "dead wood", if there were any, they were removed back in the early 90s. Any cut since then has been down to the marrow. I still work there but I've also seen quite a few leave voluntarily saying they weren't going to wait for the axe. So like someone else said, easier to find a job if you have one already. It really is sad, getting killed by the competition but shooting ourselves in the foot by removing so many U.S.-based dedicated loyal workers just to offshore and make more profit. Its unsustainable. -Michael2010-

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Comment 03/16/12: Here's another example of unhappy IBM customer finally doing something about it. IBM credibility going down the tubes.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/state-local/232602653 -beenthere-

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Comment 03/16/12: A post at Glassdoor. Those in India don't necessarily have it good. Read this for some insight: http://tinyurl.com/7f5tj52 -anonymous-

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Comment 03/16/12: "Here is where the money is going!!!
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/blogpost/10853919/ -Hangingon-"
Notice in Sam's list of four questions The investor comes first, the customer second, society as a whole is third and employees are last. How do you as IBM employees intend to fix this? Hopefully not just sit on your hands and do nothing. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/15/12: Manpower employees working at IBM are being told that their pay is being cut and they are not to mention this to co-workers or to IBM employees! -paycut-

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Comment 03/15/12: Why does IBM even bother pretending that you can transfer internally and get removed from the RA? It is complete bullshit. A GPS PM said he wanted me on his team. His manager said he wanted to bring me on. But the manager above that nixed the deal. At least be straight with me and don't waste time I need to be spending on my external job hunt on something that can't happen!!! -GBS AIS-
Alliance Reply: This is the REAL policy of IBM. Lie to the employees, no matter what. IBM has been doing this for several years. You see, IBM Corporate determines what you will be told. IBM Corporate policy determines what will happen to you. A collectively bargained union contract is the ONLY document that can alter the power of IBM's policies and level the playing field between IBM workers and Corporate management. Until IBM workers organize and fight to HAVE a union contract, IBM will never "be straight" with you. Believe it. Encourage your soon-to-be former co-workers to join Alliance@IBM and fight for a collectively bargained contract.

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Comment 03/15/12: Here is where the money is going!!!
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/blogpost/10853919/ -Hangingon-

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Comment 03/15/12: To -Puzzled Too-: the WARN Act can be interpreted to apply only when more than 500 employees AT A SINGLE SITE are laid off. "IBM's 'stealth' layoffs skirt the Warn Act with small numbers at many locations on different dates. Instead of 60 days notice and pay, we get 30."
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/blogpost/10808900
I believe the executives' main motivation is not to avoid paying 60 days' notice, but to minimize publicity. The only numbers now are via Alliance@IBM. That's one reason I'm a member. -Gorya-

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Comment 03/15/12: I think many of us need to know how many foreign nationals are working at IBM while US citizens get RA'd. How many are working on government contracts? Isn't this illegal? -RA'd-

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Comment 03/15/12: Has the Neufeld memo been effectively overturned, removing all obstacles for international body shops to replace locals once more?
http://www.bradenton.com/2012/03/14/3938574/new-guidance-confirming-staffing.html -Barb-

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Comment 03/15/12: IBM Management is off shoring jobs for one reason to save money. Make your interaction with off shored operations as inefficient as possible. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/15/12: How can US citizens work together to "End tax incentives for companies that offshore American jobs"? Corporations, not kings, now rule the world. The only way to fight back or protect ourselves as US citizens is to unionize, or change the law to hit them where it hurts. The bottom line is all that matters to our executive masters. Let's build a Smarter Planet and re-instate "Respect for the individual" as one of our IBM Basic Beliefs and core values. Get Smart, or Get RA'ed. The choice is ours. -Joe Punchclock-

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Comment 03/14/12: Last week I reported 112 laid off in HR Talent (Corporate). Why aren't you reporting it? -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: We received the RA pack. We have added the number to the list.

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Comment 03/14/12: There were more than 1650 RA'ed in this round. Some have not reported numbers. I do not see my organization mentioned, but I know we had layoffs. Some do not report them to the Alliance for fear of losing their packages. There were definitely more than 1650. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/14/12: 4,000 USA workers were layed-off in 2010. So far this year we have 1,650. To reach 2010 levels means another big layoff coming this year. Good luck. -Joe Punchclock-

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Comment 03/13/12: I thought I would get 60 days but my exit date is March 28. What about the WARN Act for employers with 100 employees or more? -Puzzled Too-
Alliance reply: IBM has been playing games with the WARN act for years.
We need more people asking their State representatives to investigate IBM job cuts.

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Comment 03/13/12: If you're pissed off, the best way to get back at IBM is to start supporting the union in any way possible. At the very least, print out some flyers (on your home printer, not IBM's printers), and put them in your site's lunch and break rooms (not during your working shift, though). If you follow the rules, this is a protected right that IBM cannot punish you for. An even better action would be to join Alliance. A big uptick in Alliance membership would send a big chill down IBM's spine. -Flabbergasted-

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Comment 03/13/12: Fight back!! These fat cats are getting fatter at our expense. We're gonna be roadkill if we don't fight!! -Also employed-

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Comment 03/13/12: I was not a big fan of Unions but "2015 Growth Targets" has changed my mind. If you are afraid to talk with CO workers print up some fliers and put them up at your locations.
http://www.endicottalliance.org/rightsatwork.htm -don't want to be next-

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Comment 03/12/12: -Puzzled - Also, easier to get a job when you have a job. Ride it out as long as you can. Good luck. -RA's in 2009-

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Comment 03/12/12: -Puzzled- Check your paperwork. I was extended last year but I could leave anytime after 60 days and still gotten the package. -Been There-

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Comment 03/12/12: To -puzzled-:Accept the package and then stay until they don't want you anymore. Don't work hard, just enough not to be bored. You will have gotten a few more weeks of pay and then will get the package when they ask you to leave again; as they already plan to do. -NO_KY-
Alliance reply: And talk up the Alliance to those that didn't get RA'd!

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Comment 03/12/12: ibm-well-on-track-to-achieve-2015-growth-targets-new-ceo-rometty-says
Notice that job cuts will be at the 2010 level. You can't say you weren't warned.
Are we going to let ourselves be pushed off the cliff or will we fight back? I choose to fight! -employee-

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Comment 03/12/12: Off shoring is very profitable to those at the top.
http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/51143.htm -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/12/12: -Anonymous-: You can't take the package and then quit. You have to stay until IBM tells you you're done. Otherwise you lose the package. It doesn't work both ways without a union. -dun-4-

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Comment 03/11/12: Dear Summer, RA means "Resource Action". You are simply a resource at IBM. Just a number. IBM has decided that they want to get rid of you. You have two options. You can accept the package and leave or stay for 60 days and let them beat you up and and then get fired. It sounds like you made the right choice. All the best in your future endeavors. Keep your head up and keep looking forward and try to forget the psychological damage from IBM. Been there, don't do that. -Counselor-

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Comment 03/11/12: Read the short story called "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Being RAed is like getting the black dot. Just shows how sadistic this IBM really is. -Anonymouser-

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Comment 03/10/12: -Puzzled-, Take the package, cash the check and then quit, especially if you are in a Right to Work State. Works both ways, tell them for any reason or no reason. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/09/12: Manager called me this morning to tell me that they want to extend me past March 28th. Can't tell me if it's a month, 2 months or more. But if they extend me and I decline the extension I loose my package. Let the games begin. More playing with peoples lives, emotions, well being. -puzzled-

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Comment 03/09/12: The best wood has left. Those that pushed others out are left. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/09/12: -Very Discouraged- Hey thanks for calling all of us that went before "dead wood". Are you a member of the Alliance? Will you be the next "dead wood". There is no wood, just worker-units to be disposed of. Good luck in your next job. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 03/09/12: What is RA? I was terminated last month by IBM. They give you 2 choices. 1) accept a package 2) go on a 60 day plan and be terminated. The acceptance package says you agree with the termination. IBM strongly suggests you choose this option. For me it was 2 weeks pay and thats all. The termination choice gives you 60 days more pay and health benefits. What's an RA? -Summer-

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Comment 03/09/12: The dead wood is gone they are now starting to prune the live branches, unfortunately there is no room left on the tree to graft the limbs back somewhere else, so they need to go to the dumpster. If we don't want to fight for ourselves think of our children and grand children. Our generations legacy is going to be the one that let the US IT Industry disappear. -Very Discouraged-

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Comment 03/08/12: IBM death by 1000 cuts. Or 1650 cuts as it is this time. Have you joined the Alliance yet? (sounds kinda like Star Wars) Or do you just hope to survive the next round of "IBM Whack-A_Mole"? I have been a member for a number of years but I'm always astounded every time a new round of cuts comes up. IBM'ers say "Why Me? I've done an exceptional job. I'm a good mushroom." and they all rush to the Alliance site looking for advice and for somebody to "Do something". This last round of cuts generated 13000 hits on the website and yet the Alliance has only 250 actual members (like me). The Beamers whine and complain but go quietly back to their cubicles hoping to avoid the next round. The ones that were cut have that "Deer in the headlights" look but still they want somebody else to do something for them. When did IBM'ers become so timid and so malleable? -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 03/08/12: -yourhelpneeded- So you think your one of a few tens of thousands that IBM wronged by an RA? You think you have a case then why did tens of thousands get RAed with no legal remedy? Hate to say it a lawyer now will do you know good but if joined the union along with those that also got RA might have done you better. -sad_but_true-

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Comment 03/08/12: I know Div 68, IBM CHQ Human Resources was also hit hard, but I don't see it listed. I've been trying to get a hold of a package, but so far no luck. If anyone has that one, please forward it on the the Alliance. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/08/12: -myturn- Just called the number you listed (800-796-9876). Selected option 6 and got the following automated message, "Please be advised, we are experiencing high call volumes. Please wait on the line or send an email to...". Looks like the IBM HR department is getting a lot of business. Lots casualties on the Road to 2015. -2015 Roadmap Roadkill-

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Comment 03/08/12: pbc appeal failed - looks like if any RA in the UK I will be losing my job, you just cannot beat them was told on my call i am a solid pbc 2 but peers performed better even though i brought in revenue- i give and look forward to losing my job and home -beatenInUK-

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Comment 03/08/12: Call 800-796-9876 opt 6, 6. The IBM Separation Allowance plan is a different program from the RA. You are entitled to the 1 week severance per 6 mos worked up to a max of 26 weeks (if that was your question). Cheers -Reply to "myturn"-

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Comment 03/08/12: Hmmmm. If I am working at home and join the union that makes my work location 100 percent union. I wonder how the NLRB would rate that? -Exodous2007-

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Comment 03/08/12: Individual Separation Allowance is for those who are separated from IBM but not through a resource action. The RA package will detail the separation allowance instead. The employee may be eligible for the retirement bridge, generally the same terms (within one year of retirement eligibility) as in the IBM Separation Allowance. If you receive a severance under an R/A then you aren't eligible to double-dip into the IBM Separation Allowance. That's my take, since you asked. See-Employee-Services -Poughkeepsie Engineer-

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Comment 03/08/12: A request to Alliance: Please create a fresh flyer that refers to the current RA so we can distribute in break and lunch rooms while interest in unionizing is higher than normal. It might also be good to mention Chile's and Argentina's recent successful union campaigns to give folks some evidence that this is not an impossible goal. Thanks. -Flabbergasted-
Alliance Reply: Go to this link: Flyers and select the most recent. One is a pdf file and the other is a doc file. They both should download for you. If you have any problems, please let me know.

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Comment 03/08/12: Can you recommend a lawyer or firm who knows how to review a package from IBM, Northeast USA please. Lots to understand and I need help. - yourhelpneeded-

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Comment 03/08/12: I read this in my package and don't understand it
"Employees who are identified for permanent layoff under the resource action are ineligible for the IBM Separation Allowance Plan (however, employees may be eligible for a Retirement Bridge associated with the resource action. The terms and conditions of the Resource Action Retirement Bridges are contained in an attachment or amendment to this document. IBM, in its sole discretion, will determine for whom the resource action is intended.Employees who are identified for permanent layoff under the resource action are ineligible for the IBM Separation Allowance Plan (however, employees may be eligible for a Retirement Bridge associated with the resource action. The terms and conditions of the Resource Action Retirement Bridges are contained in an attachment or amendment to this document. IBM, in its sole discretion, will determine for whom the resource action is intended."
What do you get from this? -myturn-

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Comment 03/08/12: Only this company knows how to suck blood out of their employees for their profit by making them work 7 days. Congratulations ibm for recognising next to the hell or I should say jail. Hmmm -Joe-

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Comment 03/07/12: You bunch are so pathetic. Sorry to state a fact. Only 1650 IBMers lose their jobs and you are calling for all out uproar. Soon when the 1650 leave, you'll all calm down and continue to do nothing. Except whine. And wait for the next purge later this year. The Alliance has been busting their a$$ trying to get you IBM sheeple to see the light and you still don't have the mind to flock together and join the union cause. What is it going to take? Are you listening? -anonymous-

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Comment 03/07/12: "Can something be done in the way of getting something on the Shareholders ballots given the Stockholders meeting is next month?"
Like what? BTW, Alliance members have been putting out stockholder proposals since 1999. Unfortunately, all have failed to be adopted by IBM Management since they control the stockholders meeting and get the institutional stockholders to vote their way. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/07/12: Did anyone notice IBM has quietly closed almost every office in the US? Reason was given that "IBM is no longer in the real estate business". In Atlanta, for instance, keys to both huge buildings were given back to the owners and IBM sneaked out Dec 31, 2011 after giving the perm office holders 1 wk notice. Cafeteria, Credit Union etc have also closed. Approx 2500 people were perm residents of the buildings, and most were given 60 days to work from home. If they could not find another position that is specifically remote, they must move to Poughkeepsie - or be fired. On the other hand, some were given remote positions with no question. In any event, the buildings are now empty. -Buckwheat-

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Comment 03/07/12: Monday Feb 27 was an unforgettable day at IBM Poughkeepsie. I saw almost everyone was openly crying and visibly upset even they weren't affected. As many as 1/4 of the people in my Dept got laidoff. From where I came from I could say more. Let me get to the point that the recent resource action had absolutely nothing to do how IBM is doing in America!!!! Not only because IBM had to reduce headcount to meet the goal of $20 EPS by 2015, but because our corporate execs rake in millions dollars for their bonus. I saw my employees work very hard and put in many long hours to help make it look good for our execs.They never thanked us and we were robbed by the fat cats at IBM. -Because of the Fat Cats at IBM-

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Comment 03/07/12: So, when you say you need people to Join the Alliance, which membership category do you need the numbers to be in? I will do what I can in spreading the word. I'm assuming you need the numbers in the Voting Category, is that correct? With GDP coming out March 15, you'd think it would be to everyone's advantage to take $120 out of that and put it towards a good cause !!! Let's go people! -Anon-
Alliance reply: Signing up in any of the 3 catagories signifies support for the Alliance.
When we see enough signers we will do a blitz of official union vote authorization cards.
This could be in any number of scenarios. We strongly encourage employees to become dues paying members because that is how we pay for the organizing campaign, resources, materials etc.

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Comment 03/07/12: Science and Engineering workforce has stalled in the US? Well Yeah. Given the way companies like IBM treat scientists and engineers this doesn't surprise me at all. Who the heck wants to be a scientist or engineer and get laid off by some big fat slob CEO like 3-Finger Lou, Sammy, or Ginni? What a joke. -engineer and not proud-

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Comment 03/07/12: Only 250 members and 13,000 hits we all deserve exactly what is happening to us. The Board and Senior management are laughing all the way to the E*Trade office to deposit there stock options. -Very Discouraged-

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Comment 03/07/12: well we have linkedin, twitter, facebook, etc. we can target groups that technical people would join and also IBM employee specific groups and get the word out. -GetTheWordOutThere-

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Comment 03/07/12: How many people work form home making organizing a "location" difficult? Not only did IBM reduce their expens on buildings & property, they "divided & conquered".-working-from-home-
Alliance reply: About 40% are work from home or mobile and yes that makes organizing, identifying them and outreach very difficult. For those that have email lists of these people please send to the Alliance at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 03/07/12: Visibility, logically is the first step. If 50,000 members are needed to "do this"...we better start thinking of alternate ways to reach everyone. Word of mouth will only go so far. The easiest way would be to get an email to everyone. The alliance was blocked? Try again! -LetsGoCWA-
Alliance reply: When the Alliance is blocked we always find "alternatives".
We need to use all our tools, but that means members and supporters must reach out further to employees and on and on, by all means.

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Comment 03/07/12: Can something be done in the way of getting something on the Shareholders ballots given the Stockholders meeting is next month? I'm tempted to vote down everything this current Board proposes as the current IBM does not stand for the IBM I joined 20+ years back. Obtaining 50K members for the Alliance to fight these battles is such a HUGE number, where many are just plain unwilling to join, as no matter what you tell them, they still feel threatened to join in fear of losing their jobs that much quicker. I hear the message loud and clear but I am fearful that others will not budge! -Anon-

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Comment 03/07/12: Here, here, FreeBird. Couldn't have said it better myself. -juggernaut-

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Comment 03/07/12: The best boycott would be to join the Alliance@IBM. This would send a message that you are mad as hell and you are not going to take this abuse any more. -boycott-by-Union-

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Comment 03/07/12: The Alliance@IBM has about 250 members. In order to bring the IBM execs to the bargaining table, it needs about 50,000! For my part, I talk about unionizing with other IBMers at least 2-3 times a week but, at the current rate of growth, I just don't see how this union can grow to 50,000 strong in my lifetime :-( Perhaps something different can be tried? Perhaps the Alliance@IBM can announce the start of an electronic sign-up drive of some sort? In the wake of the recent layoffs, if the media is tipped off, such an effort would most likely be mentioned in the papers or on the news. Given the atrocities being committed by IBM, thousands of IBMers would join if only they were made aware. Is this an option? - Discouraged-
Alliance reply: First of all it is very difficult to reach all IBM employees by email. IBM has blocked us before and will surely do so again. We need people on the ground pointing workers to our web site and encouraging them to sign up and join the Alliance. We also need strong organizing committees on site and in business units. We need employees willing to be public leaders of this movement.
In the meantime, there is much the Alliance can do as an advocate for employees and a pressure group inside IBM. But we need to be stronger.

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Comment 03/07/12: Many people here are begrudging IBM for its lavish conferences like Pulse. As a past participant in these types of conferences, I can tell you they are NO fun. Under the thin veneer of IBM innovation and all the rah-rah, there is a cynical undercurrent flowing through the air thick enough to cut with a bread-knife. Seems deep inside, most veteran IBMers know that IBM is a house of cards built on deceptive marketing, senseless layoffs and failed deliveries but nevertheless continue to be the enablers of the masquerade in order to survive. During these conferences, when you are with other senior IBMers in a group, the short-sighted focus on EPS, the offshoring and the insecurity due to cost-cutting are the big elephants ever present in the room but no one dare speak of them. Instead what you witness is soul-destroying cult-like spectacle of empty-suit executives attempting to justify their job using cliched speeches, cronies and lackeys blatantly polishing their butts without asking a single uncomfortable question and the rest walking on eggshells or jockeying to be among the "last-men-standing" in the political survival games being played out in IBM everyday. Ugh! What a toxic environment. -FreeBird-

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Comment 03/07/12: The clients offshoring their own employees dont care if we are also, they just want the same level of service they are used to. It's no longer the case that if you hire IBM you wont get fired for the decision like it was 15 years ago though -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/07/12: @Joe, The 7 whole shares of IBM stock is a carrot on a stick to try retain people during these abusive times. Most in the US will be RA'd by the time (2015 Roadkill) the carrot drops. -Blind-Sided-

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Comment 03/06/12: I've seen a lot of posts about advising & boycotting the clients who do business with IBM. Sounds good, but do you realize that a great deal of IBM customers themselves are also off shoring jobs? Do you think they are going to take the side of the American public when they themselves are screwing their own employees? Someone mentioned getting the government involved...Alliance has some awesome links to articles speaking directly to the legislation on the tables. We need to get vocal outside of forums, emails, Twitter & Facebook and be heard where it counts! I guess I lived in a cave for the past 16 years because I only heard of Alliance once prior to 2/27. I should have climbed out of that cave then and maybe I would still have a job come 3/29. Pass the word, some folks are still living in that cave I was in. -Ciao Big Blue-

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Comment 03/06/12: shooting down lots of suggestions but what exatcly does "organize" mean. If all 13,000 people that visited the site the other day joined, would that have been enough to call for the NLRB election? Is there a way for the alliance to mass mail every IBM employee to get their attention. -WhatNOW?-
Alliance reply: This is on our main page under organizing:
http://www.cwa-union.org/pages/how_to_organize_a_union
We need a majority to call for a vote in an appropriate bargaining unit. An example of an appropriate bargaining unit would be the GDF's sites or all SSR's. Another example would be Fishkill and Burlington manufacturing workers. This is all determined by the Labor Board, IBM and the union when we have enough signers to call for a vote.

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Comment 03/06/12: Here is a fool proof plan for everyone at IBM who reads this to follow to make their workplace better and stress levels lower. First get the person you see everytime you look in the mirror to join the Alliance. Next whenever a coworker complains about things at IBM just ask them have they joined the Alliance and if not they have no reason to waste your time complaining if they are not willing to do even the simplest thing to fix things. Being nice and listening to people whine who will not take action has not gotten us anywhere. Maybe its time to make them put up or shut up. Either way you won't have to stress out listening to them complain so you win either way! I wanna be like Ginny. I want a contract! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 03/06/12: A list should be made up of all of IBM's major accounts and letters should be sent to the CEO's of those companies that states the level of service provided in there contracts will be far less or non existent due the continued layoffs and off-shoring of IBM jobs here in the United States and secondly their products and services will be boycotted for supporting a company that continues to eliminate American jobs. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Not to be mean or critical; but explain how this will help grow the Alliance members and organize IBMers to numbers that can reach the amount required to call for an NLRB election? Boycotts might work if they are directed at companies for making and selling products that are dangerous or harmful to consumers; but a boycott does very little to ensure that IBMers will sign up and then also sign up their co-workers to form a union and work toward a collective bargaining agreement that IBM cannot ignore. Boycotts are not necessarily wasted effort; but they do take energy, time, and organizing to be effective. Why not use that energy, time and organizing effort to unionize IBM US IT workers?

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Comment 03/06/12: Anon: "The next time your manager tells you, you have to work on-site vs remote. Point them to..."
OK. So you point your manager to various articles and charts and tell him all sorts of things. The manager finally relents and lets you telecommute. Later that year he simply fires you during the next round of layoffs. What will you do then? You think pointing to articles and your personal wheeling and dealing really changes anything? All this fighting by one or two employees in isolation does NOT work. You may win the battle but lose the war. The only way the employees can win the war is when they possess the same power to hurt the employer as the employer has to hurt them. And, that equality of power will only come when a large number of employees unite in an organization such as Alliance@IBM. -Anon2-

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Comment 03/06/12: Will the Alliance also fight for retirees? I was among those RA'd on 2/27. I am lucky that I can retire and at least have that income to help with the salary reduction (assumed). My fear is that our already lessened retirement benefits will be reduced in the future. Is that possible? -In Atlanta-
Alliance reply: Can IBM reduce retiree benefits? Absolutely! There is a disclaimer on all their docs saying they reserve the right to modify, change or abolish the plan. That is what happens when you don't have a union contract. IBM retirees need to start challenging IBM. Alliance will help when it can.

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Comment 03/06/12: My blood, My Family life, My Dedication is there in this, but now I am not part of it and I dont have any of it. IBM Shares Top $200 for First Time as Technology Stocks Lead
People out there enjoying with all my hard work I did. -John-

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Comment 03/06/12: I know this might not be the correct board or forum, but this is for those who care. With IBM record profits last year a 2+ employee(me) got 3.5% variable pay. 1/10 of a percent higher than last year. Pretty sad. But on the positive side after 2015 I'll get 7 shares of IBM stock in 2015 if I am still there. What a joke, to treat employees like this. Thanks for your time. -Joe-

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Comment 03/06/12: The next time your manager tells you you have to work on-site vs remote. Point them to this: Telecommuting-Creates-Happier-and-More-Productive-Employees

[...]

Creating more flexible work arrangements can reduce the capital required to own or lease a building, and it also can save on parking lot leases, furniture, supplies, building maintenance, security, and other related costs. In an IBM paper, "Working Outside the Box," author Janet Caldow writes that savings in real estate costs and CO2 emissions "far outweigh the cost to transition an employee to mobile status."

To her point: More than 10,000 IBM employees were mobile by 1995, and dedicated office space per employee was reduced from a ratio of 1:1 to 4:1. That same year, more than 2 million square feet of office space and 7,500 work spaces were eliminated. The total cost to transform 10,000 employees into mobile workers was $41.5 million. The savings? $75 million dollars. "And that was just the beginning," she writes.

[...] -Anon-

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Comment 03/06/12: Has anyone successfully gotten a job within the 30 days after being RA'd? -Apply?-
Alliance reply: You'll find the answer to your question within this comments section and/or the other archived comment sections. Almost all times, it is unsuccessful. IBM does not want you to find a job in IBM within 30 days of your RA. That's why they RA'ed you in the first place. They want you gone.

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Comment 03/06/12: To -had it- "How about we boycott those IBM customers that support the offshoring of our jobs? How about starting a list of customers on this web site so we know who they are? -had it-"
--------------------------
I think you have a great idea! If we don't boycott now we won't be able to afford buying their products anyway without a job. Our offshore replacements are making such low pay that they can't afford them either. -too_much-
Alliance reply: Not a bad idea, but not the priority for IBMers; if they want to change things. Organize and fight back for YOUR jobs at the company YOU work for first, instead of boycotting other companies' products and services.

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Comment 03/06/12: i am all for boycott and sick out...things that we can do immediately and get attention. how do we organize? -NotTomsIBM-

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Comment 03/05/12: "....Can IBM HR lay off an employee while one HR appeal is open AND
the employee is on sick leave (for surgery?) I find that very surprising. -Anonymous-"
Why do you find that surprising? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or mean, here. You are an "AT WILL EMPLOYEE". Do you know what that means? It means that IBM can do almost ANYTHING they want to you; including firing you when you are ill or even in the hospital. They can fire you while you are appealing your case with their own HR people. Why can they do that? Because there are no labor laws that tell them that they can't. "At Will Employee" is a phrase that identifies any worker that isn't represented by a union contract or written employment agreement. That pretty much means that ALL IBM workers (except for Executives that DO have contracts) are 'At Will Employees' in virtually all 50 states in the US. Alliance has a "Simple Fact Sheet" link on the right column of this page. Click it and read it and be informed. I am very sorry that IBM treated you in such a despicable manner; but, I'm not surprised at all. IBMers need to organize and stop this kind of despicable nonsense from happening. Now! -At_Will_Employee-

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Comment 03/05/12: ?? Can IBM HR lay off an emplyee while one HR appeal is open AND the employee is on sick leave ??
Yes they can! "at will" they do what they want -anon-

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Comment 03/05/12: -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/05/12: "As giant IBM learns to run, many U.S. employees left behind" http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/blogpost/10808900/ -3030-

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Comment 03/05/12: What timing for IBM's all time high stock price - just one week after the latest blood letting. Sammy is praised in the article found at the following link:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/05/technology/ibm_all_time_high/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
-2015 Roadmap Roadkill-

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Comment 03/05/12: How about we boycott those IBM customers that support the offshoring of our jobs?
How about starting a list of customers on this web site so we know who they are? -had it-

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Comment 03/05/12: Great interim reviews and great feedback from the teams I worked with in 2011. My HR appeal still open as of Jan 2012. Had applied for scheduled sick leave for surgery before I received my lay off notice. Can IBM HR lay off an emplyee while one HR appeal is open AND the employee is on sick leave (for surgery?) I find that very surprising. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/05/12: Ladies and Gentlemen, I have followed this message board since 1999. At that time IBM was forcing the great Cash Balance Plan onto ALL IBM employees. There was such an uproar from the ranks of employees that IBM actually bended, yes bended. They did screw alot of people out of the defined Pension, but it was noticed and a choice was given to those that met the requirements. I left IBM on my own after 23+ yrs and have to say it was the best move I have made in my life. To those that whine and post here I personally ask "How Much Cheese Do You Want With Your Whine"! I am a member of the Alliance, anyone in RTP want to really let the Government, local news etc what's going on? Get ahold of me and join the Alliance, it's your last life boat people and before you drown, make it to the Life Boat!
Best Regards,
P.S I forgot to add, I worked in the Software Group under the notorius Steve Mills. I worked L2 support. In 1993 when 3 finger Lou came in, lot's of people got let go, some I have to say were bumps on a log, but others it was truly unjust. I am a paying member and no longer belong to IBM, so my question to ALL of you, what's your problem besides not having enough cheese with your whine to join! Aye Captain??? -Steve-

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Comment 03/05/12: @-Love it- Last year they gave separation pay for the duration spent in acquired organization. However, one needed to provide the employment letter issued at the time of acquisition and various details related to continuity of employment. May not happen before the 3/28 last day. But, if one is rigorous in following up and diligent in providing supporting documentation, should happen eventually. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/05/12: I am next on the chopping block. Last day is in 30 days. Nebulous reason given about skills rebalancing. They can't tell me though what skills I should have or don't have, just that skills need rebalancing. Insult to ones intelligence. S&D -justanother-

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Comment 03/05/12: US employees all call in sick on a designated day as a show of solidarity? Tuesday April 24, 2012 would be a good day. It's the day Annual Stockholders Meeting. Let's hit them where it hurts. $$. -Lets_all_DO_something-

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Comment 03/05/12: All five U.S based members of the GNA Domino Administration team of the IBM Global Account. Jobs going oversees. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/05/12: I was "resource reduced" in Feb 2004. The over age 50 reductions began in the early 1990's. In 10 years, my dept in Pok went from 65 to 12 with only 2 people 50+ y/o. About 40 of the 65 were over 50 years old, over 25 years service, and all were top technical specialists in Large Systems Support. After retiring, I watched my Retiree Plus 1 Medical go from $330 per month in 2005 to $1233 per month in 2012. I was under the impression that IBM contributed $7200 reduced from $7500) toward Retiree Medical. Nope. The fine print states "up to $7200". The $250 Life Planning Account payment was ceased for those who retired after 12/31/2003. Then thinking IBM would contribute to Medicare Part B for us, I find that IBM ceased that for those who retired after 12/31/1996. So IBM is the cheapest, most unethical company a person could devote 30 years of their life to. I was all for a union in the late 1990s and stood outside with the CWA banners and the airplane fly overs but I found that IBMer's were too cheap to pay union dues and they stuck their heads in the sand. Well, I dare say, most of them are now gone from IBM. Hey, IBM stock is at an all time high!!! Thanks Armonk. -jsb2b-

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Comment 03/05/12: So lied to by IBM. I was with Novus. Told that our Novus time would count in the seperation plan. But now find out that it counts only for the first year at IBM. Lost two years of separation pay. -Love it-
Alliance reply: This is a lesson many employees outsourced to IBM have learned. Never rely on any verbal "agreement" by IBM. Always ask for it writing. If IBM refuses you know they are lying.

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Comment 03/05/12: Ok, so we all see what is going on and what is coming. So ACT. CWA, lay out steps to organize, build push around upcoming Annual mtg for press. PRESSURE politicos on keeping jobs at home or penalizing offshore through tax code to neutralize benefit. CWA, provide link to politicos to help alliance community in that effort. Don't expect IBM to change out of guilt or sense of obligation. They will only change when bottom line incents it, when cost of shame through political conversation, and exposing clients to the increased risk for their assets has an impact. Only then will the obscene amounts of cash held by IBM be reinvested in US jobs and building a brand instead of lazily drifting into the 'commodity' model in a misguided attempt to compete with the likes of Tata. When the inevitable security breaches occure, where will clients turn for assurance of high value delivery? Not IBM if they continue to insist on being a 'commodity provider' where low cost, not quality, reigns. -LessBitchinMoreAction-
Alliance reply: Many of the things you suggest have been done a number of times over the years.
We have done "take action" on offshoring and job loss that enabled employees to simply click and send an email letter to congress. And we will do this again. Stockholders meetings have been a bust the past few years. Why? Because so many employees are unwilling to openly challenge IBM.
We have been raising the issue of tax breaks and incentives for IBM as they offshore jobs.
We have held rallies around this issue at specific IBM sites. Can we do more? Absolutely! But here is what needs to happen. No longer can the mass of employees let the few do these actions in public.
We need a mass movement of employees, out in the open and unafraid, ready and willing to challenge IBM on offshoring and the destruction of our worklives. Can we count you in?

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Comment 03/05/12: Hello, I found out I was terminated-I am part of IBM S&D sales. I am currently on LOA for medical reasons. My appeal for LTD was denied by Metlife, but I have a lawyer who is working with them and the case is not resolved yet and if necessary she will file suit. Is there anywhere you can point me as a resource to help guide and advise? I would not think this would be legal? But then again, the extent that IBM/corporate america does the wrong thing to employees, never ceases to amaze me. I was a 26 year highly ranked/certified sales employee before falling chronically ill. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/05/12: @-overpowered-, Did you join the Alliance yet? -First-Step-

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Comment 03/04/12: I got promoted to Band 8 last year. Got a 2 year retention bonus but yet was asked to leave IBM this year because the division is not making enough revenue IBM expects. How ironic? This is how IBM values money, before you! -Not an IBMer-

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Comment 03/04/12: I was layed off and I am having 20 days to find alernative. http://tivoli-ug.org/
IBM talks about Debuque in pulse presentation -- all of them know how Debuque was given to IBM so many subsidies and very less salary and how much profit IBM is making and now they are showing it in a different way.. Sucking blood of people who work for them. When they can spend millions on conferences, yet they cant take care of their own people!! -John-

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Comment 03/04/12: To anonymous - who decides the cuts - in several cases that I know of, each manager (or department) is asked to rank their employees, top to bottom, and give the list to HR. Then word comes from HR as to how many people are cut, and HR starts counting from the bottom of the list (they may count by category or other factors in addition that the manager is not privy to). An individual manager generally does not know how many people they'll lose till they're told by HR, and told to start setting up meetings. In some cases, they are told to set up meetings with everyone, and then the day of find out which people they will tell are cut and which ones they'll tell are not. I know of a couple of misfires where the manager assumed they'd only lose 1 or 2, so were careful about ranking the bottom few, and then lost well over half - including folk they had not been careful in ranking. They ended up with a team that they'd never have chosen if they'd known the number up front. -anon-
Alliance reply: All the more reason to organize those still at IBM and fight for a contract that slows the process down and protects IBMers from this kind of treachery. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/04/12: GBS - 20% of my dept RA'ed last week. When's the next one? I figure they'll continue to chip away until my organization is entirely offshored - first level management included. So, bring on the next ones - let's get it over with. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: We recommend organizing. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/04/12: USA survivors of this latest wave of layoffs, take a look around you. 3 out of 4 of you will be gone by 2015. The roadmap for roadkill. Save yourself and your family. Think. Where should your loyalty be? -Joe Punchclock-
Alliance reply: We recommend organizing. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/04/12: RA'd 'exempt' coworker given 6/29 exit date then denied 1.5 days earned vacation days benefit for June as month-end date = 6/30 so June = 'not a full month worked' (6/29= a SATURDAY) - legal? -anonymous-
Alliance reply: It is perfectly legal for IBM to do this. For IBMers still employed, there is only one thing you can do about it: get organized and fight for a union contract. IBM can break its own rules, legally, and there is nothing you can do about that. You are an "At Will Employee". IBM can treat you terribly, upon your RA and there is very little that you can do at that point. US IBMers that are still employed, need to LEARN from the RA experience. ORGANIZE. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/04/12: I am an IBM contractor working for Manpower. Manpower is clearly an IBM overseer outfit. They are just paying IT slaves like myself for IBM. After the latest RA those IBMers than remain in my group are treating me differently and it is not better. One remarked that I don't have to worry about the RA since I am a contractor and have a job. Like I'm lucky to not be an IBM employee? Mind you I have little if any benefits compared to an IBMer. I don't get severance and probably don't even get unemployment if I get released from my contract. I'm being looked down upon now since I am still around and IBMers are RAed. I'm not trying to take work away from anyone. I'm just trying to scrape by myself. I'm would like to leave since IBM work environment is becoming totally toxic. Please IBMers and Manpower contractors for IBM lets unite and get a union here. It has to make a positive difference! -overpowered-

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Comment 03/04/12: any thoughts on the fact that end-dates are assigned which deny the accrued vacation benefit for that last month? -anonymous-
Alliance reply: Yes, one thought. Not much you can do about it now. It is perfectly legal fro IBM to do this. For IBMers still employed, there is only one thing you can do about it: get organized and fight for a union contract. IBM can break its own rules, legally, and there is nothing you can do about that. You are an "At Will Employee". IBM can treat you terribly, upon your RA and there is very little that you can do at that point. US IBMers that are still employed, need to LEARN from the RA experience. ORGANIZE. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/04/12: Consider this: IBM's chairman was paid $170M to retire in January, including full medical benefits for life. IBM has off-shored over 100,000 jobs from the U.S. under his tenure- lost American jobs. The cost to pay his retirement off is the same as approximately 1300 employee's salaries and expenses. He left on Dec. 31, 2011. On January 2, 2012, IBM communicated a layoff to reduce expenses. The number of people in that layoff is - you guessed it - around 1300 U.S. employees. Coincidence? I think not. Corporate execs are siphoning money away from their employees to get rich. The average IBM employee who retires this year, after 30 or more years of working, will GROSS $33,000 a year, with one year of benefits assistance (they will pay only $600 a month out of their 33,000 for the first year) After that, no benefits. That GROSS pay, puts most of the retirees BELOW THE POVERTY LINE! How can this kind of 'employee fleecing' be made illegal? -ournightmare-
Alliance reply: It can't be made "illegal", but it can be countered and made useless to IBM management by one simple step: Organize IBMers and get a written collectively bargained contract that prevents management from making themselves wealthy on the backs of IBM employees. Executives, right on up to the CEO have contracts that stipulate what the company MUST pay them on their retirement. All of the CEO's benefits, bonuses, stock options, salary, and perks are also negotiated for them in a written contract. It's perfectly legal. And so will a contract between IBM and the IBM employees also be perfectly legal.....IF IBMers decide to organize and stand up and fight back. Get busy fighting for your jobs, or get busy losing them.

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Comment 03/04/12: "cloud employment" will soon be the next new strategy that IBM will use to pay employees on a "per project" basis. No benefits, no holidays, no vacations, 24 hours work day, 7 days a week, no severance, no unemployment insurance (after the "project" is done). Take your measly cash on the barrelhead and scram IT animal! Come back soon for more. We like getting rich off of you. Welcome to the smarter planet. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/04/12: Once gasoline prices go up to and maybe past $4.50 a gallon and it starts to hurt IBM profits then more RAs will happen. Maybe more RA numbers than IBM initially is planning. Yes, IBM will stop at nothing to make it's lofty EPS promises to Wall St. -anonymous-

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Comment 03/04/12: @GLAD ITS OVER--- Read you severance package, YES if you fail to perform your job duties during your 30 days of notice, you can have your severance package pulled. They have you by the balls or some other bodily part. -Be-More-Aware-UNIONIZE-

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Comment 03/04/12: Everything that I thought America stood for is being destroyed by these thugs. They sleep very well at night with their pillows stuffed with dollars though. The cow-towing and crowing of the third world leeches that are now getting all the products that were creating in truly first world countries in the belief that "we are just as good as you" is bull, and frustrates me more than anything. Sending the products to corrupt Asian countries that have human rights to be ashamed of, all in the name of profit sickens me to the core. And a company that is supposed to epitomize America and everything it stood for is no longer the world class company I joined. It has gone down the drain; and to hear the gutless execs spout "we are a global company" as some kind of justification mantra sickens me. The only comments they get when they make any sort of announcement these days are sycophantic messages on the IBM internal boards from third world lackeys that think it might help them. As is openly joked about these days "India - 145,000 people doing the work of 10". Name me one good thing that has come out of India - come on, quickly! :-) ....it cannot be done. I am not even American and I know that I am on my hands and knees for those in the past that built up IBM so that it could expand and I strived to be just as good and better as my American friends colleagues to uphold IBM in my country. Nowadays it is just arrogant little lackeys that are ungrateful and have no sense of history. All they do is go to the highest bidder. Pathetic to see. -Bored of it-

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Comment 03/03/12: Let's break it down really easy for everyone out there who reads this. I work in Services and we make money for IBM. The problem is that we do not make enough to hit our unreachable annual GP targets. So, what happens? RAs. Folks, this is part of the plan! We play this game of false choices where it seems we are failing and we have to do something and RAs are the only choice. It's such crap. The vast majority of our revenue comes from long-term contracts yet our GP goal is raised to a unachievable level so our division is supposedly forced to RA people to put up something of a respectable GP number. In my area, the first to go are the "legacy" employees and PBC 2s and 3s. After a few RAs, IBM forces people into Manpower with almost no notice. Then on Feb 27, the cuts go deeper (8% of IBM employees in my office). While people are waiting to finish up, it's found out that we are about to hire more Manpower employees. Look I grew up being taught to hate unions and I understand the argument for and against, but without someone fighting for you against this evil, you're screwed. IBM doesn't give a damn about your mortgage, your health, your kids, your standard of living. There are no checks and balances. What are you going to do about it? You have three options: union, quit IBM or bend over. I've spent the week talking up the union with co-workers. -Just the facts man-

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Comment 03/03/12: Off shoring is a strategy for IBM. I don't understand how a union would make any difference. They specifically do not want workers here, so where's the negotiating power? -Not convinced-
Alliance reply: There are union contracts that have limited offshoring and some that have even negotiated bringing jobs back to the USA. Beyond a union contract this is a political issue. IBM should not get tax breaks or incentives as they shift work out of the country. We need to attack this on many fronts. US Jobs and the economy are at stake.

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Comment 03/03/12: If you are over 50 you better support the Alliance and get a Union going to protect your job. HR has you marked as a costly employee. You basically have a target on your back. They don't want to be shelling out high medical costs for you. Be smart and join the Alliance. -Over50andGone-

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Comment 03/03/12: Is there anyway of determining how many IBMers were RAed in NY state? Maybe Sen. Ball is on to something if IBM finally has fallen below the agreed upon amount of employees it needs to employ in NY state to get their economic incentive money and tax breaks. No wonder IBM doesn't break out USA employment numbers. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: When IBM has jobs cuts the number is always just below the number that would trigger a WARN notification. They are very unethical. They are hiding the cuts even from the government. There needs to be a full investigation in every state and at a federal level.

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Comment 03/03/12: I was RA'd 2 years ago by IBM. I was in a "high demand" job (IT Security) with multiple degrees and certifications and 24.5 years of experience with excellent (2) PBCs. It did not matter. They laid me off and all I was left with is my 401K account which was pretty wiped out due to the stock market crash. IBM hired me back a year later as a contractor with no benefits. Then I found a full time job with benefits but I am making $30K less than my old salary. My advice to anyone being RA'd is GRAB any contract job you can right away. Don't only look for full time work because the market is really bad. We have a union where I work now but management is still chopping away at our salaries, pension /401K plans, and other benefits. We have to fight and get Congress to support jobs in the U.S. Too many jobs are being sent overseas. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/03/12: Left IBM over 4 years ago, and the USA, now living in New Zealand. Disgusting to read some of the comments and news and the also the cloud or liquid workforce. Do you get it now, folks, that there will be only two classes in USA ...the elite and low worker bees. -Left The USA now in NZ-

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Comment 03/03/12: Just the facts man- you're right on the money. I took 2 hrs off last week to take my 5 yr old son to see his doctor and was screamed at by management for not being available during that time even after sending that evil manager an email indicating that I will be unavailable for a couple of hours.. I cannot sleep at night anymore with all the stress, I'm expected to work 7 days a week and be available at nights also... I'm actively looking for work but very difficult to find something, cannot quit, need the money, hopefully I will land something soon since my health is being affected seriously, co-workers are becoming ridiculously nasty, backstabbing morons that only wants to out do each other for the coveted 2+ > ratings... Simply put, I hate IBM with a passion, can't wait to get out, I understand why many who got RA'ed said they felt relieved. I wish I could trade place with one of the folks who got RA'd -Richard the Lion Heart-

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Comment 03/03/12: to -rather not say-....i think all you need to do is look at louthridge's earnings remarks this past quarter. i think he basically says layoffs will continue. i believe ibm has billions of dollars earmarked for cost take-out..and i bet you can guess what workfore that is going to be unleasd on. this has been in the works for at least a decade and they are fully commited to their 2015 roadmap..just go look at w3 right now and the story on the roadmap and emerging(growth) markets. they are committing numbers and targets to wall street, wall street loves the roadmap and you better believe..they will hit those targets.....expect the numbers of employees r/a'd the next go arounds to be more than this time.... - i've been out and am lovin' it-

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Comment 03/02/12: The Alliance wants to protect your anonymity. If IBM ever found out of the names of Alliance members who are not Alliance public organizers then they could figure out which IBM business units and sites have the most Alliance membership which would give IBM management heads up to take action to try to further thwart an organizing attempt and movement. Of course the Alliance would not want to see this happen so that is a main reason non-public Alliance members are kept anonymous. Think of it this way: IBM doesn't disclose how many USA employees it has (supposedly for competitive reasons) so then why should the Alliance disclose it's membership? -AnonUnionSupporter-

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Comment 03/02/12: -HoboKEN-, IBM has no way of knowing who is and who is not an Alliance member.
The Alliance would not know if a member got RA'd unless the member wanted to tell them.
My management has known me to be an Alliance member since 1999. I survived many RA's and am still here. -Biker1mike/workforlife-

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Comment 03/02/12:
SO Delivery, Server Systems Operations -- IGA Application Hosting Services & IGA eMail and Collaboration Services:
IGA Change Controls - The one & only change exception process manager was cut
Download Hosting Environment - All IBM regulars cut
Application Hosting Environment - Out of Profile, Custom Bid & Specialized Solutions - All IBM regulars cut
Application Hosting Environment - Web Middleware - Three first line managers cut
Application Hosting Environment - Voice & Unified Messaging - All IBM regulars cut
Application Hosting Environment - Architecture - Four architects cut
Real Time Collaboration (e-Meetings & Sametime) - All IBM regulars except chief architect cut
All above were told their jobs were going to India.
IBM has outdone themselves in slicing their own wrists this time. All of the senior staff, technical leads, team leads, and focal points are all gone. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/02/12: -RochesterGuy- I am on the Cash Balance Pension Account and I have to be 55, sorry, I wondered the same thing. -anon-

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Comment 03/02/12: -RochesterGuy- Seriously? 30 years and you don't know what your entitled to? Everyone in your position needs to call Fidelity right now and find out what they are entitled to, what age they have to be or years of service etc. Not to single you out -RochesterGuy- because believe me your not alone. People. Find out what awaits you in your Golden Years from this company you work so hard and blindly for. As each person's situation may differ due to age, years of service, plan your under etc., there are no pat answers without you calling and verifying your own situation. You will probably be shocked to find out how little you will be getting. And from a 2007 retiree, trust me, You are NOT going to see any raises from what you are told other than your costs for the medical. Also ask them about covering any children you may have that are still on your insurance after you retire. That answer will surprise you also. FHA covering just you, no spouse and no kids MAY last 5 years at best for the least expensive coverage. Know what ducks you have in a row. Or don't have as the case may be. You may be trying to hang on under the radar for something that is not worth staying for. Want to improve your retirement picture? That can be part of a union contract you know. IBM sure as hell isn't going to improve it for you. Also anyone who is getting your " VESTED" benefit and not the actual pension, you have no option to leave any of it for your spouse. When you die, its gone. Your spouse gets not another thin dime. Pretty Shitty deal but unless you organize and force changes with contracts it is not going to improve. Yes folks there really is no bright side to any of this shit. IBM wins and we lose! Yet again. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 03/02/12: I am not an IBM employee but wanted to forward on a good article from the WRAL Techwire that talks about IBM's "brilliant" strategy when it comes to layoffs.-
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/10802909/ -Greg-

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Comment 03/02/12: Is it possible to get a union vote now? -anon-
Alliance reply: If only it was that easy. There is a myth that we could have called for a vote in 2000. We had big mass meetings in places like Poughkeepsie that brought out hundreds of workers. The problem was that even in Poughkeepsie we did not meet the federal labor law requirement of 30% sign ups. By the way the sign up cards have a shelf life of 6 months. There is a federal labor vote process we and all union organizing campaigns must follow.
The Alliance can not make up its own rules.
Does that mean we don't keep working towards that goal? Of course not. But there is much that can be done now.
Please see these links: http://www.endicottalliance.org/organizingforthelonghaul.htm
http://www.endicottalliance.org/allianceibmsimplefactsheet.htm
Joining the Alliance in any of our 3 membership catagories signifies support for the union.

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Comment 03/02/12: Sorry RochesterGuy. Screwed over. FHA only if you are 55 with at least 15 years; But with 30 years and being 52...no dice. Check with the ESC though. Another reason for a Union. Union benefits. -Same Boat-

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Comment 03/02/12: Found answer to my own question. Since I was not yet 40 years old on 7/1/1999, I need to be 55 to get my FHA, regardless of years of service. I'm sure I read somewhere that retirement benefits MUST be based on years of service...looking. -RochesterGuy-

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Comment 03/02/12: Overheard a senior manager say, "we lost some 1000 people this go around and the next ones this year are going to be at least a factor of 4 or more." Isn't that delightful. Can anyone out there say they've heard anything similar? IBM has stood for many things but now it means:
It's
Become
Miserable -rather not say-

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Comment 03/02/12: Is the Future Health Account available at age 55, or 30 years service? That's a consideration for me as I have 30 years service but am only 52. -RochesterGuy-

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Comment 03/02/12: Was informed that I was being let go on Monday. Was given a Blue folder containing the PACKAGE by my manager. Felt bad for my manager she was almost in tears. She was just the messenger. Worked in Poughkeepsie NY IBM plant. Was a Technician with almost 23 years working for IBM. 4 people out of 23 let go from my dept. Hear that there will be more resoure actions taking place next QTR. At least 50 percent of my area is made up of Contractors (Manpower). Was told by Management that it was good to have Contractors. It would save jobs! because if work slowed down they would be let go first. What Bullshi they spread. I think they really believe it. Well looks like I get 6 months of medical coverage and up to 26 weeks of seperation pay. And 30 days to look for another job in IBM. In the past they always closed out the job search during that period. What B.S. The company is only interested in profits. Respect for employees does not exist there. -Anonymous-
Aliiance Reply: Sorry for your job loss. You are correct, "The company is only interested in profits. Respect for employees does not exist there." The IBMers AND the contractors must do what is in THEIR interest. They must respect themselves and take care of themselves. IBMers and contractors MUST organize. It IS the right solution.

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Comment 03/02/12: Ok End date is 3/28/2012. Do we have to work till that date to get the severance package? What happens if I get a job prior to that date? -GLAD ITS OVER!-

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Comment 03/02/12: Received notification of my RA on Monday, last day is March 28. After years of watching my friends and top-performing colleagues getting the boot, while work was sent overseas to under-qualified replacements with the remaining US team members having to pick up the slack and keep the projects/systems from breaking, I am more relieved than anything that it's my time to go. Seeking out a job change can be scary, especially given the tough economic climate these last few years, but honestly this is a transition I should have made long ago. IBM is not the same company I joined and the work environment has become unbearable. I look forward to bigger and better things in my professional career. -Relieved-

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Comment 03/01/12: The ISC let go the last of the non-contractors in 3x/5x and the only IBMers left are in 7x and those jobs likely offshored .in in 3 years. They will take the hit in lost sales from unhappy customers but figure cost differential will more than make up the entire difference. Their thought is that by that time the customer base will be more willing to accept substandard support that comes with .in, "after all that is where everyone goes for support." Stupid? Yep, Short sighted? Yep, but I see no way around it. -TimeLineTillGone-

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Comment 03/01/12: 9 out of 13000 doesn't sound like people got the message. Are the 9 voting members or are they RA'ed people. -beenthere-

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Comment 03/01/12: It's good to see the membership increase with the Alliance. How many times does the axe have to fall before people get it? I ignored the warning signs and got wacked. Don't be stupid. Join the Alliance now and do something positive to save your job. It's too late for me. -GoneFromBigBlow-

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Comment 03/01/12: How many alliance members where ra'd? -HoboKEN-

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Comment 03/01/12: Any RAs in the GDFs? -anonymous-

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Comment 03/01/12: It is very disheartening to see IBM cut their US workforce like this. I am still with the company but I know my time is limited. The division I work in SC has had major layoffs this past year and there are rumors that we will be shut down within the next 6 months. What really bothers me is the manner in which we have been treated during this process. Only a handful of the employees who were let go received a severance package. And the management has been disrespectful to say the least. Many in the management team have been told that they are safe and will be placed in other areas of the company. They continue to get raises and bonuses while we get nothing and are told that we should just be thankful to still have a job. One of the team leads actually complained in front her entire group because her bonus this year was less than what she got the prior year. And she did this the day after half the people in our office were laid off. -Disappoited-

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Comment 03/01/12: The best thing you can do for yourself is be prepared. Join LinkedIn and take a seminar on how to work the tool for a new job. Get your resume prepped and hunt for a job while you have a job. I'm an 11 year IBMer and I love my job but I'm not crazy enough to think they wouldn't fire me in a heart beat to meet 2015 EPS goals. I do have two Minneapolis VPs that I work with both with headcount for Bus Analytics and infrastructure architecture email me if you're in Rochester or Mpls -bigNDfan-

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Comment 03/01/12: Just learned 4 execs band D or above made a significant effort to stop my managment team from RA'ing me. FOUR!!!! It's amazing how ppl outside of the organization I work with understand the value I provide to the client and my management team is just blind. Oh well, this just makes me know this has little to do with my performance. I hope Ginny somehow gets these threads on this forum because she is losing a lot of good staff and experience; and keeping people who know how to run scared and have no clue as to how to evaluate employee performance. -Anonymous-

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Comment 03/01/12: I cannot believe after reading most of these comments her that most are in shock here for being surplussed. Did you think since 1993 you were better than those let go before you? How many of you who were hired after 1993 thought you were better than those who were the first wave? All current IBMers need to wake up and move out on your own.. -Retired-

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Comment 03/01/12: -Membership Numbers- I think a lof of folks got RA's and came here for info (good). But since they were RA'd they don't think of joining (bad). If you come to this site, then join the Alliance and support it like it's trying to support you. I'm RA'd (retired) and I am a member. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 03/01/12: In the wake of this bloodbath, have the membership numbers gone up for the Alliance? I know many rely on this site for the best information and many are reading, are they acting too? -hoping-
Alliance reply: 9 new members since Monday. The web visits on Monday were 13,000.

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Comment 03/01/12: company is eating itself from the inside. i see it now from greenville. clients are leaving, cancelling contracts, service is terrible. good for those who got it now, will just get worse later -greenvillesc-

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Comment 03/01/12: STG-MD Division was letting go quite a lot of people. An engineer who had spend over 30 years of his youthful years in IBM was forced out. Poor fellow was slapped with two PBC 3 in a role by his 1st line without warning except informing him he would be on the chop board. What a humiliation way to exit? NO RESPECT! -Call it quit-

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Comment 03/01/12: To add to "Outta here" comment. This is happening in IBM Hong Kong too. IBM hired me/us through middle recruiter -- namely "Verossity" and "Infoteck" as contractors and placed us to some Hong Kong local clients. The IBM --"project managers" do not take part in any of the works. There were clauses that specifically state IBM relationship with me would terminate once my contract is cut or completed. IBM did not get involve in any work. They are like any cheaper agencies who suck blood out of the contractors same as a parasite. That's how IBM makes money these days, completely unprofessional with IT -- losing much blood--

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Comment 03/01/12: Just had an All-Hands Call with VP of GBS Operations (George Metz) A team over 400 people attended the conference call to basically tell us that GBS operations will be flushed down the toilet. Expect HUGE cuts sometime in 2012. Major overhaul of several areas of the business:
Business Management Operations, RDMs, Contract Management and Project Management, Internal Controls, Testing and Compliance. Expect whole functions to be gone i.e. fired sometime in 2012. -Done4it-

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Comment 03/01/12: Felt wasted 4 years of prime time at IBM. Left IBM two and half years back, and am glad that I did. Company with no morals. One rower, eighteen managers. -Anonymos-

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Comment 03/01/12: I was RA'd 5 years ago and am now a Manpower employee. Manpower, through IBM, offers NO vacation time to employees; 1 pay raise every 3 years regardless of performance; and only 6 holidays per year. Plus are paid 30-40% less than an IBM worker doing the same job. Insurance is so poor you may as well not have any. I understand that "cloud employment" will soon be the next new strategy that IBM will use to pay employees on a "per project" basis and will probably be rolled out in Europe. IBM's on a roll to attain their 2015 goal for shareholders regardless of the cost to employees (the 99%)!! -Underemployed-

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Comment 03/01/12: For all those that have just been RA'd, be sure to ask your managers about bonus/PBC/variable pay that is due 03-15-12. This is for the work year 2011, you are all eligible, except anyone rated a 3. -Concerned-

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Comment 03/01/12: Things are only getting worse at IBM there was an e-mail sent out yesterday about PBC bonuses. Now it doesn`t even matter if you get a 1 or not, if your group didn`t make a profit then you`re not entitled to any bonus. -whatever-
Alliance reply: All of your above comment would change if IBMers in the USA had a contract. Organize now. Join Alliance@IBM. Don't wait until the next "layoff" or firing to come around. You can DO this.

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Comment 03/01/12: What can we do to have a media presence at the next IBM annual meeting of stockholders? April 24, 2012 at the Charleston Area Convention Center, North Charleston, South Carolina. I would go if something were organized. I am a member of the alliance and still employed, for now...until the next RA. -proUNION-

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Comment 03/01/12: IBM has opened several Admin Hubs in Raleigh NC, Austin TX, England, Toronto and Malaysia - all staffed by Manpower Temps. This is the face of the new IBM Admin Support Groups. IBM Savings = no benefits, less pay, no pension and less vacation. This is degrading U.S. salaries. -Outta here-

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Comment 03/01/12: After spending many years at IBM thinking it was a great place to be, I was RA'd 5 years ago. I found another job that actually appreciates what I can do and has helped me further my career. What I find disturbing is this lack of respect for the American IT worker that IBM has. It has not gone unnoticed in the universities either. -Former IBMer and will stay that way-
Alliance reply: It's not just IBM that lacks respect for US IT workers. It's most of the IT companies that are based or began in the US. They continue to perpetrate the LIE that "the US IT workers do not have the skills to compete in the Global Market". The truth is otherwise, obviously. IT companies, especially IBM, are exploiting workers in other countries because their labor costs are a tenth of what a US IT worker costs. On top of that, the US IT workers are forced to train them, before the US IT worker is fired.

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Comment 03/01/12: I heard BAO was hit very hard, something like 50% Can someone confirm? -Can'tFocus-

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Comment 03/01/12: Got the ISC Axe. My work is going to India. Which is kind of funny since about 1/3 of my day is answering stupid questions from India and fixing the messes they make. Who is in worse shape, the people leaving or ones left behind to hold things together? -Gone Fishin-
Alliance reply: Sorry for your job loss. Who is in worse shape? The people that were fired because they didn't have a union contract. The people left behind have a chance to change things and organize their co-workers and work to prevent the abuse and uncertainty of being an "At Will Employee".

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Comment 03/01/12: Does this kind of unethical practice happen in Europe too or unfortunately is this part of a North-American employee's daily-life? -Future IBMer-
Alliance reply: "This kind of practice" happens anywhere in IBM that the workers are not represented by a union contract or employment agreement. Some European IBM locations DO have unions and works councils to negotiate labor issues. Yes, there are some non-USA IBM locations that don't have a union; however, the ones that do, fair much better than the USA does.
Check out the IBM Global Union Alliance page for a list of the unions and works councils world wide:
http://endicottalliance.org/iwiswebsite/iwis-ibmgua-links.htm

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Comment 03/01/12: I survived this go around. We lost a significant % of our department. Manager was nice enough to say the work doesn't go away and that the"survivors" must absorb the work. We work ~60 hours a week now. I was "offered" all of the work of 1 teammate. Knowing that I am in a unique situation without the ability to leave, I will get dumped on. If I were to leave on my own, I would be liable for more than double what severance would be. I am stuck for another year before I can look outside. Once that term is up, my resume is ready to go. I am using the time to build the additional skill sets that are valuable outside IBM. -Survivor-

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Comment 03/01/12: I left IBM over a year ago and am very happy with my new job. I hadn't realized how good my skills were until I left - I have GREAT skills in my new job. IBM has forced out so many people that only the very best are left and the competition is fierce. It is much, much better to be hunting for a job while you have a job. It it a factor at your job interview. Waiting until you are RA'ed is simply too late for most of us. It is very scary to walk away but if you need to work another 10 or 20 years there simply isn't any future in staying with IBM. Good luck to all of you. -Jeff-

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Comment 02/29/12: KROC-AM 1340 in Rochester MN reported that the IBM employee population in Rochester is now under 3,000, down from a peak of 8,100. Also KROC reported that IBM-Roch is mothballing two buildings. -Frank-

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Comment 02/29/12: We lost 2 SSR's in our territory. One large system SSR and one midrange SSR. B/O 49R -Gifted One-

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Comment 02/29/12: STG. Band 8. Got notice yesterday. I couldn't even think anything out of it because I have been so tired working day and night to meet the delivery date ... -Tired-

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Comment 02/29/12: I don't understand. The economy is supposedly on the mend. Jobs numbers are increasing and new claims for unemployment continue to fall. Why then is IBM continuing with their layoffs. I'm in Software Group in RTP/NC and go hit this week. Very discouraging. -econWondefulReally?-
Alliance Reply: I'm sorry for your job loss. IBM has been planning the reduction of US IBM employees for over a decade. They began this job cut/offshore policy in 1999. It has nothing to do with "The economy is on the mend. Jobs numbers are increasing and new claims for unemployment continue to fall."

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Comment 02/29/12: How many received a 3 rating and still got severance? Or didn't get severance? -Wondering-

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Comment 02/29/12: I'm aware of at least 20 loosing jobs in Montreal but probably over 100. I'm one of those... -BeenliedTo-

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Comment 02/29/12: I was laid off today. Let me work the entire day and then laid me off right before going home. -greenvillesc -

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Comment 02/29/12: Given my walking papers today. -greenvillescmanager-

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Comment 02/29/12: The Feb 29 Leap Year Day tradition is alive - the girl (Ginni) takes the initiative and invites her targets to the dance where they get whacked. -Done unto me in 2005-

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Comment 02/29/12:
Click link to read entire article: media-advisory-in-the-wake-of-ibm-layoffs-ball-urges-legislation-to-end-tax-incentives-for-companies-that-offshore-jobs

MEDIA ADVISORY: IN THE WAKE OF IBM LAYOFFS, BALL URGES LEGISLATION TO END TAX INCENTIVES FOR COMPANIES THAT OFFSHORE JOBS
Posted on February 29, 2012 by Greg Ball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brittany Serra, (845) 200-9716

IN THE WAKE OF IBM LAYOFFS, BALL URGES LEGISLATION TO END TAX INCENTIVES FOR COMPANIES THAT OFFSHORE JOBS

Who: Senator Ball
Former IBM Employees
Local Business Leaders
What: Senator Ball will discuss his legislation that would end tax
incentives for companies that offshore jobs, and he will also renew
calls for the state to get a guarantee from IBM that they will keep
jobs in New York and be transparent in their reporting practices.
Where: Senator Ball's District Office
1441 Route 22 Suite 205
Brewster, NY 10509
When: 3/1/2012, 4p.m.
Media that can't make it to the District Office can join Senator Ball via conference call: (605) 475-4000 and enter the code 591038.
For more information or to speak with Senator Ball, please contact Brittany Serra (845) 200-9716.-Anonymous-

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Comment 02/29/12: "Wonder how many "life is better after IBM" might be IBM HR bloggers paid by IBM to say this. Like they are doing a little shove to those that are left to just leave IBM."
Speaking for myself only: I left IBM voluntarily, and I'm definitely in the "life is better now" crowd. I'm learning more relevant skills; I'm paid as well; I work hard, but the people I work for appreciate it in both words and dollars. I realize that people stay @ IBM for different reasons. To everyone who stays voluntarily: It's not going to get better without a union. It may not get better WITH a union, but it's the only chance you have of staying there and not enduring this emotional torture every year, year after year. If you're not going to be a dues-paying member to the Alliance, then don't wait around for "the package". The package may never come. The package may go away. You're enduring incredible stress and emotional damage to wait around to be whacked, and for what? Why do that to yourself? I wouldn't treat a skunk the way IBM treats its employees. If you're not going to try to make IBM better, then for your own sake, get the heck out. -irRational-

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Comment 02/29/12: I know that there is a nice life outside of IBM -- I left it once before and then rehired with IBM when the other employer went out of business. But that doesn't make me any less sad to see my friends and former co-workers shoved out the door. I spoke with someone today who has other interests and pretty good job options. She said even with her other options, being shown the door like that "feels crappy". In my dept (within STG division) we lost 3 out of 19. I looked at the 16 of us remaining and I thought -- do I feel confident that any of them would make a better target than me when the next RA comes, which we've heard is May. The answer is No. I am sending in my $60 Alliance associate membership because "do nothing" is no longer an option for me. This is a blood bath. Every day I hear of another friend who was cut. Something about this year feels significantly worse, though I can't quite put my finger on what it is. -Saddened by Lies and Mistreatment-

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Comment 02/29/12: 16 years of nothing but 1 and 2+, latest manager gives me a 3 after assigning me a project which he knew would fail. He made sure to micromanage it to the point where my hands were tied, then blamed me for not making goals. This sort of thing takes planning, folks. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/29/12: Expected to see the 3rd consecutive year of RA's - does anyone know if the UK will be hit, it's all been very quiet over here and most dont think it will happen but im not sure as massive push to move as much as possible offshore plus UK losing some massive contracts this yr -alldownhill in the uk-

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Comment 02/29/12: Wonder how many "life is better after IBM" might be IBM HR bloggers paid by IBM to say this. Like they are doing a little shove to those that are left to just leave IBM. The job market still stinks for ZT workers in the USA based on what IBM and other IT companies are doing to marginalize them with work offshoring. Most IT workers get less pay in their next job. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: It also subliminally says "don't fight back, don't unionize; just leave IBM" too. IBMers have had plenty of warning that layoffs will come to pass, if the workers do nothing and don't fight back. It's sort of an innoculation against courage to stand up and organize. Your theory is an interesting point. Thanks for your comment.

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Comment 02/29/12: 2/27 STG Cross Platform Software ~50 folks most over 40 -NotMyDadsIBM-

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Comment 02/29/12: -cometomyemotionalrescue-: "Waiting for the next round of RAs is emotional torture ... but not leaving until they kick me out. Why would one give up 6 months severance."
Two reasons to leave:
1. Easier to find a job while you are still employed.
2. You may not get a severance if you are rated low (PBC 3) and given the boot.
But agree it is an emotional torture and the 2 things that can rescue us from this torture is a union and a contract. -Iwish-

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Comment 02/29/12: Is it true the IBM's plan will close the Pok Lab, after the IBM lab is opened in China?? -jef-

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Comment 02/29/12: Best of luck. Left that madness on my own terms 10 years ago and never looked back. Found out what work/life balance REALLY means once I got to the outside. Every measurable aspect of life improved. immediately. -TenYearsOut-

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Comment 02/29/12: To those hit with the RA this time around: I was affected in the 3/2009 one. I found a job the next month, started a bit later, and got a 60% pay increase. I have not worried about being laid off in the interim. IBM is a dysfunctional family. You have a choice to change it or leave it. -Oatmeal-

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Comment 02/29/12: The local Rochester, MN community no longer places IBM in high regard. the overwhelming attitude toward IBM in this community is at an all time low. Many would like to see it just go so the land could be used for prosperous commercial industry. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/29/12: Layoff-survivor-stress-guilt-forbes-woman-well-being-employees
I am feeling really bad about the blood bath this week...not on the list but I'm running really low on optimism for the future... -nothinglastsforever-

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Comment 02/29/12: Add five US Integrated Supply Chain (ISC0 Global Logistics IBM employees to the list of layoffs on 2/27/12 . Looks like about 10% of US GL. -anon-

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Comment 02/29/12: 150 GA Exec Admins laid off or 20% of our US workforce. -SeeYa-

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Comment 02/29/12: thanks to all who suggested ways to live after RA -training my india replacement-

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Comment 02/29/12: Waiting for the next round of RAs is emotional torture. The amount of stress this causes and the amount of concentration it takes away from actually working is insane. IBM seriously needs an internal overhaul. This is not the way...but not leaving until they kick me out. Why would one give up 6 months severance. -cometomyemotionalrescue-
Alliance reply: The internal overhaul needed is a union and a contract for employees..

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Comment 02/29/12: Sorry to see news about more RA's but also wanted to let you know there is a life after IBM. I was RA'd after 13 yrs of service and am working for a competitor now in a better position, better corporate culture, and better pay! It was nice not having all the stress after working like crazy and training my worldwide replacement. Enjoy the severence, sign up for unemployment benefits, and use that retraining program assistance money! -RA'd 2 ys ago-

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Comment 02/29/12: Left IBM last year. Life is so much more enjoyable and less stressful now. To those RA'ed hang on, there is opportunity out there. -EnjoyingLifeAgain-

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Comment 02/29/12: Cut from GTS Services Risk & Compliance in Canada after 10+ years and 2/2+ PBC's - position is being moved over to Argentina; A little upset, but looking forward for the opportunities elsewhere. I do feel bad for those that are remaining, as needed skills are going missing and managers aren't allowed to backfill positions where help is needed (I guess that's where the move to GR comes in). What is also sad is that IBM ends up paying penalties (and huge ones) for accounts due to GR's not being able to do the work, and accounts aren't happy and are leaving. For those of us waiting for time to tick down - good luck! - MondoinCanada-

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Comment 02/29/12: Got the RA. I personally am looking forward to not working for IBM anymore. 24 years in. -PutAForkInMe-

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Comment 02/29/12: People, please understand that North Carolina is an "At Will" employment state. This means IBM, or any other NC company, does not need a reason to let anyone go from any job. Simple! All this talk of age discrimination, getting a lawyer to fight it, etc is totally futile. Go ahead, take your savings and give it to a lawyer to review your issue. He/she will tell you they will not take you on, due to the "At Will" status. How do I know? Been there done that! As for age discrimination in layoffs, IBM has that covered cold. Have any of you looked at your dept? Chances are a good percentage of your area are "over 40" years of aged. If a large percentage of people RA's are over 40, it is because most employees are over 40. This is not a company of youngsters, like Red Hat or Google. Also, a number of folks have written that they were shocked they were RA'd. IBM's goal is as few US employees as possible. I think many IBMers are still not living in the real world. -Concerned-

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Comment 02/29/12: I was an employee with OAOT (Canada), a partnership with IBM US. In the late 90s, jobs were outsourced to us in Toronto and Moncton on the 10-year contract. Then in 2004-06, 80% jobs were moved off-shore to India. I got laid-off at that time. Shortly after I got rehired in 2007, they annonced they would move the remaining of the jobs to IBM Brazil, so I got laid off again. How in the world someone can survive in the IT industry. I think we should all become plumbers and brick layers. - jobless in Toronto-

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Comment 02/29/12: I served a 14 year sentence in two different stints with IBM in sales before I just could not take it anymore and found another job. Please, please, please know that just about anyplace on earth is better than working for IBM. You will be better off not working there. -TwoToursOfMisery-

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Comment 02/29/12: I left IBM on my own terms a year ago and I couldn't be happier. The cycles of RAs where pressure enough but when my manager took a 1 year assignment in India to train resources to "supplement" our workstaff it was clear days were numbered. Trust me there are good jobs available and its easier to get a job when you have one. One irony is that I got this from an IBM recruiter 2 days ago.
"I found your profile on LI. I am a recruiter for IBM's Systems and Technology Group. We are looking to hire 40-50 new IBMer's in RTP and I wanted to tap into your network to see if you know anyone! These opportunities are for a small, $35-40M division within IBM with 120 employees and we are exploding in growth. We would like to target the Raleigh area first since this offers a huge opportunity for growth as we transition from a hardware group to a services firm. We prefer computer science and engineer professionals who are customer focused, but can dig into the details as needed. I would love to talk to you about your background to see if we have an opportunity that matches your career goals. If you are interested in speaking with me or if you know anyone, please forward my information along. Here is a link to a sample opening:" https://jobs3.netmedia1.com/cp/job_summary.jsp?job_id=STG-0456433 -Rich-

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Comment 02/29/12: It still amazes me that people think that IBM (exec's) don't know what they are doing. They know their customers and future customers needs and are building the staff to meet them. To believe they don't realize the impact is naive. Wake up , this is a strategy. -beenthere-

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Comment 02/29/12: Anyone who can, during the '30 days' should request the 12 week Family Medical Leave. That basically shifts out later the ending of COBRA for another three months. From what I understand they have to give you the 12 weeks if you have a reltive that it's plausitive needs your care... even if requested during that '30 day' period. -Tricky Dick-

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Comment 02/29/12: Hi Puzzled SSR's I believe are part of the SO group. -Whatever-

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Comment 02/29/12: Please see main page for list of job cuts by business unit. If you notice any missing, please email RA pack to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 02/29/12: My God. What happened to the beloved IBM I used to know? I retired in 1991 when they began that Orwellian garbage about rating you relative to your co-workers, but also how well you cooperate with your co-workers. Insane. Cynical. I could see it was the beginning of the end. -Walt C. Snedeker-
Alliance reply: Thanks for commenting. Yes, IBM has been firing its workforce by the bushel, since 1994. Every year after that fateful first "layoff", IBMers in the US have had to fear every fiscal period with trepidation. It's now at a fever pitch with no end in sight; unless you consider a USA with no more IBM employees working there, "an end". That 'beloved' IBM you once knew, has become "bedeviled" with greed and hubris; and they are doing nothing but destroying the lives of IBMers throughout the USA. Very sad indeed. We've been telling US IBMers for almost 13 years, that they need to stand up and fight back. Your comment implies that you might have felt the same way; if you were still an employee. We welcome your comments, Walt.

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Comment 02/29/12: I was resourced monday from CHQ. Clear case of retaliation. Does anyone know of a lawyer that would handle this in or near Raleigh, NC? -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/29/12: 54 of 58 cuts are age 40 and above in my husband's dept. I will be contacting EEOC just so they know. -Wife of Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: Now more good workers laid off because more work is being offshored. I guess the lessons weren't truly learned as they keep getting told that the offshore and GDF folks aren't able to keep their systems functional. Cheaper labor will cost them by losing accounts, but they don't care. Those people that you layoff to offshore more jobs are people that are part of your customer base...less people working means a smaller customer base. Is that so hard for these large companies to understand? They are ruining their image and their reputations with these low skilled offshore and GDF workers that find themselves moving from a restaurant job to managing a huge enterprise overnight. Not meaning to hurt these employees feelings, just pointing out that you can have some low skilled people on each account if you must, but to keep getting rid of the guys that have twenty and thirty years of experience to save money is stupid and will cost them dearly in the long run as these clients take their IT back in house and tell all the CIO's that they know about the nightmare they went through with IBM. -Fail-Fail-Fail-

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Comment 02/28/12: There were 6 people RA'd in Accounting yesterday. 4 in Raleigh and 2 in NY. Given til 3/28. Also, 10 people in World Wide Accounting in both Raleigh and NY, including myself, are currently training our Argentinian replacements. Our work goes to them 4/16. They have a plan to movr the rest of World Wide Accounting to Argentina by 1Q of 2013. They keep telling us they will find us other roles within the company but I haven't seen any openings. Just thankful I am around long enough to get my Bonus. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: SWG Services and Business Operations RA'ed 39 people (20 in Admin, 16 Sales Specialists, 2 in Sales Support, and 1 Executive IT Specialist) -Phred-

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Comment 02/28/12: re Cobra & TAA for new RAs - make multiple copies of your last pay stub before severance pay, your cobra election forms, any thing re med benefits after separation. Also, anything that shows your work being transitioned to offshore resources - foreign team lists/contacts, emails, outsource resource & training plans, etc. I still can't find my Cobra election form with the dates required. You have to prove coverage before and after Cobra to qualify for HCTC - invoices, proof of payment, cobra election form with start/end dates. More re Cobra, you may qualify for State (3 month emergency payments until Federal processed) and Federal HCTC Healthcare Coverage Tax Credit for trade affected (TAA/TRA) or dislocated workers (WIA) which was just increased in Jan. 2012 from 65% to 72.5% of Cobra rate - that kicks in after 6 month IBM subsidy. There may be a 7.25% rebate of your Cobra premiums paid during the 6 month IBM subsidy period in 2011. You might also find state commercial healthcare options cheaper than IBM Cobra and also eligible for 72.5% subsidy, depending on your state. See link below for Trade Act eligibility - try to use existing petition - 2011 80,000 plus for more flexible benefits. There are now petitions covering remote workers outside of states, or join with 3+ other workers to start a new petition in your state. Also, there can be several months delay in government posting newer approved petitions so keep checking back to see if you fit definition of newer petitions. http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/.
Re HCTC: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=187948,00.html.
Must file both federal and state applications - so make extra copies of your Cobra forms/documents. Regarding TAA, your local unemployment office "OneStop" can help but if they don't have experienced TAA coordinator, you may have to take the lead or escalate to the state coordinator. Warning sign - if the DEW employee does not know TAA application process, criteria for training benefits, etc. BIG CONGRATS TO IBMers who got RAd over age 50, months before planned retirement and min fed retirement age - there are extra benefits for you that can enhance your years before retirement - learn a new career, subsidize reduced wages, or get healthcare help until your Medicare date. Just be ready to read and fill out forms! Best wishes to all my fellow RA-ers.-Ann Ominous-

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Comment 02/28/12: US IBM internal Education Personnel took a huge hit again this go round. Jobs were outsourced to Malaysia and India.IBM Education has been gutted They have used US employees to train their own overseas replacements before cutting them loose. By end of 2012 IBM US internal education will probably be non-existent. All to save a few bucks on less labor. however it takes 3 overseas employees to replace one qualified US worker. Where is the true labor savings. with this last go round IBM US internal Education now suffers brain drain. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Apparently, education and training are not priorities for IBM to help their employees become better at what they do. 'Brain drain' seems to be proof that "lack of skills" is a big lie that IBM perpetuates throughout the company; at least here in the USA. How's that for curious?

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Comment 02/28/12: Have any SSR's been given their notices in this latest RA? Can anyone tell me what IBM group the SSR's work for? All these acronyms for the IBM departments are very confusing. -puzzled-

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Comment 02/28/12: 10 of 17 employees have been laid off from SWG team in Edmonton, Canada. -acquired then eol'd-

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Comment 02/28/12: I had a 2+ pbc & preparing an Executive presentation when I was RA'ed 2 years ago. Exec's went nuts, escalated my dept, but nothing happened. After I left I was called many times to assist with IBM IT problems, since the Global resources had no clue. Been working for an IBM competitor & the company is great, better benefits, higher salary, less bureaucracy. Leaving IBM was a relief. -Was Adiosed 2 yrs ago-

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Comment 02/28/12: to -LongTimeBeemer- SWG is currently cutting the 3 performers, after they're gone, then they'll know how many more need to be cut, RA will come next. -qtr_century-

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Comment 02/28/12: CHQ was affected as well at least 70 jobs bands 6 - 10. Hoping for SEC and IRS fines. BA and Slovakia are now too expensive and jobs are moving to Guad and China. -husbandwithbigmouth-

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Comment 02/28/12: IBM Layoffs 2012 - made Forbes news -
ibm-reportedly-cut-over-1000-north-american-jobs-this-week
One irritating thing about the article is they fail to indicate there are less than 100K IBMers in the US now - less than 25% of the worldwide workforce. -Anonymous-
Lee Conrad's reply: Whenever I talked to the media I stress the decline in the US employee population. Some print it , some don't.
Alliance reply: There is a good reason why "they fail" to mention the US IBM numbers: Because IBM stopped reporting what those numbers were, in 2010. IBM will not tell the press or anyone, (least of all their own employees) how many US IBMers there are. The Press has stopped guessing. We have a running estimate on our front page and the Press has used it in some past articles about layoffs or IBM in general, as Lee has said, above.

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Comment 02/28/12: "Has anyone kept a record on the dates for all these RA's that have occurred?"
I can tell you the first RA of the year seems to be the biggest. The 1st QTR 2009 purge was a big one. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: We have never kept a specific list or record of all the layoff dates; however, our archives and past article sections should refer or directly state those dates. Check all of the comment archives available from the coomments menu and/or read the "more articles" and "news & spotlight updates"

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Comment 02/28/12: "Having a hard time "finishing strong" for this last 30 days."
Advice: Be as unavailable as possible to your work assignment and manager: Your already "persona non grata". Send Ginny an e-mail and thank her for IBM treating you worse than dirt. Try to find another job in IBM if you want. If not, stay home and enjoy a breather, check out what you might want to do post-IBM, and then look for another job. IBM owes you nothing during the 30 days. RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL has long been a dirty phrase since little fat, greedy as hell pudge Gerstner was in IBM. "(their) Greed consumes me" -anonymousBeamer-

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Comment 02/28/12: Sorry to hear IBMers are losing their jobs. It looks like Ginni is executing Sammys plan to the tee. Cut jobs to keep the stock price up. Shares of IBM rose 45 cents to close at $197.98 Tuesday. This is how IBM raises their stock price... by firing employees. -GotTheBootToo-

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Comment 02/28/12: GTS Maint & Tech Support East..45 people. I'm one of them. Found it refreshing this morning to get out of bed knowing the only stress the next 30 days will be finding a new job! -Ciao Big Blue-
Alliance reply: Please send RA pack to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 02/28/12: Sorry for your job loss. There is better job out there than IBM has to offer. There is LIFE after IBM. You might be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits if you are in one of the certified groups. http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/taa/taa_search_form.cfm
example TAA Decision 75087
INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY DELIVERY DIVISION STORAGE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION IN SERVER SYSTEMS OPERATION -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 02/28/12: 33 years with the co....got the layoff notice. Had a 2 PBC. Is it just us old folks that are getting the axe? I really wish this site would capture age stats to see if IBM is in violation -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: To anonymous able to retire. There is no reason to defer the start of your pension that I can think of. You are early enough in the year that the tax ramifications of the severance payment should not be of major concern. The difference in monthly payment from deferring until the severance runs out is also insignificant. Using the 12 months of company paid insurance would be a good idea as you will have to pay something on any of the various retiree options (unless you go 100% FHA). -Anonymous_Retiree-

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Comment 02/28/12: To SWG RA Victim 18% of headcount per quarter for the next 3 quarters? Is that correct ? Doesn't sound like a modest amount to me. -longtimebeemer-

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Comment 02/28/12: A theme that bears repeating is that there is life outside of IBM. A much happier life. While that statement may seem of little consolation to those who are getting RA'd, take it as hope for better things to come. MY BP and stress dropped immediately when I left. I did find a job at a smaller company and the positive energy is amazing. I can say that getting away from IBM is better than you think right now. Stay positive. IBM does a great job at destroying self-esteem. Get over it and find yourself again. -ex-ibm'er-

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Comment 02/28/12: "DOES THIS SOUND RIGHT???? -Anonymous-"
It's a valid approach, but whether you take the advice depends on your personal situation. The advantage of deferring your pension (if you can) is that you will have a lower income tax bill for 2012 - and a slightly higher monthly pension amount when you start collecting. On the other hand, if you can live on your monthly pension and don't need to 'live on' your severance pay the next several months, then you might choose to start the pension immediately and use the severance to pay off debt, invest, or splurge. As for medical insurance, it depends on whether youâ??re under the old IBM retiree plan or the IBM FHA plan, and whether or not you're eligible for Medicare. You need to compare the costs of the 12-month COBRA or transitional plan to whatever retiree options apply to you. The old retiree medical plans probably cost much less than the COBRA plans. But the FHA medical plans are much more expensive than the COBRA plans (but you can use your FHA account offset the cost of the FHA plans). You should be receiving hard copy documentation on the plans that apply to you. Also, you can call the Employee Service Center (ESC) for further information, and to get a Retirement adviser assigned to you. -Been there-

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Comment 02/28/12: -Adios Big Blue- When I retired in 12/2009, I got the cobra medical for 18 months (without the government enhancement). It was expensive, but still cheaper than what they're charging for retiree medical. I think you may qualify for that govt enhancement. Check to find out. -Dave-

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Comment 02/28/12: to -LongTimeBeemer-, the SWG cuts will start in April and will be on a product/project basis. Once they cut, the project or product maintenance/development will go offshore, as has been the plan for some time. They are starting this process to avoid the WARN process in SWG. It also allows management to restrict RA packages to just a particular area, so no one will actually see how many in SWG are cut. Rumor says the cuts in SWG will be modest, about 18% of headcount per quarter for the next 3 quarters. -SWG RA Victim-

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Comment 02/28/12: I'm hearing of cuts in IBM Canada, not sure how many are affected... -Canuck-

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Comment 02/28/12: I am a 2+ admin. Got the call Monday morning to be effective March 28.
60 years old, cancer patient, 12 year employee so 24 weeks severance. 20% of our team got the boot. Did get my insurance paid through the 24 weeks. Then as a cancer patient COBRA payments will be prohibitive. I have $2300 in my Health Care Spending account ;) No way I can even use half of that amount. Physical activity and personal vitality rebates, gone. Profit-sharing bonus, gone. Centennial bonus (vest in 5 year), gone. What little salary increase there may have been, gone. I telecommute and live in a tiny town about 250 miles from my home office. This area has the highest unemployment rate in the state, and one of the top ten in the nation. "Hello - welcome to WalMart. Basket or Buggy". I'm happy to be leaving though; don't get me wrong. Employees are too expendable. -Adios Big Blue-

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Comment 02/28/12: To anonymous who is eligible to retire. I don't know why you wouldn't atart collecting your pension immediately unless you are going to collect unemployment. If that is the case, I don't think you would want to start collecting pension until unemployment is close to running out. I am in the same position as you and I hope they give me a package so I can get out of here with a severance. I am in SWG. Has anyone heard of layoffs in SWG yet ? -LongTimeBeemer-

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Comment 02/28/12: To all of you still employed by IBM, if you are reading this site's comments, then you probably realize the ones leaving are really the lucky ones. I was RA'ed almost two years ago. The Friday prior to when I was RA'ed, I had informed my manager that I would be away from my home office some of the following Monday because my husband was having an outpatient heart procedure. He seemed concerned, and indicated that he wanted to talk with me on Monday, and that I should give him a time he could reach me. My false assumption was that he really was concerned and wanted to check on my husband's health. But it turns out my memory of the call from my manager became me standing in the recovery room at the hospital, listening to him read IBM's official RA statement. So much for respect for the individual. Those of you left at IBM should give serious consideration to joining Alliance@IBM, together before your fate becomes mine. On the positive side for myself, I am MUCH happier and healthier now (blood pressure actually runs low now instead of high), and my husband is also doing well! -NoRespect-

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Comment 02/28/12: Was RA'ed 10 years ago in June. Looks like not much has changed.
Few of the team that I worked with at IGS remains. Sad... we did a lot of good work back then. -OuttaLex-

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Comment 02/28/12: GBS also being hit. I'm in GBS Industrial and rec'd notice yesterday. Looks like 25 people hit in our group alone. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: This world we now live in...maybe this could help out a few to cope...
http://downtoearthwithwings.com/?p=1386 -MH-

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Comment 02/28/12: GBS also being hit. I'm in GBS Industrial and rec'd notice yesterday. Looks like 25 people hit in our group alone. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: Does anyone know if a job cut challenge actually worked? -wondering?-

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Comment 02/28/12: I was with IBM for 24 years. I was hit last February. I guess it is good they stopped doing it at Christmas. One year. Divorce, Cancer, Last parent died, and then to top it off, a layoff. Respect for the bottom line. Humans don't run this company anymore. I am better now. -Blaine-

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Comment 02/28/12: Is $120/yr too much to ask, in the names of our fallen "colleagues" to try to change the practices that we all are forced to work under? The media can't help, the politicians can't help and are starting to ask for donations themselves! Is it not worth $120/yr to try to give the Alliance and yourselves a fighting chance to reverse the tables here???? Please think about it!! -SeeTheLight-

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Comment 02/28/12: I have been RA'd. I also am eligible to retire. Have just been advised to take the "pkg" then about 45 days before the money runs out, contact IBM Pension and apply for my pension benefits. Also to take adv. of the 12 mo. of medical insurance in the RA Pkg. and then about 11 months into that apply for the Retirement Health Care account to continue my insurance. DOES THIS SOUND RIGHT???? -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: GTS Delivery, Band 7. Got the call yesterday. Received standard 2 wks/year severance. Last day is 3/28. Having a hard time "finishing strong" for this last 30 days. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: "This website is like a free employee satisfaction survey for the upper management. -no_security-"
Upper management doesn't care and does all it can to isolate itself from the real people. When Gerstner came in I had 9 levels between myself and the CEO. When he left I had 5. When Sam left I had 11 levels of management. Do you think this increase was accidental. Of course not. The more buffers the less he has to care about what happens to those on the bottom. The way to have your concerns represented is to unionize. -Anonymous_Retiree-

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Comment 02/28/12: Sorry to hear about the RA's. Two years ago I received a 3 rating a year after doubling my workload. My customers and my manager were happy with my performance but I still got a three. I realized at that time my values were not in line with IBMs. It took me 2.5 months of looking for a job and I ended up with a 30% increase in pay and much more responsibility. I am very happy now. I learned a ton from IBM that I use in my current job. If you are on the fast track you will most likely be OK if you have some VP looking after you. If not then you are just a number and IBM will use you to make money for their shareholders. It is simple as that. It is a well oiled machine. The irony is that most companies want to be like IBM. So if you are reading this and you know you are not on the fast track and you are not happy with your job at IBM. Start looking! You will be surprised by what you find. Good luck. -LD-

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Comment 02/28/12: From the Resource Action Employee Information Package that I received on 2/27:
The number of 'employees selected' for the Resource Action in the 'AMS Commercial Delivery' category that I apparently fall under totals to 116. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: How can people feel like they got the golden ticket out of hell and were relieved etc? If things were that terrible for them why didn't they join and organise with the union or simply get another job elsewhere and quit? Folks that are left. IBM does not own you. Its your life. Its your career. You choose to spend it at IBM or another employer. You're not slaves that have to be sold or under contracts that you have to get traded. It stuns me whenever people say they were shocked that it happened to them. Why would it shock you? This website has repeatedly posted RA's where 1 performers with golden circle and service awards were RA'd the same year they got the 1 and the award. Nothing should shock you anymore. What will shock you is when you one day have a contract and don't have to worry about RA's anymore. When you will know long before what your severance would be and how an RA will be administered. The shock will be how much better your life will be. How much less stress. Good luck to all who were hit. My condolences to those left who will be expected to work even harder to make up the difference. Don't worry though, IBM won't really appreciate your extra efforts. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 02/28/12: Hi all, I reported on Friday that my appeal for overturning my PBC 3 was overturned and has been amended to a 2. I received the call from my BPM yesterday at noon. After 13 years, I am eligible for 1 wks pay per six months of service. Frankly, I'm not surprised that I was RA'd and while it's still a shock, I'm a little relieved. Interestingly though, BPM informed me that my last day with company is in September. Anyone else given an extended date of release? Any idea what that's about? -Davinia-

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Comment 02/28/12: Plaxio: when I was RA'd back in one of the first big waves in March '07 I had 30-60 days if I recall to exercise my options or they were lost. not sure if things have changed since then. to all those hit: as others have said, there are some good opportunities out there. after 9 years with IBM I started working every contact I had and found myself in another company with better opportunities, compensation and a senior mgmt that understands the tie between employee morale and performance. -RAdin07-

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Comment 02/28/12: If you are older than 40 years and feel your RA is based on discrimination, you may want to contact a lawyer. There are some law firms involved in IBM RA situations. I know McTeague Higbee has worked on previous RA situations. (207) 725-5581. Good Luck to all of those with an RA--and to those who are still in IBM. (I too was RA a few years ago.) -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: I was a second generation IBMer who was fortunate to have been RA'd last year and I tell you it was a load off of my shoulders and the best thing that ever happened in my career. It dissapointments me to see IBM is still doing business in this manner. My message to those who are apart of this recent action....Your better days are ahead of you and you will shortly see there is A LOT more out there than IBM trust me!! -haventlookedback-

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Comment 02/28/12: I was also layed off after 32 yrs. My father retired from IBM in 1990. The package he received was amazing not like what we get now! But the good thing I am already feeling the stress level going down. I have friends that have gotten the ax over the years and they a so happy not being a IBMer. Life goes on just have to figure out what I am going to do. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: After 15 years of service, this is my second go round with this layoff madness. My first experience was back in 2009 but managed to hang on. With the exception of a 3 rating in 2011, nothing but 1's and 2+'s my entire career. Add 2 Golden Circles, 7 100% Clubs, 1 Leadership Award and 2010 Sales Eminence with a trip, it continues to baffle me how IBM can continue down the path of wanting to cut top talent. It's all about "what have you done for me today" mentality. You can use the economy and recession as an excuse to layoff people, but in the end it only makes the company look better and more profitable. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: Hi I can help you with Short term disability. You can get RAed on STD at IBM. Your last day will be either your first day back from STD or the day after your first day back. You will continue to accrue vacation while on STD, so IBM can't pull the " work till 3/29 and only get vacation for Jan and Feb" If you would like you can also search for an IBM job while on STD after being notified of the RA. Can't comment on your chances but they can't stop you from looking or working your contacts if you would like to stay. -anon-

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Comment 02/28/12: @Former GBS Slave, there have been more than one instance of people reporting on GBS RA's but so far the Alliance does not seem to have the RA package info. -Short on Info-

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Comment 02/28/12: after 12 years 1 and 2 performance got a 3 because I did account shutdowns and they were not profitable (managers excuse). I say fair well to an unethical and general sickening environment -Former IBM-

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Comment 02/28/12: Finally got mine yesterday, after 15 years. On the one hand, it's better to be employed then unemployed in this economy. On the other hand, working conditions had finally become so miserable over the last year or so that having to take my chances on the outside doesn't look like the worst possible outcome. Adios! -Done-

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Comment 02/28/12: Odd that nobody is reporting RA's in AIS. I've heard from a few people that they got the call. Anyone knows (or has experience) with getting cut during leave of absence or while on short-term disability. Do you get severance if they cut you? Is there a way they can kick you out without a package? -NeedToKnow-

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Comment 02/28/12: So many people tried to access this site yesterday that it couldn't handle the workload. If all these same people had joined the union, we wouldn't have had this RA problem in the first place. I lost my job. If you still have yours, join the union NOW! If you don't, you'll get to go through all this again every 3 months until you are gone too. -anon-

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Comment 02/28/12: Got the golden ticket out of hell yesterday which was the second best day of my IBM career. Kind of like a boat the two best days when you buy and when you sell. Sad to say the financial results are more important than customers. I am sad for the remaining people. -I Am Out-

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Comment 02/28/12: For those affected: Just know that there is hope after something like this happens. It happened to me 4 years ago and within 30 days of my leaving, my blood pressure dropped by 30 points. I am now happier than ever because I do not have the worry of losing a job that went nowhere. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: Here is the number of people let go at the Dallas Command Center. 3 Duty Managers, 7 Mainframe Operators, 1 Operations Analyst. This wipes out the command center. -See ya-

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Comment 02/28/12: AMS IBM Global Acct - 139 people affected on 2/27. Looks like the IBM acct is going to 100% Global Resources in a big hurry. -Former GBS Slave-

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Comment 02/28/12: -Anonymous- Comment 02/28/12: HP, Dell, Sun, and others must be overjoyed by all the RA's. There are thousands of former IBMers in IT operations who are doing everything possible to prevent future IBM sales. IBM is getting the reputation of screwing up projects. It's a house of cards waiting to fall. Eventually management will run out of levers to pull to prop up the stock price and IBM will be a has been company. My sympathy to those RAd...there is better life after Big Blue, companies are out there, just keep looking and leave no stone unturned. To those who remain, pay attention to the message from the Alliance and organize and help stop employee abuse -Gone4years-

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Comment 02/28/12: Submit your comments to this post about Sam and the RA's at Reddit. Posts at Reddit get attention based on popularity (via comments made).
ibm_employee_response_to_the_january_1st_unboxed -anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: What happens if you have stock options and are RA'd? I'm talking the ones I was given to retain me which expire a few years from now. -Plaxico-

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Comment 02/28/12: Does anyone know IBM still gives severance package (2wks/year @ ibm) for those RA'd? I think that's up to 1/2 year pay. -JP-
Alliance Reply: It depends on whether IBM obeys its own rules. There is no law that forces IBM to give severences, whatsoever. They may, however, give severences to long term employees; such as 25-30 year employees.

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Comment 02/28/12: STG Systems Hardware development 48 RA'ed. 34 were age 50 or older. Right! No age discrimation here. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: Has anyone kept a record on the dates for all these RA's that have occurred? -curious-

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Comment 02/28/12: ISC hit me yesterday after 15 years. Unrelated I'm sure to the fact that they had someone from India here for the last 3 weeks training. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/28/12: "This website is like a free employee satisfaction survey for the upper management."
NO!!!!!!!!!!! WRONG. This website is to enlighten IBMers that we can STOP RAs and other unfair IBM practices if we organize together as one voice and unionize! For everyone reading this board: If you are not a member what are you waiting for? The next RA? -IBMUnionYES-

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Comment 02/28/12: Hundreds were cut to pay for CEO salery increases alone... how can they live with themselves!!!
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/030811-ibm-palmisano-compensation.html

http://www.thejanedough.com/virginia-rometty-salary/ -IBMsGreatest Asset-
Alliance Reply: They live very well with themselves, because they don't care about you. That's YOUR responsibility; to care about you and your co-workers. Organize and fight back. Get busy fighting for your jobs or get busy losing them.

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Comment 02/27/12: cuts on front page do no include GBS and all service lines. BUT they talk about rebalancing ??? dont you want you strongest performers to work in your company? Why were NONE ZERO ZIP of the costa rican, Brazilian or Indian doing the same job (for only 2 yrs) as I have not RA's ??? I have 12 yrs and i am a mentor to my peers ??? that is rebalancing.. yes but not on skills .. on pay ...-rebalancing ?? on skills or pay ?-

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Comment 02/27/12: where in the world are the politicians to protect high paying jobs in america ??? oh yea ... getting campaign contributions from IBM and there executives .. HMMMM... -politicians not to be found-
Alliance Reply: The politicians are not the ones you should seek help and protection from. Seek help and protection from yourself and your co-workers to build a union and fight for a contract that protects your pay,benefits, and safety legally, from the abuses and mismanagement of IBM's executives.

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Comment 02/27/12: Yepper - came over in 2004 from the Candle acquisition as a band 0 and got the axe today - was on the IBM Software sales team of the year for 2005 on the stage at the MGM Grand and now I sit on the sidelines watching Big Blue tout respect for the individual, customer service, and excellence... Really??? 1's and 2's for the reviews and yet here we are!!! So much for corporate love! -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: After 28 years of service I was layed off today. Zero retirement, zero medical benefits... What a truly Inhumane company IBM has become. I just finished training my YOUNGER replacements! I am glad that the 60 hr work weeks are over. -Told I was doing a great job!!-

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Comment 02/27/12: Taken from IBM's own website: "Drawing on established IBM policies, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., codifies three IBM basic beliefs: respect for the individual, customer service, and excellence".
Way to go IBM you no longer do any of these! -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: GTS delivery about 179 --Its finally over!--

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Comment 02/27/12: After 18 years I was let go from Blue in Oct 2010. Best thing that ever happened to me. I feel for all of you and wish you the best. My advice is don't waste your time stressing over their crappy HR practices. The are not worth it. -Happier Now-

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Comment 02/27/12: GBS AIS with almost 11 years at IBM. Just got the axe today. I knew this day would eventually come, but will admit that I was not expecting it to come today. Hoping to secure a new job soon, and pocket the severance. Here's to dreaming that I'll be more than a faceless number at my next company. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: First thing tomorrow morning selling all my ibm stock. Will no longer patronize this company. It is sad to hear that so many people are actually relieved that the torture is over. This website is like a free employee satisfaction survey for the upper management. -no_security-

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Comment 02/27/12: Those who were RA'ed should read the Alliance site's job cut survival kit - http://www.endicottalliance.org/news/survival.htm
There's some good advice there. Good luck to you all. I am not impacted this time, but I am not so naive to think I won't be on the next list. I am looking for a new job immediately. This should please IBM - one less severance to pay. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: When they start hiring H1Bs because there are no techs in the USA then the fight is on! It appears that they are after those of us making good monies, being on call 24/7. And working our ass off for them for at least 15 years or more . There are many VETS that can do this job with no problems and a bit of education on the IBM products. Actually it takes around 3 years to train someone and IBM is not even backfilling these positions. IBM does not want to even train new people. HIRE A VET! IBM -HOBO-

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Comment 02/27/12: @Regime in Washington, This road map has been in place since 2002 and announced publicly as well. The current "regime" has only been in place for 3 years. If you can point fingers at one party, you need to start paying more attention to the details. -Where-does-your-news-come-from-

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Comment 02/27/12: It's Shame to work for IBM anymore !!! IBM is good and too big to fail ??? They can spend laveshly on conferences etc.. cannot take care of it's people. IBM products are getting sick, not scalable, not reliable they all are bought out ones in street. Crazy IBM -Ramki-

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Comment 02/27/12: BCRS was hit hard. All delivery teams in Boulder, Gaithersburg, & Sterling Forest recovery sites involved. Several managers RA'd too. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Many in S&D across all of north america got hit today. Even in the new IBM Security Systems division, just days after the sales teams were announced. One head down in a small, newly formed teams of 3-4. No managers affected, bloody bastards. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: 31+ years and got the call at 9:15 AM ET....to say I was in a state of shock is an understatement... -given my life...-

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Comment 02/27/12: For years, I've been asking my management (who I do respect and trust...not so much the big boys and girls above them) to give me a package. Today, they did so. For me, it's the best thing that could have happened. I'm tired of traveling, and the projects haven't been fun in years. They're all troubled now. I heard my group (IBM Interactive) got a 5% hit. I have a young colleague who is incredibly talented, and he got hit too. He's also delighted. I'm very sorry for the IBMers that can't afford to be laid off, or who will have trouble finding another job. My prayers and thoughts are with you. I'm the guy that does www.ibmemployee.com. I'll continue to keep it going. Best wishes to all...and, please, if you haven't done so...JOIN THE ALLIANCE! -No longer alwaysontheroad4bigblue-

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Comment 02/27/12: with 2 weeks before my 13th year anniversary been told I've been let go. Still a little numb but knew the day would come. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: GBS/AMS - 7 years all 1 & 2+ ratings. RAd today. So happy to GTFO! Go to hell Big Blue! Lead said job off-shored, no duh, Ive only been training your intl resource teams for years now. Cant stomach any more and happy to go. Best of luck to all of the survivors. -anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: GTS SARM CnC got hit today. I know of 2 of us in my department that are 2+. We both are relieved it is finally over. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: I've been covering IBM layoffs for more than 10 years and almost no one is willing to share "the human side." They are concerned - understandably - about losing severance cash and having trouble getting future tech jobs at IBM and related companies,like CTG. Every time the ax falls I scramble looking for people to talk. I'm told the newspaper should do something to tell this story, but that is followed by them declining to talk. That said, I would love to talk Rochester, Minn. IBMers that were axed Monday. Jeff Kiger - 507-285-7798, jkiger@postbulletin.com -MN newspaper columnist-

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Comment 02/27/12: It's sad...so bad...so sad. There are so many posts today of IBMers being RAed. I have to wonder how many posting and reporting that have been RAed are actually Alliance members or subscribers? If most of them ate not members or subscribers tben think what could happen if they were members or subscribers all along. Maybe this"drive by layoff" could have been lessened or even averted with more vocal support for the Alliance cause that these unfortunate RAed IBMers could have done -Wunderin-

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Comment 02/27/12: Who is ultimately responsible for selecting which employees are selected, 1st or 2nd line or they decide together? I understand the actual numbers come from HR. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: GTS BCRS Service Delivery got hit today with at least 10 people if not more.....are already bare-boned with resources as it is. Can't afford to lose any more people !!! -Sad IBMer-

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Comment 02/27/12: NO THANKS to the Regime in Washington. Hell, he may even apologize to IBM! 23 years with IBM, my dept. not affected today... but KNOW it is not if but when... It will probably come as a relieve to me when that time comes too. I want to know how many manglers got the axe! Best wishes to all the good people that IBM screwed today! -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: In the Federal sales transaction hub in Roch, mn. Manager said I was not affected but others in my dept would be. i don't know how many yet. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Someone posted to reddit:ibm_layoffs_under_way_labor_union_reports -Anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: The Hartford account...multiple layoffs today -bill-

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Comment 02/27/12: RTP STG 28 years -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: I wasn't on the RA list today but my heartfelt good wishes to those that were. May life bring you better opportunities than what IBM has become. It's not the same company that most of us thought it was going to be. I have no dreams or illusion of ever retiring from this company. It will not be long before the American corporate customers find out that IBM cannot make it happen for them...they are not going to get the same loyalty, support and dedication that an American worker for an American account will give to the job. Amaakasahalahba Balidibalinaosasleki will not put his heart and soul into the work like we have done for the accounts. I am not a racist or elitist...just stating the facts. Customers are becoming aware of this more and more...but a time will come when no one will re-sign...Companies will take IT support back in-house for sure. I predict this will become the trend prior to the 2016 roadkill. -byebyemissamericanpie-

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Comment 02/27/12: 112 from a single HR unit -Not_the_old_days_anymore-

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Comment 02/27/12: Is there some way to get media coverge on this bloodbath, just from a human perspective? Perhaps with the right coverage, people would wake up a bit more and join forces to get these companies to stop this corporate greed? - Axeoverourheads-
Alliance reply: There IS media coverage. But there would be more, if IBMers decided to do something about it publicly. There is a post below by someone who suggested the same thing.

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Comment 02/27/12: Our whole team of 1,2 and 2+ performers in Boulder was outsourced to Poland got the news today. (5 in all). Absolutely no regard for how this will impact service to our customers; it's all about the bottom line; I hope IBM bites it big time. -Anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: effing bastards. i hope they go down the tubes. -sickofthiscrap-
Alliance reply: Unfortunately, because IBMers don't have a contract, the workers like yourself, are the ones going down the tubes. When IBMers become tired of this "broken record of RA's"; THEN and only then will "this crap" come to an end.

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Comment 02/27/12: 13 years as IT Specialist and finally got the ax. I said finally because i have been preparing for this moment for the past 5 years. I am relief that I can start the next chapter of my life without IBM. -Finally-

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Comment 02/27/12: 50% of my department was RA'ed today. A good 15 people. But with every RA, comes a Re-org and with that comes new challenges. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: My group was hit - GBS AMS. I don't know how many yet. Manager calls and says, "You were not affected. That's all you need to know. Now, keep quiet, and don't talk about this." Hell no, I'm not going to keep quiet. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: They hit STG today - I just got laid off. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: no WARN notice?
http://www.labor.ny.gov/workforcenypartners/warn/warnportal.shtm -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: 33 yrs and Pension ready - Do I still get the severence of 1/2 yr salary? -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Just got RA'ed this morning because of my PBC rating of 2 and limited skills. I never agreed with my PBC rating in 2012 since I double-increated my role responsibilities and substantially contributed to the success of the project office objectives. So disappointed and disgusting. Good luck to the rest of you (survivors and victims). -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: After 12 straight '2+' reviews and probably 8 years of RA manaer phone calls/wondering if I was next, I finally get my severance package! -Crazy Happy-

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Comment 02/27/12: Everybody argued against H1B visas... companies thought so too and outsourced.. now we lost their tax too.. companies won even more. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: RA's hit STG today. 20% of my dept gone. Work won't go away, our work will increase, and other groups work will get dumped on us. Survivor guilt, maybe. Just not in a situation where I can leave without big penalties. -More_work@IBM-

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Comment 02/27/12: Any RAs in the GDFs? -curious-

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Comment 02/27/12: Whew, I guess today was THE day for the RAs and I survived! Now I can at least enjoy my GDF I worked so hard for. -relieved-

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Comment 02/27/12: -TooClose- Hope you are at least 55 years old or you'll most likely lose retirement medical, if you have FHA. Sorry if this is bad news as well. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: 30 years 2+ , 2 performer finally glad to get it and get away from this madhouse ISC looks like 50 selected based on package 42 over 50 years old. -happytbgone-

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Comment 02/27/12: The exact same thing that was done to TooClose was done to me in 2008.
I was about 11 months away from 29 years. They're obviously targeting people who have almost 29 years of service, but try to prove that. It sucks that IBM or any company is allowed to get away with this crap and nonsense!! -CloseButNotCloseEnough-
Alliance Reply: A union contract in place would have significantly stifled that particular method of getting rid of employees close to retirement. IBM Executive Management is very happy that you DON'T have a contract, so they can do with you as they please. Sad and mean, but true.

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Comment 02/27/12: 15 Years, Band 7. I was part of what we considered the skeleton crew that remained. I am actually relieved that it is finally over. -Relieved-

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Comment 02/27/12: I count 41 affected in Software Group East Region Sales. -Anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: Almost 14 Years at IBM, 28 years in Disaster Recovery. Not surprised.
Its much like being ordered to get in a life boat on the Titanic. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: 3.5 years, consistently high performer. Moved to Technical Sales about a year ago from the labs, into the East IMT. Notified early afternoon. No clue how many others are affected. Guess that explains why my manager hasn't returned my emails in weeks. -anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: I am band 8, get the news at 2pm. Shocked but relieved because it had to end somewhere after 6 years of service. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: GTS Finance here...25 people on list, 24 over 40 years old, many in late 40s and 50s. Nice right? Afer surviving many layoffs over many years, I got the tap this morning. He read it from a script...how sad. This is my 3rd job that has been offshored or consolidated and I'm glad its over! I don't have to stress anymore about 'if' and 'when' it will happen to me. Already looking for new opportunities. There is LIFE after IBM. Best to all...... -LiferNoMore-

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Comment 02/27/12: I was resource auctioned way back in 2003. Check google news today, NOTHING in either the business section or tech section on this massive layoff. What a shame. Thank Goodness I didn't go back to IBM when I had the chance. -Out of IBM for 7 years-

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Comment 02/27/12: 15 years, band 8. Relieved in a way to finally get the boot! -anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: 15 years...found out at 10 AM today...but for some reason I'm not upset about it...probably relieved to an extent! -IBM No Mo-

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Comment 02/27/12: just got notified. I am so close to retire... only 10 more months then I can bridge ... any one know any legal right I have to get retirement? -TooClose-
Alliance reply: Sorry for you job loss. If you missed the date of your 29th year of service, you will not be eligible to "bridge" to retirement and will lose your FULL pension. Chances are that you WILL be able to collect a "vested rights" pension for the 28+ years service you do have. That amount of pension $$$$ depends on what plan you are in. Sorry for the bad news.

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Comment 02/27/12: Just got my walking papers Today. One of the last Novus guys to go. -No Job-

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Comment 02/27/12: When I was laid off in 2009, they did it in a way so that we weren't given any reimbursement for vacation for that month "because it hadn't been accrued yet". Rotten bastards. -Laid Off in 2009-

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Comment 02/27/12: 15+ years, band 7, dba in GBS group. Heard of 20 others in our group. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: 15 years, all 1 or 2+ in GTS and got the call first thing this morning that I have been RA'd. Not sure whether I should be relieved after the past 5 years of dwindling US based employees that I got the call. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Counted 178 in the packet for GTS Delivery Distributed Server Management organization. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: media report of job cuts
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/wire/story/10784152/ -member-

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Comment 02/27/12: RA notice this morning. 15 years down the tubes. Hearing of cuts across STG and GBS. -DoneinDFW-

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Comment 02/27/12: 9+ years IBMer, also all 1 and 2+ appraisals. Because IBM shafted the customer so badly, the customer requested early exit... so this was expected. HOWEVER, all the SDMs on this account originally had new roles to move to, till they went "on hold". Found out today, THOSE jobs all went to India. So a bunch of us, in a way, have lost TWO jobs. Double-screwed. Nice work, IBM. -AnotherLowlySDM-

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Comment 02/27/12: Just received RA at the Rochester MN site at 9:00 am....I am in shock but also a little happy to be out of the hell of "Big Blue" -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: RA today in ISC... more jobs move to China -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Guess I am the mole today. 15 years of 1 and 2+ services.. I knew this was coming so I am not shocked. I too am somewhat relieved that I don't have to pretend to like BLUE. where do i send the package info? -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Just received my RA notice this morning in BT/IT CIO. About 100 people on list in my package. -MTA-
Alliance reply: To all, please send us the RA pack so we can track the numbers at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com
When reporting job cuts only count those "Selected" for job cuts, not the whole list. Good luck to all.

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Comment 02/27/12: ITD hit today. 10% of small group gone. Hearing of others, will post what I hear. -Anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: 16 years with ibm and now I am a low performer .. HA Good luck with the foreigners that will replace me .. I worked in GBS .. the layoffs are BIG across the board -Gone now-

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Comment 02/27/12: Received my RA call this morning. Been a PM for IBM for over 16 years. Knew it was only a matter of time. Sr. Management in the PM area made it very clear 5 years ago that they were working to eliminate as many US employees as possible and they are staying that course. -Deflated-

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Comment 02/27/12: I feel terribly for the folks that received RA notices this morning. My manager pinged me and asked if I had a minute... I was sure it was going to be me today. He said I was not affected. I can only say that I wish the best of luck to those that were affected today and read this. I hope that you find a better opportunity than what we have all been reduced to at this company. It is very sad. I am a member, but I feel very discouraged. -ThereislifeafterIBM-

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Comment 02/27/12: Another SDM who got RA notice this morning. 11 years with IBM. -Anonymous SDM-

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Comment 02/27/12: company-wide "resource action" today. no details. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Hit after 20++ yrs GTS SO.. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Just got the call in GTS this morning, sent the package with stat info to the Alliance Email. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Yup - like Imentioned on 2/22, CHQ is getting hit REAL hard today.
Still more to come. How stupid is management to let go some people that have an incredibly unique and NEEDED skill set? They cannot possibly replace them with a GR - and if they could, it would take that person MONTHS (not 4 weeks) to get even close to up to speed. Smooth moves on IBM's part -bite their nose to spite their face. -From Weschester-

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Comment 02/27/12: So far I know of one person in my group to get RA notice this morning. Div 68, HR. Also an assistant that was IBM, not ManPower. Both in NY, Poughkeepsie and Somers. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Resource Action hitting US AIS today. Not sure of exact numbers. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: A colleague just got RA notice this morning. IBM CHQ, BT/IT CIO -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: Global Admin lay offs today. About 10% of the population. -Anon-

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Comment 02/27/12: M&TS Bus Ops hit today. I am safe but 4 people got the axe. All of their work going to Brataslava. More work for me, until they can expand that group and take all of my work as well I'm sure. Good to hear that the 4 did get the std severance pkg at least, since I had heard that may be going away as well. -Disappointed-

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Comment 02/27/12: For those that got RA's, see my post in the Jobcut Archives2 dated 5/12/08. It's a list of things to do and to be aware of. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 02/27/12: GTS notifications being done now, main reason if for work beingmoved to GR sites ...just received the call, safe for now...but its only a matter of time...same package as usual -survived for now-

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Comment 02/27/12: Just received my RA notice this morning, 9am on the button. No big deal considering what has transpired the last several years. Some preparation and hard work ahead and I will overcome this. I prepared myself for a few months on this being that I am a long-term planner. As much as I am shocked, I am also excited at the prospect of change. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/27/12: The whack-a-mole hit me today. 11 year IBMer with all 1 and 2+ appraisals. The sad part is, I am relieved. Glad to be leaving the sweatshop that is IBM. Package details forthcoming via email so the Alliance can announce. -LowlySDM-

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Comment 02/26/12: US IBMers - are you ready for Tuesday's slaughter? Best prepare yourselves -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/26/12: Anyone know if/when cuts will happen in GTS/SO Sales? -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/26/12: Monday is the day for RA's in Poughkeepsie -kingjim-

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Comment 02/25/12: -Davinia- You have fought the good fight! I for one am proud of your effort. If we had more IBMers like you then we can fight the greedy, unethical Goliath now called IBM. -JaneBeamer-

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Comment 02/25/12: "PBC 2 still gets GDP/profit sharing" Wow. Big deal. Thank the Lordie I'm not a 3. The GDP will be not much. I'd say less than 1% this year. Nice way to keep up and best inflation and soon to be $5 a gallon gas. You should be proud you keep IBM competitive and maximize Virginie's stock options. She luv's ya for it. Yeah I guess ya just saying is just suck it up and be extra thankful you got a job in big blew! Join a union? Now how does that make sense when IBM gives me a few bennies as my bonus only to abuse me more and soon to RA me? I don't mind this treatment. Life is Good. Honest. -PBCdosBeamer-

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Comment 02/25/12: re:-UduntreadMuch- You're correct about the A.D.D. observation; however, you missed my point. If US IBMers got out in the street, and occupied the front sidewalk of IBM's US locations, and demonstrated loudly and consistently like the public employees' unions in Wisconsin; or the Occupy movement; or even the Tea Party movement, then the A.D.D "News Media" might just cover them more often and with more interest. But IBMers don't seem to have that history, do they? Yes, Alliance has held demonstrations and pickets over the last 12 years; but they need to do more, much more. The only way that will happen is if they get more members and bigger numbers of IBMers to join Alliance@IBM and take it to the front offices of IBM locations around the country. Union IBMers in countries like Chile, Argentina, Italy, France, and Japan have done a great deal of demonstrating and picketing publicly. And they got results when they did it. The IBMers in the USA??? Not so much. What's up with that, eh -UduntreadMuch-?? -Read Much?-

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Comment 02/25/12: WRAL Techwire and the Alliance report these RA's EVERY year. If IBM is not in the 'news" it is because of the A.D.D. nature of the news. FEB. 24, 2011: IBM cuts jobs in services unit. They also made similar reports in 2010 and 2009 and before that. Not in the news? Seriously? -UduntreadMuch-

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Comment 02/25/12: Take heart. I dealt with the 15% paycut and the cut in overtime last year, and I dealt with the 2 rating PBC and no raise last year. This year, I oculdn't do it. I put out my resume, had a new job offer in 2 weeks with a 30% increase in pay. I had been brainwashed to think that there were no jobs in our industry. That is changing. Cut IBM loose and let it sink without you. -anon-

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Comment 02/25/12: PBC 2 still gets GDP/profit sharing; typically 2s have not gotten raises in quite some time. -TireBiter-

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Comment 02/25/12: I think I have figured something out. The reason that IBM is not in the "news" anymore when they fire a few hundred or a few thousand people is because US IBMers are not fighting back publicly. After all, good or bad, the Tea Party movement and the Occupy movement both got media attention to their causes. What attention do IBMers get when they are fired by the thousands? Very little. That's because they are not out in the street making their case. This is something IBMers should all "THINK" about. The Alliance can't do this without members and without people to publicly demonstrate on behalf of IBMers USA. Just sayin'... -Read Much?-

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Comment 02/25/12: I'm seeing conflicting reports on this site regarding variable pay / profit sharing and employees with a 2 PBC rating, so what really is it, IBMer's who were rated as a 2 will or will not receive any variable pay... -Anon-
Alliance Reply: And you'll continue to see "conflicting reports". IBM management will allow different results for different people. The people who make these comments here, on the Alliance board, are not always members and not always accuate with their information. We try to correct the inaccuracies as often as possible. This is why we keep telling IBMers here, that the best way to rid themselves of IBM's confusing, corrupt and unfair PBC 'merit' system is to organize and fight for a union contract that will S P E L L it out for you on paper. Dump the PBC process, now. Organize. Live better, work union.

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Comment 02/25/12: CIO in Pok scheduled to have huge cuts before end of February. managers have been meeting or weeks with hr and each other. roadkill 2015 plans for less than 20% to be US employees, and this out of 3rd lines mouth -good bye pok-

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Comment 02/24/12: RA's across GBS Service Lines in Aust last week for consultants and back office/support. Not sure of numbers but given a HR Partner had sametime status as essentially unavailable between 22-24 Feb with the noted mtg room location being the same room where RAs took place would suggest quite a few were executed, including me. I sure feel its a blessing in disguise! No loyalty at IBM any more. -Happy Days-

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Comment 02/24/12: Today I celebrate my victory over Goliath. I just heard that my PBC appeal was successful and that my PBC 3 was overturned to a PBC 2. I still think though that I'm headed for an RA as the rumors continue to come fast and hard. I will share that as soon I hear. -Davinia-

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Comment 02/24/12: RA's coming on Monday in ITD. -LowlySDM-

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Comment 02/24/12: ECM organization major reorg - no cuts reported (yet). -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/24/12: Due to a high bench on the East Coast in OZ; they are doing RA's DownUnder. As a BP Manager in Perth a bit shocked to hear; we're screaming for resources here in WA - but there are (were) 200+ folks on the bench on the East COast (as of Dec 2011). They have a massive "Go West" campaign to get folks to relocate to Perth for the big Natural Resource Accounts (e.g. BHPB, Chevron, Rio); as well as a Go Canberra/Go Brissy campaign for Public Sector and Natural Resources in Queensland. So a bit surprised when our team (work on 2 high profile proposals); with FIFO resources from SYD and MEL - gets the word that 4 of our 10 FIFO resources "had the chat" with HR and the BP manager on Wed of this week. They now have until 30/31 Mar to find a new op; or "G'bye Mate". Unfreaking real. Turns out these folks had 3 ratings; and while on the bench - were caught in a state of shock to have the talk and RA pulled on them. One was a 23 year B9 PM, another 4 year B9 PM, two others were B8 Archs. Our proposal team is now suffering; as these folks need to mentally sort out other ops in OZ (relo is a possiblity for some to Perth; but some don't want/wish to make the relo). WA has a massive shortage of skills; and we're hurting to staff accounts in Perth. Left hand and right hand just aren't coordinated here in OZ. And what's a bit frightening; our attrition is over 14%; and trending up. Just had a Town Hall with Sarah; and she seems blind to the problem - focusing on "get those Q1 signings closed"; ignoring (of course) questions about the recent RA's. We also had 2 DE's resign in the past week - one to CSC, the other to BHPB. Thinking my own options here... may be time to say "buh bye" after 12 years with Big Blue. Am GBS BP Manager here; Natural Resources group. Any other OZ RA's noted? -GBS-Perth -

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Comment 02/23/12: Manufacturing cuts coming soon to Burlington VT plant. Contracts down.
We no longer make anything for IBM computers. Just game and cell phone chips. What a waste. -LookingElsewhere-

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Comment 02/23/12: Australian media reporting IBM Germany is also set to sack 40% of it's workforce in the next five years and replace them with temps hired using a freelancer.com style portal.
One-job-one-desk-those-days-are-over -Anon-

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Comment 02/22/12: "all non-exempt employees that took the 15% pay cut are no longer allowed to work overtime, which was promised when each of us took the 15% pay cut"
And most of you took IBM at it's word that this was a PAY REMIX! Some promise,eh? But IBM is now well known to break promises. And those that heard Randy Mac when he toured sites to explain why IBM had to do a 15% pay cut to stay "competitive" and comply with FLSA and a band conversion/reduction didn't even challenge Dogbert on it. So you still think it is a pay remix? The Alliance told you it was a PAY CUT when it happened and it still is. And when IBM promises you it will not do another RA will you still believe it? What further actions must IBM do for you to not unionize? -Think2X-

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Comment 02/22/12: What were the affected groups in Australia? -anon-

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Comment 02/22/12: There are more than a handful of people being unofficially notified in the Westchester area that they will be laid off in late Feb, effective late March - in CHQ groups. -Tom from Westchester-

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Comment 02/22/12: Was part of the ECM group at SVL & RA'd (resource action/layoff) in 2010 along with about 1500 other IBM'ers. Job sent to China. Was asked to come back 12 months later in another business unit. Politely turned down the request. Been there done it. I've been mugged (IBM) once, wont let it happen again. -Anonymous-

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Comment 02/22/12: While this is a job-cuts board, I have to laugh at how few IBMers understand their retirement benefits or lack thereof. On the cash-balance pension, some folks got an enhanced annuity provision which means they can start their distribution before age 59 1/2. The extreme passivity of US IBMers when faced with malevolent management is inexplicable. And they don't even know what they will get when they leave the company. Employee Services Center will answer those questions about pensions, annuities, etc. Whether even they understand the FHA is subject to debate! Meanwhile organizing by becoming a member of the Alliance is a wise investment and any online subscriptions you may have probably cost more. -Poughkeepsie Engineer-

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Comment 02/22/12: Sadly, I can identify with -anon disgusted-. That description of a totally subjective, moving target, measurement of one's performance was alive and well back in early 2000's up to the day I left IBM in 2008... new job offer with a 30K+ raise in one hand and IBM's 3 rating of my performance ( first time since I'd been working there) in the other. I do wish there was a Union in place to help the employees. Hopefully people reading this blog will realize that there IS a unified effort against them to keep them demoralized and feeling they can do no better than IBM because IBM rates them as poorly performing human beings. Demoralized people fear change to their situation. Or one day they wake up and realize they're better than this. Well, four years, 15K+ of additional raises and a promotion later, I know that I was right when I realized I was better than all this rubbish IBM puts it's people through. I hope you wake up also. Hopefully the notion of a union has more traction now than it did back then. Hopefully when you wake up and realize how much more you're worth, you can join the critical mass needed to get the IBM Union off the ground. Best wishes to those I left behind. Stay strong, change your situation, Unionize, you are better and worth more than this rubbish. -Happily Out...-

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Comment 02/22/12: Hi there, just letting you know that in Australia (a growth market) lay offs happened today. -John-

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Comment 02/21/12: I think we all come to the point when we have reached the end. I just can't play the game anymore. I do not want to ever do a PBC again - I am done with this discriminatory practice. Myquestion is this, what will be the consequences when I refuse? -AtTheEnd-

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Comment 02/21/12: DIV 07, Boulder GDF Storage Services, all overtime has been suspended for salaried DPM's, PM's and all non-exempt employees that took the 15% pay cut are no longer allowed to work overtime, which was promised when each of us took the 15% pay cut. This does not apply to your 1st line mgmr or the team leads. If you are unable to get your job done in eight hours, pass it off to the vendors. Mgmt has a set weekly price with the Vendors, they pay one price regardless if they work 30 hours or 60 hours. Needless to say they are pushing them to work crazy hours, if they don't they get walked out and a their replacement is brought in the very next day. It doesn't matter how dedicated you are, if mgmt or the team leads don't like you as a vendor you don't have a chance to service within Boulder GDF. Last week Mgmt was given a challenge, cut all overtime regardless of how this will impact the business. Needless to say, we have more customers/contracts pulling out of IBM then signing. Mgmt refuses to give a release date to the regulars, but they continue to beat us down and tell us about our horrible job performance. JOB CUTS TO BE ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEK... -FED UP in Boulder!!!-

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Comment 02/21/12: To Call it quits: If you had a defined benefit plan at some point in time, that is yours - they can't revoke what value you have already earned. Even the so-called "cash balance" plan is treated like a defined benefit plan. During your separation IBM will walk you through the options and paperwork including giving you a precise estimate of what it is worth as of a particular retirement date, options for lump sum payments or an annuity, etc. In general they are very good about this process; in my case they were very thorough and although it was complex, it went smoothly. (Pension plan payouts are paperwork intensive and highly regulated, so this is one area where they try not to screw up too badly.) I left in 2011 after 18 years and took my cash balance plan with me. I chose to have it treated as a lump sum, which I then rolled over into an IRA. And yes, there is peace of mind in not worrying about the company being hollowed out from within. -Left_in_2011-

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Comment 02/21/12: You might find this interesting...

Trashing the Script
Protests, Democracy, and Kinship Organizations in China
by Macabe Keliher and Hsin-Chao Wu
http://www.possible-futures.org/2012/01/24/trashing-the-script/

"...Wukan is serving as an inspiring example for villagers to utilize institutions that are ready at hand for mobilization and emancipation, rather than relying on those imported from outside or imposed from above. In this way, liberation of ordinary men and women from the control and subjugation of others is happening from the ground up by drawing on whatever is necessary and available." -ChinaInRevolt-

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Comment 02/21/12: -Call it quit to stay in sane- Which plan are you under? If you are under the defined pension plan you just need to be 55 years old with 15 years of service to collect I believe. If you are under the 401k you take it with you. There is no actual retirement age for it but you cannot withdraw until age 59.5 and you must withdraw starting at 70.5. Search Blue pages for the 800 number for pension benefits to find out for certain. Anything else is speculation because IBM has so fragmented its workforce with petty rules everyones situation is usually different. BTW. A contract would guarantee your job security for the length of the contract. Live Better, Work Union. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 02/21/12: I had almost the identical experience as -anon disgusted-. Must be the company line to gt people out the door. Unionize folks if you want to make a difference!!!! -radin2010-

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Comment 02/21/12: @-Call it quit to stay in sane-, verify your pension on netbenefits. -Strange-Question-for-30years-

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Comment 02/21/12: -Call it quit to stay in sane- If you didn't have 25 years or were made a second chooser as of 1999 you do not have a pension. You have the 401kasino only. If there was a contract you would have a real pension Insanity ... stating the same stuff over and over and hoping it will change... -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 02/21/12: In the Netherlands it is the same story. Decreased PBC ratings and the "Grow or Go" theme is very popular in management teams. There is a culture of ignorance and demotivation of employees started by management. IBM became a kind of Titanic, heading for $20 EPS in 2015 but after that there is an abbys and no way back. And I guess the captain left the ship at that time. -120000 Victims-

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Comment 02/20/12: -anon disgusted- Hey, I resemble your story. Exact same thing happened to me. I chose to walk away in lieu of walking their management gang plank. I've never known anyone to take their walk (challenge)and survive it. So, I'll take the minimalized separation package(ISAP) of 13 generous weeks, 1 year medical, retraining assistance and skip to one of several available jobs in my field where my skills, work ethics and morals are valued. Not a problem. Best of luck to you sir. -SlaveNoMoFoMe-

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Comment 02/20/12: Feb 28th is the day I hear that there will be a mass slaughter of U.S. IBM'ers. New Sheriff in town - same game played. Time to join the Alliance! -anon-

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Comment 02/20/12: After hearing of multiple employee groups getting their pay cut by 15%, and hearing the continued drumbeat that we're going to make the"2015 plan" come hell or high water, I decided it's time to join Alliance. I don't want to wait for my turn to take a 15% cut. I recommend that every other reader do the same. -FedUpInOmaha-

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Comment 02/20/12: -Call it quit to stay in sane-: No, you will not lose ALL your pension but you might lose ALL your retirement health benefits. How do I know this? I am an Alliance member and educated myself on the sad facts that IBM employees have to deal with (IBM will not educate you on whatever your benefits are or might be). IBMers who have joined the Alliance did not quit but realized they needed to stand up, think twice so to speak, and try to fight this and other injustices IBM has been imposing on employees. If I just read this forum and didn't join and try to do something, what good could come of that? Why not join the Alliance to stay sane? -anonymousbeamer-

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Comment 02/20/12: Planning to quit IBM after numerous years of service. It is utterly unhealthy to worry about being on the RA list every quarter. PBC doesn't guarantee your job security. Does anyone out there know if I will lose all my pension before the 30 years retirement mark? -Call it quit to stay in sane-

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Comment 02/20/12: The offshoring of the GTS Services Excellence organization to Brno, Czech Republic has begun. Entire organization will inevitably be part of the 2015 Roadkill. -Inevitable RA-

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Comment 02/19/12: Union is the only hope if one wants to continue to work at such a place as IBM. For well over a decade I have worked harder and harder each year with diminishing financial reward. Then rewards stopped altogether. In 2011, off the record, my manager told me he put me in as a 2 rating, but was told to change it to a 3. He then had to re-write my review to match the 3 rating. I was immediately assigned to a new manager who said he would work with me to "bring my performance up to where it needs to be". He scheduled monthly one-on-one meetings, but he cancelled about 9 of them and never re-scheduled. When we did meet it was always to assign me new work which he said would go a long way to demonstrating my commitment and improved performance. In Jan 2012 he said I had been assigned a 3 thru"team decision" and that although I had improved my performance in the areas that had been cited as "lacking" the previous year, my contribution was now lacking relative to my peers in my band level. I am leaving IBM rather than waste my time challenging the rating. The stress level has been notched up constantly over the last few years. Working 12hr days, most weekends, while on "vacation", away from family - all in an environment where I felt more and more isolated from co-workers. I realize now what a toxic environment I have been working in the last several years. There have got to be some companies out there that are still decent places to work. I hope to find one. I did not know about this Alliance website until now. At least I now know my performance was not at issue. I was just a foolish pawn among many that have poorly treated by IBM. -anon disgusted-

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Comment 02/19/12: Big cuts (i.e. RA) in Application Services group will be announced this coming week. Code name is Phoenix. More US jobs and dedicated employees will be the ax. Join the union! -KL-

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Comment 02/19/12: Update on disputing my PBC 3 rating going from a 1 to a 3 as indicated in my earlier comments , first off IBM doesn't make it easy for an employee to use the open door / HR route as they state, second line management was rude and disrespectful, the guy acted like I personally attacked him, HR was slightly more understanding, however, I had good documentation to back me up, they retracted the 3 ranking and made it a 2, not sure if it was worth the stress in the end because it seems as they still won for all the hard work I did in 2011 and the stress to fight a 3 rating to end up with a meaningless 2, no raise, no bonus. "More than ever IBMer's need to come together and get unionized". -Anon-

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Comment 02/19/12: Of course IBM can cut its way to profitability and world class service: http://tinyurl.com/78fahle -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 02/18/12: From the main page: Where is your work going?
The off shoring of work from IBM US to other countries continues.
Many IBM employees in the US have been calling Roadmap 2015,"Roadkill 2015" for US workers.
Help us expose where the work is going, what kind of work, and what accounts.
We would also like info from IBM workers who saw their work off shored the past 2 years. -member-

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Comment 02/18/12: US delivery friend reports 4 teamers with consistent 2+, 2s PBC reduced to 3s even while meeting 20% or greater overtime (unpaid) demand last six months. Could mean 25% RA/termination. Summary of the WRALTechWire "job cuts coming" article: SUBTRACTING RESOURCES = ADDED VALUE at IBM. Essentially, cheating customers out of the resources that they have contracted for and are paying for. That's value??? -Ann Ominous-

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Comment 02/17/12: It is certainly a shame that IBMers in the United States read this board; chime in to whine, complain and look for easy ways to beat the inevitable, but do not really grasp what this board is all about. This board shows you that you are not alone in your suffering... Not alone in your mistreatment by management. So why do you read it and insist on staying alone to deal with the problems when they can only be solved as a group? Appraisals across the country were lowered by a predetermined percentage regardless of actual performance. So how is one person alone going to fix this unfairness? Management organizes and conspires against you, the rank and file employee, every single day. Conference calls daily to get the days marching orders and to talk up their pets while slamming anyone who opposes them. How does one person alone, who isn't invited to these calls, supposed to get a fair shake? You talk about a stacked deck, well brother, you don't even have any cards in the game. They do not even bother to deal you in. Its way easier to cheat someone who is unaware they are even in the game. Want to play the game on an even level? Want at least a chance to win? Better join the union so you too, can have a voice. Think -gadfly- is kidding about them using large system SSR's to cover POS/High volume? He isn't. Guess who will pick who gets cross trained? Yep, the managers pet. Guess who will get cross trained? Anyone 'the pet' feels threatened by. Guess who will get picked for a paycut next year? Anyone working more than half their hours on POS/High Volume. Betcha if you ever pushed back against anything the team lead/pet wanted, you get selected. Come next year when its your turn to take a pay cut for the team, guess who will march in the streets and strike to support you? The same folks who did it for last years pay cuts. No one. Unless YOU organize them NOW and get a union vote NOW, you can expect the same lack of solidarity, everyone else who has gotten screwed by IBM, has gotten to date. None. Wake up. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 02/15/12: I understand that 3 RSD techs have retired or quit since the beginning of the year in the branch. I told the manager that this is what they can expect when they pass around 10% paycuts and pay band reductions. He told me that I need to work our a rotation among the remaining large system SSRs to start covering the POS/high volume calls. Y'all need to know that IBM is going to be loosing maintenance customers, and you can say you saw it here first. Major accounts like Wal-Mart, Cisco, and NetApp will be among those impacted. There are literally no people left in the field to go take the service calls. It truly is a smarter planet.... -gadfly-

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Comment 02/15/12: In relation to the situation in Germany the attached article highlights how bleak things are looking for anyone who works for IBM particularly in the Western countries - "IBM launches new form of day-wage labour" http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/ibmc-f11.shtml - I am from Australia but I am concerned for all my colleagues including myself but it is obvious if we continue to sit back and watch this situation eventually we will all be swallowed up. -Aussie-

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Comment 02/14/12: @owns_no_shares-- IBM is indeed growing it's price per share by firing US - EMEA - UK workers and hiring cheap labor. It has been estimated that IBM saves 80% per hourly wage when hiring over seas, but you also need to consider the IBM benefits overseas are minimal as well. The yellow flags will turn red after IBM can no longer diminish the US - EMEA - UK workforce(s) and it(IBM) will actually have to show financial growth. Yes, it will level off someday, but sadly, there will not be many US - EMEA - UK workers left in the mix. Organize now before you end up like every other RA'd person -Same-Road-Map-

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Comment 02/13/12: -No Name - Just a Number- It blows my mind that IBMers actually think HR will be fair to them when they have a good case. A corporation's HR department actually effectively fairly dealing with employee ("human") issues? It is a well known myth. HR just protects the corporation from the employees and thus backs management or does damage control for management. It can care care less about employees and the human elememt. They treat all rank and file humans collectively as resources, not as beings. If you want real fairness you need union representation. Plain, simple, period. Without it you stand nil of a chance. -IBMUnionYes -

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Comment 02/13/12: Just an update from the down troden in the UK. In my last message I said that I insisted that my secondline manager send through to me the process for awarding PBC scores, as I was given my PBC two weeks before Business results were known.... Well, I was sent them, with a note saying that the assumption is that this matter is now closed. Secondline manager was informed that I had already booked an appointment with HR and will be discussing the matter with them....
Well, I must congratulate HR on having their responses well rehearsed....! They advised me that they are aware of various issues with PBC's and that they are looking into the matter and will advise me of any findings etc etc etc.... Sounded ery much like they were just saying what I wanted to hear... What do you think the odds are of someone actually doing anything about doing what's moraly right, not just what's right for IBM's bottom line?????? - No Name - Just a Number-
Alliance Reply: Why do you expect anything different than the answer you got from HR? Do you believe they represent you in some way? IBM HR represents IBM's interests, only. Not yours. If you want someone to represent your interests, then you want a union contract.

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Comment 02/12/12: hard to find flaw in this logic. the financial engineering currently going on has long term implications. http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/02/11/how-to-tell-if-ibm-is-hiding-weakness/ -owns_no_shares-

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Comment 02/12/12: I'm sitting here already retired and unable to do much about the RAs. I can offer some advice for those that got it or suspect they will. See my comment in the Job Cut Archive2 dated 05/12/08. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 02/11/12: It is an irony that with less USA IBM employees means if more of the remaining IBMers speak up and organize you all can get closer to a union with a 50% + 1 vote just a little easier than with a larger rank and file where more outreach to get members and votes would be needed. So join the Alliance now. And get to it! -UnionVox-

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Comment 02/10/12: Yesterday they had a "silent layoff" in EFK and BTV and rumor has it that they are cutting out our overtime pay, can this be verified. -upnorth-

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Comment 02/09/12: LongTimer, how do you know the RA bug got you? You were told already?
I believe the big one is still to come for IGS - probably end of this month. -Endangered Species - American IBMer-

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Comment 02/08/12: Most of my team works from home and the few that are sitting in a DC are the sole survivors or close thereto. How would we possibly organize. We have a large offshore team and the remaining US workers are assigned to projects and RFS work and it seems like everyone is in their own little world. -I joined...now what-
Alliance reply: As a new member you have been added to our member elist. All members are bcc'd.
You will be getting emails on what you can do and regular updates for members.
Thanks for joining!

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Comment 02/07/12: For how many years has IBM (alongside other corporations) been tearing apart the American workforce? Three years ago the current wave of RAs started. Anyone that is still unaware and not discussing it never will. Eventually the only US workers left will be either those who kiss the ring of each and every executive or those who stood together and fought. Make your choice now. I am sick of the whining without action. -Backlash-

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Comment 02/07/12: Since it is approx. mid 1st QTR 2012 and the talk of RAs are in the air but has anybody heard of any contractor jobs being terminated or furloughs for this QTR? -contracted-
Alliance reply: We have heard of contractors with CTG being furloughed.

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Comment 02/06/12: This year the RA bug finally got to me... Should've seen it coming. Nothing but Gov't accounts, No Sales rep and removed from accounts I built back up. Always you are the best technical CTP I have... I guess the New IBM will not be technical, we'll see how that lasts... Who do I feel them most sorry for, my customers... - LongTimer-

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Comment 02/06/12: Looks like things are not getting any better at IBM. I had 20yrs before getting RA'ed in Canada, 2009. Glad I'm out now, found a much better job where they reward their employees for making the numbers, not cut jobs like IBM does, after reporting record profits. -RA'ed 2009-

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Comment 02/06/12: Its halftime IBMers. Are you going to hide under your desks and wonder what is going to happen to you next or are you going to stand up and be counted. Are you going to fight for what is fair and good about your jobs or just let them be taken away without a fight? Do you want to be unemployed in America in these terrible times? Only YOU and your coworkers can band together to stop this madness. Management can't and won't. Congress isn't going to legislate it. The President isn't going to issue an executive order to stop it. Everyone else has already done their jobs. The laws are in place to allow you to organize. The leadership in the CWA is in place to assist you. Only you can stop it. Are you going to act or just not bother to take the field yet again? Every time you do nothing you tell management and the executives in particular that you agree with what they are doing to you. Its like thanking the whip handler for every lash you take. Aren't you tired of the continual beatings? How's that lower appraisal feel? Stings like an undeserved whipping doesn't it. How's no pay raise with the cost of everything rising feel. Another whip crack. How's no bonus feel? How's the pay cuts feel those that got them. How's the higher insurance costs. How's the no cell phone reimbursement or internet reimbursement feel. How does it feel those that didn't get a pay cut looking those that did in the eye? How's it feel knowing chances are excellent you will be next. How can you lie to yourselves and say you have no reason to organize. You really have no reason not to. Things cannot get much worse. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 02/06/12: workplace rights? NOT!
http://news.yahoo.com/10-shattered-myths-workplace-rights-154531786.html -anon-

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Comment 02/06/12: It's not what you know but who you know. Family members and friends are rewarded with jobs and money. Once inside the company, family and friends invite in and protect the relatives and friends, not the strangers. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Nepotism is yet another 'practice' that would be much harder to accomplish with a union contract.

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Comment 02/05/12: IBM sponsoring NFL football. What an irony? If IBM ran the NFL there would be an awful lot of tie ball games due to the elimination of overtime.... -gadfly-

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Comment 02/05/12: ginni's plan is to make sure the CIO is 70% GR by end of 1Q. Only sr. execs and their toadies will be left. -S-

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Comment 02/05/12: IBM UKer's, If you want to find out the discussions your managers are having behind your back, you can use complete a freedom of information request and get all the information IBM holds on you. You can also name individuals who are requred to supply copies of emails etc they hold with your name on. You may be very surprised what you can find out. You may also want to consider joining UNITE to get access to legal advide and support. Good luck with the fight. I'm in the process of challenging my PBC and the process itself. -UK IBMer-

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Comment 02/05/12: There is no PLAN B for unadulterated greed by IBM on the backs of it's hard working employees! JOIN our UNION! -GoAlliance-

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Comment 02/05/12: @"More Jobs at IBM": Job openings may not really mean much. If they are really hiring, this could be to replace people that were fired and now they try to hire for a fraction of the wage. But actually it may not even mean that they are really hiring. Big companies use decoy job openings as PR tools. It doesn't cost much to post non-existent jobs but you will get positive coverage in the media, as you can see from the Forbes article. People like you and (local) politicians will be puzzled or even think that they need to support IBMs strategie, because they are hiring. If IBM doesn't really fill the openings, they can claim that they did not find suitable applicants and that they need to hire from abroad or fill the jobs in countries where the skill is available. PR means to create a favourable opinion in your local environment. Further tools that the PR departmens use are pre-wirtten articles that go to the media at the same time as they pay for adds, positive reviews in e.g. glassdoor and more things of this kind. Is it ethical to manipulate in this way? I wouldn't thinks so but that doesn't matter for a company that needs to keep the promises of the agenda 2012. So here the question is, do they only post job openings or are they really hiring in Miami, NYC, ... -anonymous-

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Comment 02/04/12: Folks, just look at the number of IBM US employees over the last 6 years: . 2006 - 127K. 2007 - 121K. 2008 - 115K. 2009 - 105K. 2010 - 101K. 2011 - 98K. You don't need a Harvard MBA to see a trend there. Good old Sammy figured out a way to keep the stock price up. He cut cost by firing US employees. There is one problem with Sammy's plan. What do you do when the number gets to zero? Don't let Ginni continue to execute Sammy's plan. Support the Alliance and organize now before it is too late! -ScrewedBySammy-

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Comment 02/04/12: On the other hand I found it puzzling that IBM has many job openings in Miami, NYC, Detroit, Minnsapolis-St Paul, see:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-hiring-employers-americas-biggest-142103857.html
-More Jobs at IBM-

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Comment 02/04/12: I am wondering if IBM has a "plan b". Suppose India or one of the other offshore countries suffers a natural disaster, or war for example... -TurtleDove-
Alliance Reply: Why wonder or care about what plan IBM has for any of their offshore locations?
Why not worry about what plan YOU have. Think about you and your co-workers plan to organize IBM US and work for a contract that is in YOUR and your CO-WORKERS interests. Join Alliance@IBM and form "plan A": a union contract. Now THAT'S a plan.

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Comment 02/04/12: Folks, if you are not already convinced that a uninon contract is needed, read this paper from IBM Watson Research:
https://researcher.ibm.com/researcher/files/us-msridhar/foser061-bacon.pdf
and this newspaper report from 2009:
topcoder-names-nicholas-m-donofrio-to-companys-board-of-directors
These are clear indications that IBM started the transformation to GenerationOpen a long time ago. Unless you have an MWL (Master of Workforce Liquidation) there is no place for you in this new IBM. Even low level line management (1st & 2nd) is not required when you use the liquid workforce pardigme. You just need a couple of product managers. Be smart in a smarter world. Protect yourself. Organise! -anonymous-

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Comment 02/03/12: I like the enthusiasm and angst that some of you have made clear in your assertion to Join the Union. I wholeheartedly agree. But make no mistake; once you join, you need to take action and let IBM know you mean business. Concerted effort to grow the membership while publicly demonstrating or handing out leaflets or rallying in some way, or writing letters to your local newspaper's editor, or having meetings with other members to pinpoint strategy and next moves. This is called activism for a reason. Just joining and paying dues is not enough, if you want the union to grow and be able to push back against IBM and its image in the public eye. Reveal the practices of executive management. Expose their lies to people inside and outside IBM. Throw their policies back in their face...but do it all within the law and within the rules of union organizing. Don't know all those rules? Ask an Alliance staff member. They know the rules, and they know what IBM doesn't like but can't do anything about... Once you begin to act and speak as a collective voice, the power of that action begins to take effect. I'm a union member and I know this is true. 45,000 CWA Verizon workers did just that, last year and Verizon caved in and came back to the bargaining table.... Yes, it's true that CWA Verizon union members already had a contract, but the point is that they acted together and demonstrated to Verizon that their strength and skill together was greater than executive management's stubbornness. Get busy fighting for your job, or get busy losing it. -Tyler Durden-

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Comment 02/03/12: Big cuts end-of-March in Applications Services areaS (AMS). Code Name is "Phoenix". Approximately 10% of IBM US regular employees will get their walking papers. Example AMS Communications sector accounts Disney, Sprint, Williams Energy, Xcel Energy will get hit. Meanwhile IBM India continues to grow. JOIN THE UNION. -LK-

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Comment 02/03/12: In a Perfect World.
In a perfect world large corporations would compete against each other for business share and profits while powerful Unions would provide skilled and unskilled labor to these corporations that are well trained and flexible within the confines of the well written contracts they are employed under. The employees would derive benefits like vacation and medical from the unions as part of the labor agreements and the companies would not have the burden of administering these things across a wide range of employees worldwide. The employees would know their incomes and expenses and be able to manage household budgets properly to avoid foreclosures and other nasty things and the businesses could do the same as the cast of labor would be a constant and known entity defined by a contract acceptable to both sides. The relationship between the companies and labor should become one of mutual success because neither side wants the other to do badly. No company equals no jobs. No labor equals no company. What I do not understand is why the people who strive to bring us a smarter planet don't understand this simple concept. If you do understand it lets push forward and get this union rolling! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 02/03/12: Now that a slew of IBMers got the "PBC cut" e-mail from the Alliance in their company Lotus Notes e-mail when are these folks gonna act on it? Or are the vast majority of IBMers the "don't rock the boat" suck ups? These types of employee IBM craves and wants. These types IBM does one thing to: RA. Believe me, I don't have specifics, but as surely the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, RAs are coming soon. You can bet your job on it. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/03/12: irRational: You are 1000% correct in your observations. I am also a dues paying member and no longer an IBM employee. It still amazes me why IBM employees don't join the Alliance at least as a subsciber. -sby_willie-

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Comment 02/03/12: Left IBM voluntarily, and never regretted it. Still a dues-paying Alliance member though. It saddens me to see the same discussions here, repeating like clockwork: "RAs are coming!" "Where?" "When?" "How can this be fair?" I must assume that my ex-IBMers are just plain stupid, or sheep, or both.
You remaining folks have only two choices, IMO:

1. Form a union, and try to fight this constant erosion of your benefits, salary, and job security.

2. Leave, and deny IBM your training and expertise, all of which are eventually going to be put to work training your cheap offshore replacements.

How can any of you stay at this company and not join the union? By your inaction, you support their strategy of shedding American jobs, and weakening the American jobs that remain with them. By your complacency, you tacitly approve of what they do. By your silence, you aid and abet the destruction of your, and your fellows' jobs. -irRational-

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Comment 02/03/12: IBM Boulder employees received same IBM Alliance email about PBC's also. Thanks! -anonymous-

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Comment 02/03/12: Bad news ....
http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/10679420/ -hangingon-

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Comment 02/03/12: Not sure how far out of the "Organization" - I wasn't given explicit instructions on how far away to look - but I was told to go to the Global Opportunities intranet page, so still within IBM.. for now.. -IBMerSince99-

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Comment 02/03/12: Collective Bargaining has been villainized in the US as has fighting against constitutional breaches. As an American working for the IBM Machine abroad (germany), I am happy and proud to say that labor unions have not been demolished here and that at least to some degree corporate beasts are still tamed by a government with a social concience. -neo-

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Comment 02/03/12: Comments 02/02/12:"Seems they are making pre-RA calls today in Lotus. Employees are being spoken to and encouraged, ASAP, to find jobs outside the organization."
-IBMerSince99-
Outside which organization? Outside Lotus or outside IBM?
"Gee this RA selection process sounds like a Gestapo operation or a Lottery gone terribly wrong"
-anonymous-
One manager told me that that process made him want to vomit.-Gorya-

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Comment 02/03/12: Repeat after me: 2015!..2015$..2015$$$ Without a union how many of you will still be working for IBM? -grimreaper-

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Comment 02/02/12: Only purpose of the Liquid Portal (see also topcoder.com) is to attract freelancers (designers/developers/testers) from BRIC countries with no strings attached, 1K is a lot of money for them, it is shocking dedicated onshore(20%)/offshore(80%) resources are being replaced with offshore freelancers. PBCs are a measure of how needed/convenient you are as an employee, absolutely nothing to do with your accomplishments, 1st lines have very little say, very sad but true. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/02/12: Last Friday everyone at IBM East Fishkill NY including employees,vendors,& management. Received a outside email from the Alliance: PBC lowered? You are not alone. Wondering if employees from other IBM sites received this same note as well? Perfect timing for those who just received their PBC "3" appraisal rating. This note lefted management red faced and in a tail spin. Great on getting the word out! -YOU ARE NOT ALONE-

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Comment 02/02/12: "...staff that work for IBM on projects but are not full time are called "liquid players," according to an internal..."
This is the "Liquid Portal" model that IBM has been using for a year or two now. The intention is to eliminate employees and use individuals to complete software projects for minimal pay. The typical compensation that I've seen being offered is under $1000.00. Once you take out the self-employment taxes, federal income taxes and state income taxes you are left with chicken feed. Your only real way to combat this is to unionize in the USA and internationally. -anonymous-

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Comment 02/02/12: Where can I find compensation numbers for union officers. want to join but also want to see where my contributions go. -curiousfuturemember-
Alliance Reply: At this point Alliance officers are unpaid volunteers and have been since our founding in 1999. Once a union is certified through an election and recognized by the company then they "could" be paid. We have 4 officers. We also have 1 full time staff person, our national coordinator, and 1 part time IT Administrator. They are paid mainly with funds from our parent organization CWA.
Our budget is very low. We need dues for office expenses, organizing and outreach.
Looking forward to you joining!

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Comment 02/02/12: Seems they are making pre-RA calls today in Lotus. Employees are being spoken to and encouraged, ASAP, to find jobs outside the organization. I would imagine the ones who don't find jobs are the ones who get axed? Guess I'll find out... -IBMerSince99-

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Comment 02/02/12: RA selection process is IBM employee clearinghouse sweepstakes -PBC?-

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Comment 02/02/12: -Gorya- Gee this RA selection process sounds like a Gestapo operation or a Lottery gone terribly wrong -anonymous-

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Comment 02/02/12: If IBM wants to cut approx. 40% of German IBM employees then the 2015 number of only having about 60,000 USA IBM employees is believable. So 40,000 USA employees or so could very well be gone in just three short years. And tens of thousands of IBMers still employed will not do anything about it. They can try to do something about it: THINK UNION -HatchetAComing-

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Comment 02/01/12: The liquid worker is being implemented... Internally the restructuring has been dubbed "Generation Open" and staff that work for IBM on projects but are not full time are called"liquid players," according to an internal document seen by Reuters. IBM-planning-major-job-cuts
Better get your act together ... those that are left.. -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 02/01/12: After visitng this site on and off for a number of years, today I joined the Alliance. I was sametiming this morning with an associate who told me they were RA'd and in the process of training their replacement in South America. Appalling. My PBC rating did not change despite my going above and beyond the call of duty and donating my entire summer to a project that made the customer extremely happy. I met all of my goals and exceeded in some areas. I know of at least a few people who are extremely unhappy with thier PBC ratings this year. I don't think I could ever match the amount of time and dedication I put into that project so now I am left with a sense of disappointment and bitterness with the entire process. I'm not playing 'poor me' but simply have taken off the rose colored glasses and realized that the cards are indeed stacked against the US worker and it is but a matter of time before that Friday afternoon when your manager pings you and asks if you can "talk". Everyone I work with is in survival mode. We are all just putting our heads down and doing our work. It is not supposed to be like this. The customer is unhappy. They want back what they had. When they had a person/team behind thier account who they could call and reach out to. Not opening a ticket that gets dumped into a queue that some boob halfway accross the globe will take 3 days to figure out and complete. I suggest everyone that is on here reading about the cuts and the injustice being served to us...join and see if we can make a difference. To me it is worth $10 a month. Good luck everyone. -DisappointedIBMer-

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Comment 02/01/12: Anonymous 01/29/12 asked why the RA name list has to go to IBM legal:
"If IBM is doing everything legally since workers are 'at will employees' what is IBM afraid or scared of?"
Because even at will employees are protected by antidiscrimination laws. IBM tries to avoid lawsuits (especially the age discrimination suits they've had in the past).
Therefore, months before each RA, a preliminary list, larger than the target number, is sent to legal to check the distribution; if necessary, the distribution is adjusted by moving names around in the list. Finally, some edge cases are taken off the list to reduce it to the target number. On RA day, each victim gets a list of "Selected" and "Not Selected" numbers by position and age, which is supposed to show enough age balance to discourage suits. (All victions should send that list to Alliance: it's the only way we know layoff numbers.) -Gorya-

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Comment 02/01/12: I have figured out what PBC stands for... Performance Bell Curve. I was ranked "1" in 2009, "2" in 2010 and now "3" in 2011. Moving through the bell curve with velocity... -2015 Roadmap Roadkill -
Alliance Reply: Actually it stands for "Personal Business Commitment"; but whatever you believe about how it works, you should also know that it is a stacked deck and a tool for IBM to do RA's as often as they please, because you have no binding employment contract that protects you from IBM's abuse and injustice toward their employees. Join the union and organize. Fight back collectively, not as an individual. Make a commitment to yourself to make a change.

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Comment 02/01/12: And the complaining continues, as do the firings, benefit cuts, and pay cuts. WTF is going on here? Read this:
http://www.cwalocal1111.com/assets/pdfs/verizon/contracts/D1summary.pdf
and tell me what is so bleeping hard to understand about the value of having a union contract? -Dave-

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Comment 02/01/12: IBM Germany announced this morning job cuts of up to 8000 of the current workforce of 20000. -Mr. Worried-
Alliance reply: We are also getting that information from the IBM Germany union.
The job cuts in Germany must, by law, be negotiated with the union.
It is very different than what happens here.

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Comment 02/01/12: "...if HR is really impartial as they claim to be..."
HR is not impartial. They exist to protect the company. Period. The only way you will ever get some partiality is to join a union who will go to bat for you with some clout against HR. It is called a grievance. There are plenty of articles and books on the subject of companies and corporations Human Resources Depts. which discuss and reveal it all -HRed-

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Comment 01/31/12: And what Bullet would that be in RSD? Fired, Sold, More paycuts? -tired-

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Comment 01/31/12: ST dev has been shipped off shore, so if you were in the US ST dev team, you are now looking for another job. -GettinHosed-

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Comment 01/31/12: I was a second line manager in IBM. PBC rating For all of you IBMUS employees. Just cut and and paste your last year PBC evaluation. You are already rated by 2nd line managers at the beginning of the year. PBC ratings have already been established by 2nd line managers and corporate. Each division is given a percentage of employees that are to be RA at the start of each year. Corporate uses the PBCs tool to downsize and RA employees. This entire system is corrupt. Stop complaining and join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 01/31/12: From the UK. Hear more PBC 3 than ever before, yet met business goals...
i will be appealing against this unfair system and i exceeded all my objectives and performed higher in terms of cost savings against my peers...perhaps its because im over 40 and have over 12 years service under my belt and they want young grads to take my job....was such a nice place in the mid the late 90's.... wow this company is so different -A UK Number-

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Comment 01/31/12: -No Name.. Just a Number!!!- I'm experiencing the same hostility from my 2nd line manager for contesting my rating, he is totally disrespectful with me for challenging their decision, I have a meeting with HR in a couple weeks, will let you know if HR is really impartial as they claim to be... -Anon-

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Comment 01/31/12: Gee, sametime was real slow this AM to login|connect. Coincidence? -ST'ed-

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Comment 01/31/12: 2015 Roadmap. If no ones is paying attention to it you should. Tens of thousands of USA jobs in IBM will be gone. As well as your stock bonus that Sam and now Ginny still dangles like candy in front of you. If you get it your a lucky survivor. PLEASE, PLEASE do something for yourself and your fellow IBMers. ORGANIZE and do it now! Try to reverse or at least slow the 2015 Roadmap job reductions which will soon come. -2015-

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Comment 01/31/12: Project "Malle” in force as of today in the Canadian GDF. Mostly changes at the first level manager level. They’ve split their job in 3 : HR management (PBC, etc.), delivery, and “portfolio” manager (this one is placed between the DPE and the delivery teams, similar to a SDM).
The technical teams may also be split in two between the doers on one side and architects and SME on the other. Still a lot of details to be decided for the final structure. This exists it seems because DPEs have lost contact with all the delivery teams spread across the world. I do not see how a more convoluted management structure will help to save costs…
And we all know were the cuts are going to come from, somebody has to pay for these new positions. -CANonymous-

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Comment 01/31/12: -No Name.. Just a Number!!!- Good for you! Let us know how it turns out.
Thanks for standing up for what is right. You have already helped the cause for employees by setting up a meeting with HR and doing what is right. -No Name in the US-

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Comment 01/31/12: Has anyone ever received a significant pay cut at IBM? Our group of 250 in Jan. 2009 got our base salaries cut by 17% and we never saw it again...I am tired of this company. -AcquiredbyIBM-

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Comment 01/31/12: has anyone heard on cuts in sametime dev? i heard about it -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/30/12: The voice from the UK here... Just complained to my secondline manager, not about my PBC rating as I know that that is just a load of bull... But about the process behind the scores given. My PBC should have been bassed mainly on our performance against set Business goals, but I was given my PBC result 2 weeks before the Business Results were released. So I demanded that management provide me with the documentation which outlines the rules around awarding PBC's. Second line managers responce was to tell me 'not to rock the boat'. When I advised him that I will be taking this matter to HR, unless someone did something to put right this faulty process.... He nearly exploded, with some of the most colourful language I've heard for a long time.... I have a appointment with HR at the end of this week... I'll let you know who I get on. - No Name.. Just a Number!!!-

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Comment 01/29/12: The word at the watercooler is that Retail (RSD) SSRs will take a bullet come March. Retail is no longer part of the big picture. -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/29/12: "...The (RA name) list has to go to IBM legal first..."
Why? If IBM is doing everything legally since workers are "at will employees" what is IBM afraid or scared of? Seems like another unnecessary expense by IBM HR. -anonymous-

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Comment 01/28/12: When the employees write up their PBC's it is a waste of time. Their rating is determined WAY before the manager ever reads the individuals PBC. I know - I am a manager. So the PBC process is a joke. On RA's - the list of impacted folks are created 2 months before they are told. The list has to go to IBM legal first. Once on a list it is nearly impossible to get off the list. IBM will reduce US workforce 50% by 2015 Guaranteed - I have seen the documents. - RA & PBC-
Alliance reply: If you have the documents, please send to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 01/28/12: There will be a BIG RA in GBS in 1Q12. This is a fact. folks will be told end of Feb and end date will be end of March. Folks in all areas will be affected. The only way to keep showing profit increase is to kill off expenses since revenue is not growing. US resources are major targets. -RA coming-

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Comment 01/28/12: Can anyone reading this, not in the Alliance, afford just $0.33 a day? If so, why not join us? -IBMUnionYES-
Alliance reply: Thank you for pointing this out. The funding is essential to organzing; but by itself, cannot bring a union contract to IBMers. The IBMers that join and pay dues must also be actively pursuing new members to join and take action in their workplace; whether it's a virtual workplace or a brick and mortar site. Combine the funding with activities that contribute to the growth of the numbers of US IBMers that want a contract and a voice in their workplace, where ever it is.

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Comment 01/27/12: "You can get the "MBA" (Market Based Adjustment), but you have to be well below the midpoint for your band/job family/region."
The question is CAN and WILL? I can attest that I was a PBC 2+ and well below the midpoint and got no MBA. But I did get an RA instead. It also all depends which band/job family/region IBM wishes to include in an MBA. Since USA "market based pay" has been depressed most IT skill sets get no MBA. It all depends on IBM's whims. I would rather have a contract than depending on the whims of IBM whether I can get an MBA or not. -sby_willie-

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Comment 01/27/12: Wonder why more PBC 3's? I have a theory: since IBM sees that not enough speak up about management abuses or join this union movement then IBM believes giving many more a PBC 3 is just peachy. Since IBM management can get away with it with no resistance. If more folks would join the union here maybe it wouldn't be so peachy for IBM management getting their way always with the employees. If you don't take up the fight then the fight by IBM management comes to you and: hello...it has. IBM employee pacifism is appalling IMHO. -anonymous-

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Comment 01/27/12: Stand by... The 3's are being handed out and recorded by close of business today. I just got mine. Would have completed my 25th year this December. I could feel the target getting bigger on my back. Time to move on... -2015 Roadmap Roadkill-

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Comment 01/27/12: So, let's say you have a department and people with different roles - PM, architect, developer. Let's say everyone does equally excellent work in their role. Is it fair that the highest appraisals always go to the PMs and architect since they are now required to give a "2" or worse to 60% of the department? I believe this was deliberate, and they are encouraging etrition to avoid RA payouts in preparation for offshoring of the 60%. So, this what they learn in the prestigious American MBA programs these days, huh? How to screw your fellow American for an easy offshoring buck? Deplorable and pathetic. -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/26/12: Rumors of layoffs in TPF, a mainframe operating system. 20 out of 70 being R/A'd. More mainframe development departments training their IBM China replacements. So many seem resigned to their fate. They don't have to be. A union of technical folks can be a formidable force. If only Jane and John Beemer could focus their formidable brainpower for a few minutes a day to their own survival and join Alliance@IBM. -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/26/12: I know this board is about job cuts but just one more clarification.
You *can* get a raise with a PBC 2 - just not the merit based component. You can get the "MBA" (Market Based Adjustment), but you have to be well below the midpoint for your band/job family/region. -Anonymouse-
Alliance reply: Here's another clarification: You can get a contract with much more than raises and benefits included, if you organize and stand together; instead of picking the nearly clean bones of the promises and needs of the business 'awards' that IBM throws at IBMers today, as their 'reward' for their excessive hours, delayed promotions, absolute disrespect, and daily fear of job loss and mistreatment through their "career".

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Comment 01/26/12: How many of you PBC complainers have joined the union? It's amazing to me that people will come here and complain, and that other people will advise them to use IBM's own processes to handle things, when we all know it's a stacked deck and our ONLY chance of fair treatment is to form a union. There is absolutely no downside to becoming a member, and the potential for getting us all some help is tremendous. So discouraging to see such talented people acting so weak. This includes you, GDF employees; you're treated horribly. Do something about it before it's too late. -anon-
Alliance reply: Thanks for your comment. To answer your question, we only gained 3 new members this month. This site gets at least 1600 visits a day, far more than the number of members we have.
As mentioned before, membership in the Alliance is confidential. IBM will not get your name.
Dues go to a variety of expenses in organizing and our existence, not just this web site.
If we are to take on IBM we need a war chest.

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Comment 01/26/12: @Zackncody, it is amazing how little awareness people have. Make a point of talking to "One" person a day even if it means getting that person to talk to just one person a day and before you know it, the awareness level has increased. This "word around the campfire" has been the same original plan in place since 2001 and has been made fruition SINCE the 2003 ALL HANDS CALLS. Pay attention to the details and this would not be such a secret. Pay attention to the code words they announce and watch the results as the year wears on. Stop living in survival mode and talk to at least one person a day. -Where-Are-You-now?-

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Comment 01/26/12: Some of us have posted about seeing a PowerPoint presentation a few years back. It showed the global workforce targets with the number of US workers as 20%. Of this 20%, 10-15% is to be landed resources (here on visas) and Americans /legal residents are to be 5-10%. Think of all the visa holders you now see on your account. That is where they are going. At best 10% of the IBM global workforce will be American. The global work force is now about 450,000, so that would then mean about 45,000 Americans is the target. The American number is currently estimated to be about 98,000, so half that will be RA'd or positions left open by attrition.
______________

"Word around the campfire is that by 2015, half of the US workforce will be gone. Let's hope otherwise. -Zackncody- " -anonymous-

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Comment 01/25/12: Right you are alliance. The exec's are measured by profit for their group. Targets are set at the beginning of the year and when they hit them they get their bonus money. If they don't they get booted to a staff holding tank. No PBC for them just profit or loss. -benthere-

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Comment 01/25/12: So did Virginia Romeatie raised the bar on Old McDonald, evil HR director? Of course not. He got no worse than a PBC 2+. Probably his usual PBC 1. -anonymoose-
Alliance Reply: Who cares? Really? Do you think that what the CEO or the HR director does, really matters anymore to IBM US employees? Isn't it just more of the same? Don't you think it's time to organize after all these years, instead of wondering about what Exceutive management is doing? They are giving you (IBMers US) the shaft; and they have been for a long time. Start organizing! Join the Alliance, and get focused on bringing a union contract to the bargaining table. Never mind the PBC's for the CEO and the HR director. Incidentally, those execs don't even USE the PBC system on themselves, FYI...

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Comment 01/25/12: -BlockedDefense- Absolutely your manager can hold you back. It happened to me not once but at least twice. Happens all the time. Ever hear of "Needs of the Business"? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to take a qualifying test for the job opening, pass it with great marks, and then your present manager has to release you since you are in the top 10 or so qualified for the union job and the provisions of the contract say that your management can not hold back a qualified employee from getting another job in the company? -RAed2009-

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Comment 01/25/12: I heard from collegues, IBM Canada SW group is handing out 3 ratings to the majority of it's employees, their commisions have been capped by much as 40% of what was expected.. HR had to get involved because employees cried fowl, I understand managers were read the riot act by HR for not following the proper procedure for rating employees 3s; something to do with not indicating to the employees during the previous year that their performance was dropping via a mid year PBC reviews.. -Canadian-

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Comment 01/25/12: Word around the campfire is that by 2015, half of the US workforce will be gone. Let's hope otherwise. -Zackncody-
Alliance reply: Let's ORGANIZE "otherwise" instead of just hope, ok?

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Comment 01/25/12: Enough discussion about PBCs... This board is SUPPOSED to be about Job Cuts. Do any of the new comment makers here NOT read the comments that came before theirs? Did you read the Alliance replies to comments regarding PBCs?? Here for your benefit, again:
"Alliance reply: We don't advocate 'kicking back and relaxing'. Do all of you want to keep doing this year after year? Organize for a contract and let's get rid of PBC and negotiate a sane evaluation process." and here's another:
"Alliance reply: Absolutely! IBM gets away with its mistreatment of employees based on fear and intimidation. Let's end this now. Fight for a union, organize and let's get a contract that does away with IBM's PBC."
Why is it necessary to continue ranting about something that WILL NOT CHANGE unless YOU stand up for yourselves and change it? WTF is wrong with you people, anyway? Are you still living in the 1980's when life was good and IBM treated you sooooo good?
To Alliance: Please stop posting discussions about PBC's to this board. This is about Job Cuts, and you are doing the right thing by telling IBMers to organize and get a contract that rids IBM employees of the insane PBC system in the first place. Thank you for all that you have done and are doing since 1999. I'm a union member and proud of it. -Read Much?-

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Comment 01/25/12: Without a union, human resource and H/R director Randy MacDonald control the PBC ratings. Randy and all executives have a contract, but IBMUS employess are not respresented and have no contract, the days of respect for the individual are long gone at IBMUS. We need a union to protect from these corrupt corporate practices. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 01/25/12: "Durham/RTP NC - More PBC 3 ratings this year than ever before. If your manager told you this is just a one off and you can fix this next year, it's a load of bull. You're in the RA list. Rest Assured. -support_guy_rtp-"
Absolutely right. In fact, if you are dropped at any level (i.e. 1 to 2) you will probably be on the RA list. Don't believe what your manager says. Here is another fact. You're 2nd line is probably calling all the shots about you and your 1st line probably doesn't even know it. IBM has had a lot of time to figure out their RA strategy. They have been doing it for almost 20 years now. It all started in the early 90s when 3 finger Lou got on board. IBM is getting very good at it. -Gone from Big Blow-

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Comment 01/25/12: This is the kind of workforce American comapnies want. Beware.
"Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone's screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight. A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company's dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day. "The speed and flexibility is breathtaking", the executive said. "There's no American plant that can match that. From the NY Times -member-

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Comment 01/25/12: -Anonymous- "this is a pay cut - zero variable pay"
Of course it's a freaking pay cut! That's exactly the intent. Does anyone really think that the majority of ibmers are going to be rated as 1 or 2+? That's just not going to happen. Most will be rated as 2 with no variable pay, or 3 with no variable pay and no profit sharing. And while we're on the subject of pay cuts, does anyone remember the term 'total compensation' as used by management when trying to justify little or no raises? ANY reduction in your total compensation is a pay cut, whether it's a reduced pension (4 of them since '91), or having to pay more for medical coverage every year, or having your appraisal artificially lowered. The real question here is "what are you going to do about it?" -Dave G-

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Comment 01/24/12: First 2 in over 20 years? Certainly a statement to raise eyebrows. Statement such as this creates hope among the unsuspecting employees.PBC is a flawed process. If a senior (who can influence decisions) with whom one does not have good relationships is promoted to a manager, how can one be sure this will not affect the ratings? Is there a way to ensure "fairness"? -toFirst2-

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Comment 01/24/12: Hi, can an IBM manager give you a low rating and also block you from moving to another job in IBM (if you find one)? About 1.5 years ago, I found another job in IBM but my manager blocked it saying he needed me for another six months. He gave me an average rating last year and I foolishly stayed on. This year, he has given me an even lower rating and I can't wait to leave. Could he block again if I find a job (harder though it may be this time because of my own foolishness)? -BlockedDefense-
Alliance reply: Of course your manager can. Without a union contract you are at the mercy of management decisions.

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Comment 01/24/12: 2011 was my first year to IBM, have worked really hard, overtime, weekends more than the average employees. I had not only learn IBM systems quickly but have made many projects successful........ Got the rating of "2" today is it worthy of my days and night I have spend...? -anonymous-

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Comment 01/24/12: PBC 2 is eligible for the profit sharing / variable pay -Anon-

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Comment 01/24/12: "First "2" ever - in 20 years of being an IBMer, and I am pissed off."
Instead of being pissed off start ORGANIZING your fellow workers who got the same PBC treatment!
Otherwise next you could get a PBC 3. -IBMUnionYes-

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Comment 01/24/12: To the person who received a "2" for the first time in 20 years, you are eligible for variable pay. However, you are not eligible for a raise/salary increase around June timeframe. For first time in many years I was also rated a "2", with horse pucky excuses. My manager did state that I am not eligible for salary increase, but will get variable pay. This is something IBMers are missing. If a 1 of 2+, you get variable pay and raise. If a 2, just variable pay. If a 3, hang it up as you are a goner during the next resource action. -Hanging In There-

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Comment 01/24/12: Kudos to -Amazed- and -Read Much?- for telling it like it is! And no, you're not being too harsh. More like not harsh enough. Folks need to stop whining, stop fighting the system by themselves, get off their butts and get on with the organizing. No one wins anything sitting on the couch. -Dave-

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Comment 01/24/12: First "2" ever - in 20 years of being an IBMer, and I am pissed off. This is effectively a pay cut - zero variable pay. -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/24/12: Durham/RTP NC - More PBC 3 ratings this year than ever before. If your manager told you this is just a one off and you can fix this next year, it's a load of bull. You're in the RA list. Rest Assured. -support_guy_rtp-

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Comment 01/23/12: Dont you think it is laughable that on the bottom of the PBC form it says if you do have comments add them here wether you agree or disagree with the PBC assessment you been given. I tried one time before to appeal against a PBC grading and had a paper trail as long as my arm - never got any futher with the claim and as for the so called workers council they were as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. The sad situation is that you could have accomplished flying to the moon and back in some respects but because the PBC process is completely open to biased opinions you may as well kick back and relax and take the hit. -Tryas Youmay-
Alliance reply: We don't advocate "kicking back and relaxing". Do all of you want to keep doing this year after year? Organize for a contract and let's get rid of PBC and negotiate a sane evaluation process.

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Comment 01/22/12: Here is a suggestion to all those facing getting lower pbc's and fighting it. Become a public member of the Alliance and fight back. make management sweat! Make a lot of noise! -member-
Alliance reply: Absolutely! IBM gets away with its mistreatment of employees based on fear and intimidation. Let's end this now. Fight for a union, organize and let's get a contract that does away with IBM's PBC.

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Comment 01/22/12: -NoName- it appears that you won the battle but I think you lost the law. My bet is your manager is being counseled by his manager for not following the book on lowering a PBC. You may find yourself in a small reorg. and moved to another manager. Please watch your back. I think you will now be treated differently. Also unfortunatly someone else in your group was moved down to a 3. Good luck -benthere-

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Comment 01/21/12: As some others have posted here, getting a PBC overturned can likely put you at the top of the next RA list. First lines (and 2nd lines too) do NOT like being challenged and thoroughly dislike being proven wrong on PBCs. Plese let us know how you make out. As to Loughridge, he has those buzz words down to a science. I am actually surprised someone challenged him. Or maybe it was just a plant so he could doublespeak!!! -formeribmslave-

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Comment 01/21/12: If more folks got lower PBCs this time then you can bet variable this year is gonna sucka$$ -anonymous-

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Comment 01/21/12: -NoName-, Now you are really at the top of their list for the next RA. You're not home free. If they didn't want you gone, they would not have given you a PBC that fit their goal for the next RA. I worked for IBM for 11 years. When your numbers up, you may be able to stall a bit, but in the end your name was on their list for a reason (not that it's justified). Just a reality check. Don't get over confident, Start looking outside the company before you have to. -Tony-

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Comment 01/20/12: Got Good news fought PBC and won :) you will win if u document right keep and audit trail keep police yourself keep a journal and note everything. It works did for me this year as my manager tried to doc me but my senior manager negated it because I had the appropriate documentation and valid arguments. -NoName-

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Comment 01/20/12: There is talk of employee cuts at the Burlington VT plant. Not sure how many or what areas. The reason is cost cutting. There are a lot of closed door manager meetings going on right now. Stay tuned. -WhistleBlower-

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Comment 01/20/12: Loughridge on analyst call: During the analyst conference call, Loughridge was asked a question about his comments on productivity gains being a part of IBM's growth in profitability. Toni Sacconaghi of Sanford Bernstein asked if that were "a code word for labor migration offshore" or job reductions that were done in the beginning of the year. Loughridge answered by characterizing the productivity moves more as "large structural takeout" that is 'a big assist' to the overall profit margins in services. He added that more is on the way. "We're going to rebalance our workforce" he said, in order to keep skills aligned with opportunities and investments. This "should be roughly consistent with what we've seen over the last for years, more specifically, like what we saw in 2010." -unionyes-

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Comment 01/19/12: If you fight the PBC and win the higher evaluation, then you might get variable pay. Depending on what you bring forth in your PBC defense, you may save yourself from the next round of RAs. With a higher PBC rating, you stand a better chance of changing jobs. I agree, most are let go regardless of winning the increased rating. I say fight it! -AlreadyDone-

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Comment 01/19/12: Have heard of new layoffs in US GBS - dont have numbers but I know it is happening folks will be told in Feb and exit March -newlayoffs-

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Comment 01/17/12: By the time that you receive a PBC 3, you are already marked and on a list for cutting, be it through the next RA or otherwise. This is a check box that just about finalizes it. Trust me, because that is what happened to me in 2009. You have no power working through the current system in place at IBM. You can only work to change the system. -Oatmeal-

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Comment 01/17/12: What does it take to get through to you people? What does the Alliance need to say or have to tell you that will turn the light on for you? The comments that have been coming in here lately, demonstrate a lack of ability to read the replies that Alliance has given to the same comments over and over and over. To prove my point, just "search" this comments page with the words 'alliance reply:' and read the comment it comes to and then read alliance's reply... keep doing that and when you've finished this page, go to the "Your Comments" menu and click on any of the "archives" of comments. Then do the same search on 'alliance reply:'... I'd be willing to bet you'll begin to see what the definition of "repeat" or "review" really is. Can you NOT learn anything from these replies? Can you NOT deduce what to do after reading these replies? Can you NOT read at all? Sorry to be so harsh; but it is apparent that the Alliance has been telling you the the ways in which you can bring a union into IBM. They've spelled it out many times, and they've provided links to other sections of their web site to give you MORE information and help so that you can make an informed decision. WTF else do you need? Join the alliance and get busy growing the numbers of US IBMers that join and start standing up to US IBM management. Get busy organizing or get busy losing your job and your livelihood. -Read Much?-

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Comment 01/17/12: I have been gone for more than 4 years and I am just amazed that people waste their time on here talking about fighting PBC's. After all these years? Seriously? PBC's??? If you are still at IBM at this point, each and every single one of you should be talking to all of your coworkers and organizing to get a union. If you aren't, then lay down and die now. It's not worth working at such a company in this day and age without a UNION! All of us who are gone, and chime in here now and then, all the notes from Exodus, don't get through to those of you who are left? Don't complain about stupid PBC's and what IBM is doing to you this time. I'm saddened that after all these years people are still bitching. Join forces all of you that are left and DO something about it! Get your office and every other office together and vote in a Union and stop complaining about how bad you are being treated. If you don't, you might as well dig a hole and just jump in and lay down. -Gone_in_07_&_amazed-

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Comment 01/17/12: -gadfly- it doesn't mean anything that you refuse to sign your pbc. The manager just signs it and states you refused to sign but the pbc was done. you are now considered a rouge employee. you will now move down on the ranking list -dontmatter-

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Comment 01/16/12: If you have received a '3' then you have nothing to lose by fighting it. When you talk to your 2nd line manager remember he/she is basically just a rubber stamp for your first line's appraisal, So your objective at this meeting should not be to get a reversal of the rating but rather on getting specifics as to why you are being rated a "3". There is a good likelihood that you'll be able to use the 2nd line's response in your appeal (Most 2nd lines managers don't have a good idea of the work that you have or have not done during the past year). Before filing the appeal you need to read all the info IBM has on appraisals and ratings on their web sites. Then try to use IBM own words, systems (email, labor claiming, change and problem management, etc) and documentation to refute the 3 appraisal. Request a five member panel review. You will get three employees and two managers on your panel chosen at random. Most employees in IBM are aware of how management treats its employees and that the PBC process has been compromised and is now used as a way to suppress wages and reduce/outsource employees. So if you can make a sound case you may have a better chance than you think. -Jake-

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Comment 01/16/12: "Fighting PBCs!! In 2009 my good friend got a 3. He fought it and had it reversed to a 2. In April he was selected for a Resource Action. Coincidence? Yeah, right. You will NEVER have a chance without someone fighting for you. A union is your ONLY ONLY hope. But the majority of IBMers just don't get it. So, let's wait for the next bomb to drop!! "
I completely agree. I have seen many examples of what you described. Fighting the PBC rating is a waste of time. You will only anger your manager. You need someone with some real legal clout on your side. There are laws to prevent workplace abuse and protect your job. A Union can help you enforce these laws. Don't be stupid and lose your job. Support the Alliance. -DontBeStupid-

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Comment 01/15/12: I told my mgr that I wouldn't sign my pbc unless he gave me a worse rating. I wanted my rating to reflect the butchered performance bonus. We continue to perform at the same level, but the money is gone. I for one, am not going to continue doing it. -gadfly-

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Comment 01/15/12: Fighting PBCs!! In 2009 my good friend got a 3. He fought it and had it reversed to a 2. In April he was selected for a Resource Action. Coincidence? Yeah, right. You will NEVER have a chance without someone fighting for you. A union is your ONLY ONLY hope. But the majority of IBMers just don't get it. So, let's wait for the next bomb to drop!! -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/15/12: @ANA has it correct. IBM managers are nothing more than puppets to execute the 2015 road map. IBM designated categories and allotted money for each area:
1 - Promotion - raise
2+ - Raise
2 - no raise or very small one that is eaten up by inflation.
3 - Lay Off Target on your back, (you should have taken this seriously by now).
Managers have VERY LITTLE input other than that they have to trim the budget with RA's and other mix of savings. Back in the capitalism days there was such a thing as making revenue. -Tunnel-Light-is-Off-

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Comment 01/15/12: If all you PBC 3 folks now would rise up, unite, and fight IBM on this injustice then you all have at least a chance to reverse it. If you don't flock together now you will be picked off one-by-one. This is not a threat; it is truth. It is IBM unwritten, unmentioned history. The pension change in 1999 showed what strength IBMs could exert (it could have been more powerful but...) Strength in numbers! Unite. This is the Alliance message. -anonymous-

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Comment 01/15/12: The longer everyone who is an employee in IBM and who is not joining the cause of the Alliance WAITS the WORSE the abuse by IBM management will get. If you are disappointed in your PBC 3 rating then continue to sit around, do nothing, and see what is going to be next. If it isn't an RA coming it will be something like taking your growth driven pay or your 401K match away...or something else. -waiting4?-

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Comment 01/14/12: Thanks folks for the advice re fighting my 3 rating, will let my manager know I want to contest it... BTW - an exIBMer I worked with a few years back called me up out of the blue and said there is an opening at his company for a Pre Sales rep which I will also pursue...
IBM has become too stressful of a company to work for without representation, management only treats their so-called friends with respect and dist the rest, it really does not matter how much you do anymore for this company… Hope I land the presale job and get the hell out of this Stressful Pit.. -Anon-
Alliance Reply: Your comment "...without representation" is exactly what Alliance@IBM has been trying to achieve since 1999. When do the dots connect for US IBMers, and reveal that organizing a union of IBMers is an alternative to quitting a company that abuses its employees to the 'enth' degree? I hope things work out for you; however, IBMers will still be "without representation" after you are gone...unless they decide that enough is enough, and they are willing to fight back together, to make IBM the place they would rather work for, than somewhere else.

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Comment 01/14/12: This is you:
apple-factory-inspections-turn-up-scores-of-labor-violations unless you organize. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 01/14/12: To - Lowly SDM- There is no such thing as protesting a PBC rating. First and second line managers are given amount a employess each year to cut head count. The only thing that will stop this abuse of IBM employees is a union. All the discussions in the world will not change your PBC rating. If you are over 50 years of age you a have target on your back to be RAed. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 01/14/12: Resource action announced Jan 13 2012. Impacts north America sales and distribution. Execs and non execs impacted -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/14/12: -dun 4- and -exguard- Fully agree with you. Last year first level and other managers informed people that prior to the year end review HR had informed the departments the numbers allowed for 1, 2+. There is a bell curve for 2's. HR sits in at the final Department roll up when the decision is made. It is obscene that one has to boil down a years work to fit a power point slide with a predefined template. Making font smaller to fit more is not allowed. Top it off with requiring a photo id so they know who they are talking about. We were told that the upper level process allows only 60 seconds per employee for the final culling - sorry decision. This years ranking gives rise to reflect. I will continue to do my job. I no longer will as be efficient or quick as to identify that which will damage image and impact revenue. Wake up to reading it in the news now. -Anon-

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Comment 01/14/12: Nice job posting the contract examples. Should help cover the "what's in it for me" excuse for being a fence sitter. A contract summary link was also posted by -union yes- that is brief and to the point - maybe that one also could be added to the "Home Front" tab? A contract like this one with free retiree medical and pension increases would be priceless for ibm retirees. And from recent posts, it looks like the pbc rating games continue. They've been doing this for a while now, haven't they? This is just another great reason to get out there and organize a union to protect yourself with a contract! Seems like there's no shortage of reasons, doesn't it? -Dave G.-
Alliance Reply: Thanks Dave. The Contract Summary IS part of the "Home Front" tab, and I also posted the same list of contracts on the Front page of our web site, titled "Sample Contracts" at the top. I will add more sample contracts as I get them or find them in our archives. Yes, we agree. These contracts may be many pages; but they cover everything in strict detail and leave no open loopholes for management to circumvent the contract's intention. Incidentally, CEO's and top company executives get contracts drawn up just as air tight if not tighter, so that they are protected from the BoD, should anything 'go wrong' during their tenure. Why shouldn't the employees have a similar advantage and protection? There are no reasons I can think of.

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Comment 01/13/12: If your PBC rating was dropped to a 3 you have nothing to lose by fighting to get it raised back up since if you do nothing but stay disappointed with the PBC 3 you will soon lose your job. -fight_it-

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Comment 01/13/12: -AlreadyDone- If your PBC went from a 2 to 3 and you had a union contract you could file a grievance and have your union help fight for you to get your performance better reviewed. -union_guy-

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Comment 01/13/12: For those of you receiving a PBC 3 rating this year - if you didn't have a mid year review and your manager hadn't had a conversation with you, you should protest it. As a former manager, I can tell you that a PBC 3 should NEVER be a surprise to an employee. They should have an idea it is coming and the groundwork for that rating should have shown up in a midyear review or other meeting with your manager. I can't promise you will win, but at least your first and second line will sweat bullets when they have to answer why there were no mid year reviews or other performance discussions held prior to the rating notification. -LowlySDM-

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Comment 01/13/12: I am an exmanager that left IBM last year just sick of the I am just following orders BS. Fight a "3" always. Relative contribution is a lie because it can't be quantified. This is on purpose within IBM to support the skew. It is no accident in a metric based company like IBM there is no clear metric to individual performance and a commitment to pay bonuses or raises. All the americans will get picked off one at a time through the performance process. Your only chance to keep your job in the next few year is to join the union so you can demand fair, measurable performance ratings and raises. -exguard-

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Comment 01/13/12: a summary of a CWA contract
http://www.cwalocal1111.com/assets/pdfs/verizon/contracts/D1summary.pdf -unionyes-

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Comment 01/13/12: "First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Pastor Martin Niemöller-
I am an Alliance member because I believe we need to start standing up for ourselves - together. I pay the dues because I can - I have a job (and it's not that much money). If the time comes when I have no income and that has to change, I'll worry about that then, but we need to help get the word out and make sure people know how these companies treat their employees, and we need to get together and act as one - they keep whittling us down little by little and individually, we don't stand a chance. Joining the union will help (note that I am not an officer, administrator, or receive any compensation from the Alliance). We can read between the lines. We all know this isn't about making good business decisions in a free market...it's about greed and a handful of people exploiting the rest of us. Treating us like ****, constantly taking away from us, and firing us to give themselves more money (and then making those who are left "do more with less" - more work, less pay and benefits. More fear of losing your job (and thus intimidating you into not speaking up), less hope for the future). Don't just shrug your shoulders and let it go....DO SOMETHING!!! -juggernaut-

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Comment 01/13/12: There is an initiative to lower everyone's PBC. This came out in November 2011. The 'bar' has changed. Last year 50% of the employee population could be 2+ or higher. This year it has been lowered. 40% or less can be 2+ or higher. Most will be 2s or 3s this year. Another way for ibm to save by not giving you a raise this year, and lowering your March bonus. Don't be surprised when you receive your rating this month to see it lowered. It's standard across the board. -dun-4-

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Comment 01/13/12: What is with the pbc's being dropped from 1's to 3's? That seems drastic and unreasonable. -workerbee-
Alliance Reply: Some our sources are saying this is the way to get around resource actions. You are dropped in PBC level and then forced out for "performance issues".
As a firing or force out it is not a resource action. IBM saves money and severance pay is lower.
It is also a way to hide the continued decline of the IBM US employee population.
Make no mistake, many of you now are a target for an unreasonable and unjust job loss. It does not matter how good a job you are doing. Being dropped from a 1 to a 3 proves that.
And yes offshoring is still playing a role here. Organize and fight back!

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Comment 01/13/12: "Just went from a 1 rating to a 3... very disappointed with this rating.. "
There is no protection for US IBM employees in reference to PBC ratings. Without a union to represent you, You have no say. PBC ratings are only used to get rid of people and are based on head count and second line managers head count reductions. IBM does not care about you or your years wih the company. Without a union, you are on an island by yourself. Management will win everytime. If you want to stop this abuse,join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 01/13/12: FightBack, for the most part the "evil" is not from 1st lines, they're just struggling to keep their jobs like you. The "evil" are the rules that descend from IBMHR. These set the overall tone, impossible goals(3's), the miserable environment and low morale index that exist today. Management has no incentive to change any of this as long as there are more potential employees then jobs. -HRtheEvilOnes-

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Comment 01/13/12: AlreadyDone, in regards to fighting a PBC3 and the following RA, why not cherish a PBC3 and get the hell out of the pig? -splitThePig-

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Comment 01/13/12: If anyone's PBC went from 2 to 3, you should go before the PBC review Panel. That 3 is a RA waiting. Write up your reasons for review, you can search the process in PBC area of employee info. You need to fight that 3 rating. -AlreadyDone-

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Comment 01/12/12: "Just went from a 1 rating to a 3... very disappointed with this rating.. "
Don't be disappointed, do something about it. My manager slowly and methodically lowered my apprasial over the course of 2 years. I then got RAed. The thing I regret most is not fighting back. There are some evil and corrupt managers at IBM. Don't let them ruin your life and your career. -Fight Back-

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Comment 01/12/12: "Just went from a 1 to a 3." I have heard rumors that severance packages will now be based on your performance. So I'm sure everyone will be 3 in 2012. -gonein11-

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Comment 01/11/12: New Years resolution: No more comp time for evening or weekend work. It's called OT morons, you either pay it or do not schedule us to work the extra hours. Stick the comp time up your a$$ losers. -Johan-

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Comment 01/11/12: PBC is around the corner and if it is not a 1+ or a 1 after all my hard work this year than I am convinced that all 1st line managers are useless to the world. -Moron for staying so long-

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Comment 01/11/12: Not the way to do it! Microsoft probes mass suicide threat at China plant!
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http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/11/world/asia/china-microsoft-factory/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
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Organize. Get a contract or maybe this will be us sometime... -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 01/11/12: "Just went from a 1 rating to a 3." Really? No warning. Your manager never told you, you would drop so much? How could IBM HR allow this, huh? This is why you need a union contract. -Anonymoose-

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Comment 01/11/12: -Exodus2007- The feeling in IBM is still "...it ain't true. It will not happen to me." IBMers have to look at the person in the mirror before that person disappears figuratively and/or literally. Yes, Union now! -IBMUnionYES!-

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Comment 01/11/12: I presume all of you complaining here are alliance members? If you do not join, expect even more draconian measures. Hey IBM, how about charging for employees using the parking lot? Or the bathrooms? Lee has been killing himself for years in an attempt to help those who are not willing to help themselves. And Anon 1 to a 3, you are just DISAPPOINTED???? I presume you either peruse this board or talk to other IBMers. What did you expect???? -Jim-

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Comment 01/11/12: Being told by senior management on the GBS side that they are "moving the bell curve" and people are being severely reprimanded for little things not related to the BS 110% utilization goal. There will be quite a few #3 PBCer's this year! I'll bet the next layoff is end of February like clock work! -Getting Old-
Alliance Reply: And I'm sure our message to organize and grow the numbers of IBMers that belong to Alliance@IBM, is getting old, too; but it's still true and still is the best way to fight back for your right to collectively bargain for a contract that protects IBM workers from the abuses that IBM is delivering and has been delivering to IBMers for several years.

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Comment 01/11/12: More business expenses pushed onto underpaid employees. More RA's. More attrition due to bogus appraisals. Pay cuts. Benefits more expensive. Job Security non-existent. How damn many reasons do people need to say enough is enough and organize? -Exodus2007-

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Comment 01/11/12: In GTS Delivery Services we are now being told that IBM will no longer pay for "personal" cell phones as of 1/1/12. The primary reason a lot of us even have cell phones is that we are frequently on call and attempting to fufill service level agreements (SLAs) that IBM is contractually obligated to meet. We are being allowed to order pagers so we can still be contacted while on call, but I wonder what am I supposed to do when I'm out and about and not near a phone? There are no pay phones out there anymore and if IBM is not footing the bill for my cell phone then I'm sure as hell not going to use it for business purposes. In fairness, we've been told they will pay for any charges over and above the normal cell phone expenses, but mine are typically just the monthly service charge and taxes and they will not pay for that. I believe this could result in IBM violating more service level agreements and incurring monetary penalties that could exceed any cell phone expenses. I have a pretty good idea who's going to get blamed for that when it happens. This move is incredibly short sighted, impractical, and in no way a benefit to IBM customers. This is right in line with the decision a while back to no longer pay for Internet access for work at home employees. It's very frustrating and sad to watch IBM nickel and dime it's own employees like this and to have to be a part of it. And yes, I am an Alliance Member. -Gray_Hair-
Alliance Reply: As an Alliance member, what ideas do you think would help IBMers fight back over this issue? What could a large number Alliance-member IBMers in GTS Delivery Services do together that could force IBM to re-consider that policy or any other action? How many of your co-workers that you know, know about Alliance@IBM? If you would like to discuss this with us, please contact us through this email:ibmunionalliance@gmail.com or send a message via our contact page link here:Contact Us

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Comment 01/11/12: Just went from a 1 rating to a 3... very disappointed with this rating.. -Anon-
Alliance Reply: Disappointed enough to do.....what.....anything? If you live in Canada and work for IBM there, you could contact this organization: http://fpcep911.sasktelwebhosting.com/index.php

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Comment 01/09/12: top executive management has directed the 3 performers this year to be in the higher bands for the skew. Targeting older persons band 8 9 10 in the US and Europe. Avoids age discrimination and laborlaws and no expensive payout if poor performers are terminated not resource action. -noprotection-

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Comment 01/09/12: Per Randy MacDonald, IBM has recently RAed 143 H/R positions. I worked in Armonk corporate H/R. Randy MacDonald has no degree in H/R and does not have a SPHR. He was given this position by Lou Because he was a political hack for Lou. The executives in H/R will never be RAed.Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 01/08/12: There has been no money available for training in IGS IGA for years now. Is Palmisano that out of touch with reality, or is he just lying? -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/08/12: Resource Actions are more than just outsourcing or offshoring labor. IBM RAs employees to also reduce headcount when the employee being eliminated is never replaced. An RA is for IBM to reduce costs in any and all ways. Curious that IBM only started to outsource employees when Gerstner took over. IBM could have always outsourced employees since they are INTERNATIONAL business machines but IBM and it's former executive leadership must have been more ethical before Gerstner and didn't pit globalism over nationalism for profits. It's sad that absolute gluttony over creating and sustaining excessive IBM profits at the cost of employees' welfare has consumed IBM. -Thunkaboutit-

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Comment 01/08/12: -Jake- IBM management (HR, Randy MacDonald, et. al.) has mentioned that IBM employees are IBM's most important asset. But the question is which EMPLOYEES are IBM precisely talking about. Since IBM executives are employees I think that is what IBM is attesting to. Why I believe this is when was the last time an IBM executive was RAed?!? -anonymous-

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Comment 01/08/12: Software group and Hardware Group got hit With reorganizations on Friday. I Know of at least 16 people that have 90 days to find new jobs... there are more but they are keeping it fairly quiet -FEDIBMER-

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Comment 01/08/12: Is there a labor union in IBM India? If not, will Alliance@IBM reach out to organize them? Seems like a logical step given India has most employees and fully integrated with US. -James-
Alliance Reply: Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701, cannot organize IBM workers in a different country than the USA. India's labor laws, and country laws are just as much sovereign to Indians, as the US laws are to Americans. However, we can help India's IBM workers organize through the IBM Global Union Alliance; which consists of unions and works councils within other IBM Site countries. Alliance@IBM is a member of the IBM Global Union Alliance, and we are always interested in organizing IBMers anywhere and everywhere. Here's a link to the list of unions and works councils that are members of the IBM Global Union Alliance: IBM GUA Members List India is listed between Ireland and Italy.

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Comment 01/08/12: Yes, my point was to show what those who DO have NLRB certified unions have managed to accomplish, as an incentive to organize for folks here. -Dave G.-

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Comment 01/08/12: I think any employee knows the truth - next to nothing is being spent on training. Simple version - 600 million would be $1500 to $2000 per employee. No one I know has been able to do any training for the last number of years. The joke "mandatory" ethics/conduct/business process courses are the closest it comes - and any 6 year old should be able to answer these correctly. I couldn't care less about ibm training - at least take the imaginary $600 million for training and give it out in bonuses that we should all be getting as per the HR policies. -canuck-

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Comment 01/07/12: Peter Drucker, considered the Father of Modern Management, staunchly defended the need for businesses to be profitable but he preached that“employees were a resource, not a cost”.
IBM management clearly has inverted this and this is now part of the IBM culture that our new CEO brags about.  Within IBM it is predominantly about cost.
I have not been able to attend a class in over 8 years since we never have money in our budget for education. Education is totally the responsibility of the employee now. There may be some exceptions but for Sam to talk about IBM retraining or re-educating employees is laughable. Up until a few years ago, our time claiming system classified education as non-productive time.  While it is true, as Sam stated, the more skills you have the better off you are it does not necessarily hold true within IBM. I know many highly skilled employees, and some Distinguished Engineers, that have been let go simply because IBM could outsource their job at a lower cost.  So I think it is disingenuous of Sam to suggest maintaining or increasing your skills is the answer. If IBM can outsource your job at a lower cost than it does not matter what your skills are. At IBM “employees are a cost not a resource”. -Jake-
Alliance Reply: Well stated. Thank you for saying what Alliance@IBM has been saying for many years. IBM perpetuates a lie. Just like that saying goes, "You tell a lie often enough and sooner or later, people believe it's the truth". Offshoring has ALWAYS been about cost and NOT about skills. IBM, Microsoft, and HP are just a few of the IT companies that have preached this lie over and over, in the media, enough to convince politicians and the public that IT workers are "lacking the skills to compete globally". It's a bald faced lie that has been overemphasized since the late 1990's. The truth is simply "cheap labor".

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Comment 01/07/12: With the current comments about the unavailability of job training at ibm, it might be worthwhile if the Alliance can post links to job training provided by CWA to its members or any links to contract items that require the employer to provide job training to members. -Dave G-
Alliance Reply: I wish we COULD post CWA job training links, but we can't. We don't have a contract with IBM, that would stipulate job training within the agreement. Each collectively bargained contract that CWA or any union has with a company, has specifics about the job training policy. I will ask our National Coordinator if we have some recent CWA contract samples that list job training, and if so I will post them here, ok? In the meantime, all IBMers in the USA should be organizing to achieve a contract agreement with IBM.

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Comment 01/05/12: I am working in IBM France, and I am member or CFTC worker union. We also worry about this shift to "India Business Machines". I like your approach : "Write to your congressman, grow a spine, stop the tax benefits to IBM and others who offshore and eliminate American Jobs." -Christian Le Coz-

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Comment 01/05/12: When I started with Blue in 1995, we had a book budget per month that we could use for any books we wanted. When Sammy came on board that soon went away, and as for continuing education it was a catch 22. To pick up new technology we needed to have training. But IBM had to pay be able to bill it to the project, but you couldn't get on the project without the training. -radin2010-

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Comment 01/04/12: "It (IBM) also spends about $600 million a year on worker education , training and retraining."
I asked my manager if I can go to a training class for the latest Websphere servers. Manager said limited money in the training budget. It's always constrainded. So what is going on? So who gets the training money? Is it for IBM managers (new manager education?) and executives (how to feed your own ego and screw employees for your own gain class) to take education? I think this $ figure is exaggerated and a plain lie from IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 01/04/12: Layoffs under the CIO today, unsure of how many. Know of at least 4 people affected in one department on the business team our development team works with. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: Thanks for the information. If anyone has the RA pack please email to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com That is the only way we can verify the numbers.

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Comment 01/04/12: @RAedFromBlue, This is so familiar as I have had exact experiences with so called Managers and Executives who are computer illiterate. Wonder what will happen if you take away their ability to demean IT people with RA's, such as Organizing Employees. -True-Gritt-

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Comment 01/03/12: gathering-storm-over-right-to-work-in-indiana -UpHillBattle-

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Comment 01/03/12: -RAedFromBlue- I like the word stewardship selected rather than leadership. Sam was no leader. The reason IBM employees cannot get up the skill ladder is because IBM is failing at that. The blame should ultimately go to the person in charge. It is clear RAs are IBM's sad answer instead of building a skills ladder all employees can safely and easily climb. -anon-

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Comment 01/02/12: A Look Back at IBM’s Palmisano Era and the China Strategy Palmisano+Era+and+the+China+Strategy

Saturday was Sam Palmisano’s last day on the job as CEO of IBM, and Sunday was Ginny Rometty’s first.

The New York Times published something of an exit interview with Palmisano over the weekend. It read a bit like a victory lap, and that’s not undeserved. The record books will show that IBM shares during the Palmisano era (2003-2011) rose by 125 percent; sales grew from $81 billion in 2002 to an expected $107 billion; and annual profits on a per-share basis went from $3.07 to a consensus forecast of $13.38.
But it got me to thinking about one of the highlights of the Palmisano era; one that generated a great deal of attention at the time: IBM’s decision to sell its personal computer division to Lenovo, the Chinese PC maker. It was a relatively small deal, worth less than $2 billion at the time, but it was a controversial move. Despite the fact that IBM wasn’t making much money on the business, IBM PCs, especially its ThinkPad line of notebooks, were generally considered to be pretty good. -Anonymous-

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Comment 01/02/12: "We do a lot of retraining every year,” Mr. Palmisano continued, “and we still find ourselves in the situation where people can’t move up the skill ladder. That’s a lot of what’s going on. They can’t get up the skill ladder. So we have to replace them with current skills.”

Here is Palmisano blaming the employee instead of his stewardship.

Palmisano, define A LOT OF RETRAINING? Was there an IBM action plan to improve retraining under his leadership? Examples? Training programs?, specific IBM skills education? etc. Let us have it Sam! Does the cat have your tongue?

Ask ANYONE who was RAed whether retraining was ever a possibility?

Palmisano is clearly naive and should just admit he is just plain lucky to have found a way to move up his so-called skill ladder without possessing IBM technical IT and engineering skills. He just has political and manipulative skills. A lot of IBM management has only these skills today. And that is pathetic and sad. IBM management at all levels used to be stellar.

A true story and a case in point: I had to help my IBM Director load his new printer print driver since he had no clue how to do it despite printed instructions for plugnplay so he could print out an RA notice.

And guess who soon got the RA notice once it was printed?

I hope my former IBM 3rd line grew a skill and found out how to upgrade his print driver. But somehow I doubt it. Unless he found another employee like myself to help him with the skill.

Sam is really not much different than this IBM Director when you come to think of it. -RAedFromBlue-

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Comment 01/02/12: -what respect- Interesting. Same situation for me. I know we could not have the same manager as closest people in area had more more than 12 years to reach QCC. Box in my office always my in view when I speak to manager. -anonymous-

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Comment 01/02/12: IBM's US payroll numbers a challenge
IBM's success in recent years is clear from the numbers - an upward ascent in profits, profit margins, stock-market value and even research and development spending. But there is one number IBM stopped disclosing a few years ago: the company's employment in the United States. The last time IBM broke out its American payroll numbers was in 2008, for the previous five years. From 2003 through 2007, the company's worldwide employment grew by 21% to 386,558, while the headcount in the United States declined 11% to 120,589. Data submitted as part of Congressional testimony indicated the downward trend in American employment continued, at least through 2009. IBM still reports its global payroll, which increased to 426,750 in 2010.
IBM, undoubtedly, stopped disclosing its American employment because the trend was an invitation to criticism . But the decision, while understandable, was a shame, I think. IBM, in a way, is a microcosm of the American economy - certainly the high-tech economy. And IBM's decisions on what kind of jobs stay in the United States and what jobs go abroad is a case study of a company at the forefront of globalization. Its experience may well hold lessons for the American economy, companies and workers.
Take one example. IBM has massively increased its employment in India in the last several years. Some estimates place IBM's Indian work force at more than 100,000. That would probably place it on a par with IBM's employment in the United States. IBM notes that India is a fast-growing market for the company, and that it is a rich source of skilled engineers. But lower labor costs in India , of course, have been a major motivation.
IBM's big business services faced the same kind of challenge from Indian outsourcing companies like Tata Consulting , Infosys and Wipro that low-cost computers, based on microprocessor technology, meant for IBM's mainframe business two decades ago. Then, IBM was slow to respond, and nearly collapsed . The company's worldwide payroll dropped by nearly half, to a low point of 217,000 in the mid-1990 s. Samuel J. Palmisano, who became chief executive in 2002, was determined that the services business would not repeat the mistake of the mainframe business.
A big part of IBM's India strategy was to change the economics of the company's services business on its own terms, before rivals did. IBM is still probably the largest private employer of technology workers in the United States. But the mix of jobs is very different than it was a decade or so ago. And the company is continually adding some jobs and eliminating others, in the USand other countries. It spends $400-500 million a year on "workforce rebalancing," payments to workers let go. It also spends about $600 million a year on worker education , training and retraining. ibms-us-payroll-numbers-a-challenge -anon-

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Comment 01/02/12: From the NYT article on Sam:
[....]
In 2004, I.B.M. sold its PC business to Lenovo of China. Mr. Palmisano says he deflected overtures from Dell and private equity firms, preferring the sale to a company in China for strategic reasons: the Chinese government wants its corporations to expand globally, and by aiding that national goal, I.B.M. enhanced its stature in the lucrative Chinese market, where the government still steers business.
[....] -Anon-

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Comment 01/01/12: What bunch of BS. I spent my last years at IBM trying to get trained in new technologies and there was never any money available. -anonymous-

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Comment 01/01/12: The NY Times did a fairly positive article today on Sam, while also including a blog-style commentary on the workforce rebalancing that has led to the decline of the US work force. If you are looking for an opportunity to describe how US employees have viewed Sam's leadership, this is a good opportunity: unboxed-extra-ibm-and-americas-job-challenge -HappyFormerIBMer-

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Comment 01/01/12: NY Times article. Quotes from Palmisano in the last two paragraphs:
unboxed-extra-ibm-and-americas-job-challenge
Summary: It's all the fault of the worker. -HappyElsewhere-

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Comment 12/30/11: To -I'veBeenMisrespected, I never knew IBM had managers that paid so little attention to the QCC. I have attended several affairs and a big deal was always made of the milestone. Your manager should be flogged. I tossed out my letter from the CEO, but I cherish my book. Please accept my apology. -Biker1mike-

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Comment 12/30/11: Respect? You expect R-E-S-P-E-C-T???! It's clear IBM doesn't value employee SERVICE. QCC is a joke. IBM is too wrapped up in itself to just end the program and use whatever they save by killing it to keep filling the Armonk coffee urns or water coolers. The only thing IBM management values is their own hide and growing wealth through bloated salaries, bonuses, and stock options and that means continued mistreatment and resource actions to IBM employees. P.S. The only way to hope for a better New Year 2012 is to get unionized now IBM! -NOrespect-

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Comment 12/30/11: What Respect? I retired and had no dinner,had no book, had no gift after 30 years of service with IBM. Mgr only brought in donuts for my retirement. Incompetent first and second line manager. Respect? -ANA-

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Comment 12/30/11: What a wonderful idea!!!! It will make it so much easier to train your replacements if you speak their language!!!! And the morale team won't have to buy those expensive rosetta stone courses either!!!!!!!! schools-turn-to-chinese-language-classes-with-help-of-chinese-government -Dave-

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Comment 12/29/11: To -WhatResepct?- I remember attending several 10yr service celebrations in the late 1990's. Nothing huge, but management thought enough to get a group of 20-30 people together to celebrate one's accomplishments to the company for 10 years. I hit my 10yr anniversary about 4-5 years ago, thinking I would get something comparable. Instead I got absolutely nothing from my 2nd line on up (not even a 'thanks'), and my 1st line did basically nothing either - unless you consider an eCard as something special. Just one of many reasons I saw the writing on the wall and left the company earlier this year. -OverThere-

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Comment 12/27/11: To -I'veBeenMisrespected- The day I hit QCC not a word from first or second level. A week later first drops off opened QCC carton saying this is yours. It still sits years later untouched in my office as he left it. -WhatResepct?-

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Comment 12/26/11: For -I'veBeenMisrespected- If your Manager never asks anyone to provide a letter then you will not get any. I have seen managers ask repeatedly for letters and not get any back. I think its pretty telling that the manager did not even provide one. I suspect no one was asked. Managers usually ask via the Notes distribution list for your group and they just delete you from the list and send the request. Your Manager may be so incompetant that they believed someone else would send the request. The second line has nothing to do with it. Just the request for a QCC book and triggers the auto letter from the CEO. Hope this takes some of the sting out of it. Blame it on the usual management incompetence so relevant today. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/24/11: Wow midwest SSR. The Alliance is fighting for you and other SSR's and you bash it? Unbelievable. -IBMer-

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Comment 12/24/11: I left IBM earlier this year on my own free will. No workforce reduction or resource action - just had enough and left. I joined over a decade earlier and had high hopes for a solid career at IBM, but things changed early on and just got worse. It just wasn't worth wondering if I was going to be one of the unfortunates to get a pink slip this year (or next year). I wanted a little more stability than that. I was a member of the IBM union for most of the time I was at IBM, and had wished others would have done the same. I really wish the Alliance all the best in their continued persistence in trying to get the masses at IBM to join. Its an uphill battle, which I hope one day they can overcome.

While a solid performer at IBM, I watched as others who were also solid performers get the dreaded pink slip just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just didn't want to roll the dice any longer with a family to support. Not to mention management really couldn't care less about my career other than me squeezing 25 hrs of work in a 24 hr day. And come assessment time, it was always the same "We don't have much of a pool this year to give you any bonus, raise, or promotion - sorry." Talk about a broken record.

So I found a position at another IT company not really knowing if "the grass was greener on the other side of the fence." Having worked at this new company, though, I not only know now I made the right decision, but wish I hadn't have waited so long. In less than a year here, I can already feel a large weight has been lifted from my shoulders. My pay is 15% more and I just found out I will get a 12% bonus in my next paycheck for the contributions I've made. But most of all, I really feel a since of worth - a sense of TRUE RESPECT from my management team. Totally a 180-degree turn from IBM management.

Best of luck everyone. Keep up the fight. But realize there ARE companies out there that truly value your hard work and committment, and at the same time treat you like a human being. -OverThere-

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Comment 12/24/11: #midwest- to me, it's beyond belief that after this many years of continual ripoffs of benefits and pay that anyone can remain on the fence. Joining the Alliance and helping to organize your co-workers is as close to a nobrainer as I can imagine. There are times that it seems to me that Sam pisses down the collective leg of ibm employees, tells them it's raining, and the next thing you know they\'re all lined up to buy umbrellas from him. -Dave G.-

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Comment 12/23/11: "Those letters come from the bonds you built with your co-workers."
My brother works for IBM and I see him every day and he was surprised and appalled that he never got a notice to send a letter to my QCC book. So ya think was this action to not get any letters in my book my manager, 2nd line, director, etc. or IBM HR's doing? We need a union now to return some respect to IBM. There is no other way to go other than union to stop petty things like what happened to me here from happening. -I'veBeenMisrespected-

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Comment 12/23/11: Action alert on call centers from CWA on main page.
http://action.cwa-union.org/c/11/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3052 -Alliance-

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Comment 12/23/11: For those of us on the fence about unionizing, how about some examples of what has been accomplished by this union? What jobs have you saved? Ive read this board for some time and I read the notes from people having left IBM bashing those who are still around trying to earn a living but yet keeping an eye open for the axe. I have yet to see where joining this union has saved anyones neck. Please prove me wrong if possible. -Midwest SSR-
Alliance reply: First of all, the Alliance does not have negotiation rights with IBM to bargain over job cuts. That is what we have been fighting for. Union contracts such as the ones CWA has with companies do save jobs and even bring them back from overseas.
Our message right along has been that IBMers need to join the Alliance so we can petition the labor board for a vote and start negotiations with IBM.
But sitting on the fence does nothing to move this forward. The equation is simple, we get a majority signing up, we petition for a vote,we hold the election, we win and then start negotiations.
You say you have been watching this board for years. While you were watching the working conditions and the pay for SSR's has gotten worse. Don't you think the time period for watching is over?
For a list of what the Alliance works on, go here: http://www.endicottalliance.org/work_in_progress_final.pdf

By the way we are the only ones that called out IBM on the pay and band cuts that SSR's are facing.
We got hundreds to send letters of protest to your managers about the pay cut you face.
We even got the international IBM unions involved. All our activities are being done without bargaining rights, official recognition by IBM or a contract. Think how much we can do with all 3. Sitting on the fence after all this time is no option and has, in fact, hurt employees.

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Comment 12/23/11: "So much for IBM's RESPECT for the INDIVIDUAL"....
Really? That's been gone for almost 20 years. It appears that many 'individuals' disrespected themselves and didn't join Alliance when they had the chance, for twelve years. Why not? IBM can't take away your respect for yourself and your co-workers. You do that when you don't stand up for yourself, and expect someone else to do it for you. I'm very sorry that you lost your job. I'm sorry that you didn't see that forming a union in IBM and standing up for yourself and your worker-bee friends would have shown IBM how much you deserve respect...because you DO deserve respect as an IBMer. Standing up to IBM with a union earns IBM's respect when collective IBMers demonstrate to IBM that they will not take it, lying down. I feel bad that you waited until you lost your job to realize that you lost IBM's respect, when in reality, you never had it, to begin with. Best to you -I'veBeenMisrespected- -Respect?-

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Comment 12/23/11: -I'veBeenMisrespected-, do not blame IBM for the lack of letters in your QCC book. Those letters come from the bonds you built with your co-workers. -Biker1mike-

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Comment 12/23/11:
Country = USA
Union Affiliate = Rochester
Job Title = IBM engineer
IBM Division = STG
Message = Last week Sam was in town on his farewell tour. In his speech he was lamenting that he could have made money working somewhere else and that Warren Buffet made more than he did; but not to worry we don't need to pass the hat. The speech was video taped but has not been released. The people in attendance were speechless. -anonymous-

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Comment 12/22/11: -Gone_in_07- Your observation is all true. I hate to see what will happen when IBM has a real soft or bad QTR report. How are they gonna fool Wall St. and the 1%ers then? -Gone_in_09-

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Comment 12/22/11: Laid off as of 12/1/11. Given 30 days to find another job in IBM, Just made the Quarter Century Club. Got my Quarter Century book and have no letters from anyone. Not one. But did get a canned letter from Palmisano saying "congratulations" for all it is worth. Hey, Sam do you have a few seconds to sign in real pen ink your signature for my Quarter Century induction? Ok, you're busy. Those seconds to possibly sign might take away from selling your millions in stock options. Ok, then how about Randall MacD? I forgot, he is IBM's Dogbert. That explains it all. No thanks for 25 years of dedicated service to IBM. So much for IBM's RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL. Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday and a great New Year. For me: I'm just still living, breathing, walking and trying to forget about my life in IBM. -I'veBeenMisrespected-
Alliance reply: Sorry to hear of your job loss, especially at this time of year.
Please let us know more details: which business unit and how many were cut. Good luck.

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Comment 12/22/11: There is only so much cutting IBM can do to continue to make their tremendous numbers every quarter. They are running out of people to cut after cutting and cutting for all these years. They are getting to the point that they can't outdue themselves. What goes around comes around and they will get theirs. Happy Holidays to all of you and best of luck in the new year. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 12/21/11: Only if the contracting company releases their employee. -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/21/11: So where is the job creation IBM? Unemployment-rates-dutchess-ulster-recession -Pokey Fishkilled-

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Comment 12/21/11: RE the no overtime for IT workers article. Yet another compelling reason to organize and have overtime defined by your contract. It is strikingly obvious to me that Polititions care only about themselves. They only pretend to care about you or your causes when you have a checkbook in your hand or a voting booth in front of you.Todays best definition of an Honest Politition is one who once bought stays bought. Better look out for yourselves and organize because no one else is looking out for you. Thats a cold hard fact. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/19/11: -Anon2- That sounds like an unemployment to me! A furlough is no work: a work shutdown. A temporary or transitory job cut. Shame on IBM! -furlough_this-

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Comment 12/15/11: "Some contractors have been on 30-day furlough, and just had another 30 days added to that."
Can't these contractors apply for unemployment benefits? -Anon2-

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Comment 12/14/11: @NowCuram, now is a good time to organize your fellow workers and join the Alliance. After IBM absorbs this company, it will fleece all financial benefits and eventually strip the labor to the bone as it has done in the past and will continue to do in the future. -Sound-Advice-

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Comment 12/14/11: IBM must be on the ragged edge trying to make their 4Q numbers. First they told contractors to take off 5 days (40 hours) without pay before Thanksgiving. (That's the same amount of furlough required in 3Q) Then they realized that was not enough, so they then said contractors needed to take two more days (16 hours) without pay before Christmas. Yesterday the word went out to take yet another day (8 hours) before next Friday. Off course, those are not the same numbers across the board. Some contractors have been on 30-day furlough, and just had another 30 days added to that. -Anon-

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Comment 12/12/11: I used to work for IBM for 11 years then got the early retirement package so often described here. After a rough restart, I now work for Curam, until recently, when I learned that IBM bought them. Does anyone have any advice on what to do next? -NowCuram-

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Comment 12/12/11: While job hunting, I came across several IT openings for the State of Connecticut. (I'm not an IT person.) http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3111&q=444696 -FormerIBMer-

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Comment 12/12/11: Here's an employee number we'll never get, no matter how hard we try -
How many US employees are being let go with a cheaper US replacement hired for them? IBM had a huge work-from-home program for a couple years, and then got rid of many of those people (as well as people working at smaller sites) and hired new people for those jobs at lowered bands, pay, and benefits rates in the new delivery centers. Let's not forget to take that into account when we're counting up the number of US jobs dumped, even though there is no way to get actual numbers on it. This is part of a systematic lowering of pay for US employees. -Anon-

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Comment 12/10/11: What happened in 1993 can not be compared to what is happening now.
IBM layoffs in the past few years have happened despite record profits. Employees are no longer retrained - they are just discarded. Respect for the individual exists only in small pockets. However this problem is broader than IBM. A good part of the industry is afflicted with the same short term thinking. -HappyFormerIBMer-

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Comment 12/10/11: To -wrong number-: I was there in 1993. BAD executive decisions on RENT vs SELL, with bad executive decisions on how to utilize the SOLD machinery income and a big lack of knowledge on how to work the press cause the "paper" loses. Today IBM has a much worse cash to debt ratio and is technically insolvent, "BUT" IBM manipulates the press and the presentation (or lack of presentation) of facts and numbers to have the company riding high in the eyes of investors. -no_ky-

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Comment 12/10/11: to -jaggua- if you were there in 93 you would have understood why this happened. It was do or die so look at the big comeback of the company. Just a little missleading. -wrong number-

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Comment 12/10/11: On your home page list of USA employee count by year, it would be interesting to show that there were 405,000 workers in 1985 (per the below link to "the-biggest-corporate-layoffs-all-time"). I would assume most of the nearly half million employees were in the USA, Canada, and Europe pre-globalization, and the massive layoffs through the years would have affected these countries. It is especially haunting that the USA count has dropped from some part of the nearly half a million workers, even if perhaps half that was in the USA, to about 95,000. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: It is possible that IBM reported the US population of IBMers, during the 1980's, in some news article that has been archived or referenced. Other than that, Alliance@IBM may have referenced those numbers in our "History of Organizing IBM" section of our web site, when we were part the IBM Workers United organization from 1976-1999. The flyers are not listed chronologically.

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Comment 12/09/11: -Thefielder-: Thank you for the offer. It is nice when we look out for each other isn't it? My point was and is that IBM should have provided it to the retirees who helped make those 100 years work; but they couldn't care less. All they want is for us to die fast so they can raid the pension funds they couldn't quite steal. Thank you again for your kind offer but I will pass. I am sure one of the recent retirees probably has one I could look through if I asked them. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/09/11: Biggest Corporate Layoffs of all Times, according to 24/7 Wall St. IBM appears on the top of the list as #1.
the-biggest-corporate-layoffs-all-time -Jaggua-

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Comment 12/07/11: ""By the way, can you imagine if retiree's occupied the area around
corporate headquarters in Armonk until they got a raise in pensions?"
'I can imagine a bunch of dead retirees frozen and starved to death waiting till hell freezes over for a raise from the cheap bastards at IBM. The only way retirees will see any kind of a decent raise or affordable benefits again is if the union gets voted in and negotiates it on their behalf. IBM management didn't even send retirees a copy of the 100 year anniversary book that they were a huge part of. Thats how IBM shows its appreciation to us. -"
If you want my copy of the book you can have it. It is a piece of crap,revisionist history written by the corporate PR people in Armonk. Pretty cheap looking at that. -Thefielder-

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Comment 12/07/11: To: Tooth Fairy Sam is sleeping well... his pillow is nicely fluffed.
Here's a good summary:
http://www.footnoted.com/my-big-fat-deal/the-palmisano-equation-at-ibm/ -I'm gone-

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Comment 12/07/11: Letter writing, demonstrations and email campaigns are all used as tactics to build a movement.
Alliance, if the letter writing, etc has not had an impact by now, I do not believe it ever will. What it will take is IBMers getting their heads out of their butts and joining your group. You need funds and you need members. I come here and then feel like banging my head on a wall at the foolishness of current employees. In all "wars" there are tipping points and I firmly believe that fornimg a umion has reached that do or die point. I applaud you for your determination and grit!!! -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Actually, it requires ALL of the efforts we mentioned and you mentioned. Like it or not, the "Occupy" movement has the right idea. You never stop using any tool available to get the job done. You use them all and you continue to use them until a change can be made. As an example, Alliance@IBM used letter writing, demonstrations, email campaigns, phone calls and our web site to put immense pressure on former IBM HR executive Tom Bouchard, in the 1990's, to get IBM to offer 35,000 US IBMers an option to their retirement. Before then, any IBMer with 10 years service and age 40, was hopelessly stuck in the Cash Balance Pension swindle's grip. The Senate Finance committee, at the time, had Bouchard appear to explain the disparity of the first Cash Balance eligibility scam and Bouchard announced to that committee that IBM would be offering a change to 35,000 IBMers that didn't have that option in the first place. The Alliance@IBM campaign to get that change was successful because we used ALL the tools in the shed.

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Comment 12/05/11: "By the way, can you imagine if retiree's occupied the area around
corporate headquarters in Armonk until they got a raise in pensions?"
I can imagine a bunch of dead retirees frozen and starved to death waiting till hell freezes over for a raise from the cheap bastards at IBM. The only way retirees will see any kind of a decent raise or affordable benefits again is if the union gets voted in and negotiates it on their behalf. IBM management didn't even send retirees a copy of the 100 year anniversary book that they were a huge part of. Thats how IBM shows its appreciation to us. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/04/11: I see a variety of comments regarding Sam and IBM. You are kidding yourselves. A UNION is your only hope for change. Letter writing, demonstrations and emails are an exercise in futility. I have been retired for a long time but often talk with current employees and they have not a clue. They believe they made it this far so thery are golden. I wish I had a magic wand so I might give them an insight into their futures. And even those who were resource but still don't join the union. In this holiday season I wish them the intelligence to see the union is their only hope. Merry Christmas. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Letter writing, demonstrations and email campaigns are all used as tactics to build a movement. Certainly we agree that having a union and a contract are the ultimate goal.
But to get there you need to do many things to bring people into the movement for change.
By the way, can you imagine if retiree's occupied the area around corporate headquarters in Armonk until they got a raise in pensions?

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Comment 11/30/11: SSR's keep up the pressure! No to pay and band level cuts!
Actions taken:
Mass emails sent to IBM executives by IBM employees, ex-employees, and IBM worldwide unions.
Black and Blue on Black Friday. SSR organizing committee being formed. New actions to be announced! -Alliance-

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Comment 11/29/11: So Sammy is retiring next year at age 60 with a full pension. Anyone know exactly how much he will earn from his IBM pension? I hope he has nightmares every night haunted by all the employees he has screwed over the years. Good riddance to bad rubbish. -Tooth Fairy-
Alliance Reply: If you knew the amount of money (it's listed somewhere in this comments section) he was going to get for his pension, plus much more, would it anger you enough to help organize IBM US employees and actually try to do something for the IBMers pension and salary? Like a union contract? That's why we're here. I'm sure your sentiment is shared by a lot of IBMers past and present. But it doesn't address what the reality for IBM employees is: Nothing will change for IBMers, unless You/They change it. If you do nothing, then this time next year or 10 years from now you could write the same comment and just switch out Sam's name with Ginny's...right? Organize and get your co-workers to do the same. Join Alliance@IBM. (BTW-The tooth fairy will never come.)

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Comment 11/29/11: I think the Alliance is still drawing enough attention to keep awareness about the off-shoring of the USA that IBM is at least slowing down or doing less RAs. But even one employee losing a job to a resource action is too much! BTW, I am a subscriber and encourage others to join with me. -subscriber-

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Comment 11/27/11: Reporting hours worked on the wrong time sheet or for the wrong week is falsifying company records. If your manager requests that you record information incorrectly, on another week's form or such, ask them if they are asking you to falsify company records. See if they are willing to tell you to do that. I would not put my butt on the line to help make their totals work out. -Oatmeal-

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Comment 11/25/11: While I was still a contractor at IBM, my manager tried to get me to do that shady practice of working time one week but reporting it another. I declined to play that game. Ultimately the OT wasn't necessary that week. Also, IBM (and not only IBM) regularly requires workers to estimate time in advance that will be used for billing purposes. Is there any circumstance in which this is illegal? It bothered me every time I had to do it, before closing periods, and it bothers me where I am now. -Former_CDI_Drone-

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Comment 11/24/11: To Anon- Since contractors are not IBM employees, then even if IBM gets caught chances are the contracting company fires the contractor for the time and labor reporting violation done on IBM's premise. IBM has this all figured out. They can't lose in any way. And most likely the federal agency's inspector general owns IBM stock and thus is in IBM's pocket to begin with. -Anon2-

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Comment 11/23/11: To -Sammy the snot- If the contractors are working on a federal account or project where time is contractually required to be recorded (reported). That situation should be reported to the federal agency's inspector general. -Anon-

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Comment 11/22/11:
Decision at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/CTAPPS/Decisions/2011/Nov11/190opn11.pdf
Coverage from NY Daily News & WSJ
November 21, 2011 1:02 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/11/court-state-funded-loans-to-private-firms-ok
Court: State-Funded Loans To Private Firms Ok
Celeste Katz

In a 5-2 decision, a bitterly split Court of Appeals, said the state's awarding of tax-payer funded state economic development loans and grants to private companies does not violate the New York Constitution.

The court dismissed a case brought by 50 taxpayers who claimed the billions of dollars in economic development funds dolled out by the state Empire State Development Corp. violates a Constitutional mandate that state money and credit should not be given or loaned to any private corporation, individual or association. The court majority, in a 13-page decision written by Judge Theodore Jones, found the taxpayers had a "heavy" burden to prove the funding is illegal. They found public authorities like the Empire State Development Corp.--the state's chief economic development organization--are legal entities separate from the state even if they operate with state funding.

"We have recognized the need for deference involving 'public funding programs essential to addressing the problems of modern life, unless such programs are patently illegal', the ruling found". "As such, unconstitutionality must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

But the court minority in two stinging dissenting opinions branded the funding patently illegal.

"Unconstitutional acts do not become constitutional by virtue of repetition, custom, or passage of time," Judge Eugene Pigott wrote.

The state argued that the economic development awards to private companies serves a public purpose by promoting economic development. It also claimed that the constitutional ban is not violated because the private companies are not receiving the money directly from the state. Instead, the funds are being funneled from the state to a public authority before being allocated to the companies.

"The arguments made by these defendants are precisely the kind of claims that sully taxpayers' view of our state government," Pigott wrote.

Pigott wrote that the Constitution is clear: "that the money of the state shall not be given or loaned to or in aid of any private corporation or association or any private undertaking."

He said voters in 1967 rejected a proposed Constitutional amendment that would have allowed the distribution of funds to private businesses in the same manner that the ESDC does now. In a separate dissenting opinion, Judge Robert Smith ripped the idea of using state funds to spur economic development.

Smith pointed out how the state gave IBM and others $140 million to support construction of a computer wafer packaging facility that would create 675 jobs and retain 1,400 others. The cost for the state is $60,000 a job, he said. In other deal involving Global Foundries, the company got $650 million to subsidize its semiconductor manufacturing. That will work out to $100,000 per job. "It is an illusion--one that seems to have the persistence of original sin--that prosperity can be attained by taking money from taxpayers and handing it to favored businesses", Smith wrote. "The New York Legislature's devotion to this self-destructive practice is so small matter," he added.

NOVEMBER 21, 2011, 2:20 P.M. ET
NY top court backs development grants to business
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP0c4ddf9c78ce416e8be1f422b58770f4.html
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. ­ New York's top court on Monday rejected a challenge to economic development grants brought by a taxpayer group affiliated with the tea party movement that wanted companies to return billions of dollars to the state. A divided Court of Appeals concluded that New York's Economic State Development Corp. is a public benefit corporation and separate from the state. It isn't subject to the constitutional prohibition against giving state funds to private companies, the court decided.

Such corporations are created by the state, but it is "well settled" that they exist independently with greater flexibility and can use state money for designated public purposes, Judge Theodore Jones Jr. wrote for the five judges who rejected the challenge. In this case, that means providing state grants and loans to private companies like IBM and Global Foundries for economic development.

Jones noted that the Legislature created the New York State Urban Development Corp., doing business as ESDC, in 1968 to promote a vigorous economy, prevent stagnation and create new job opportunities to protect against the hazards of unemployment. He said the court has previously recognized "public funding programs essential to addressing the problems of modern life" unless they are "patently illegal."

The majority also upheld grants to agricultural nonprofit associations to promote wine and fruit, concluding that is a predominantly public purpose.
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman and Judges Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, Victoria Graffeo and Susan Read agreed with Jones. In one dissent, Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. said the state constitution expressly forbids giving or loaning state money to any private corporation, association or undertaking, even when a public benefit corporation is used as an intermediary. The provision has specific exceptions for educational and mental health funds.

"Unconstitutional acts do not become constitutional by virtue of repetition, custom or passage of time," Pigott wrote. He noted that New York voters in 1967 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the state to distribute funds to private businesses for economic development in the same way ESDC is doing it now. In a second dissent, Judge Robert Smith wrote that the Legislature's "devotion to this self-destructive practice is no small matter," including $140 million to support a joint venture in wafer packaging that includes IBM, $300 million to help a consortium of semiconductor manufacturers expand research and development and $650 million to subsidize Global Foundries' semiconductor manufacturing. Based on projections of new and retained jobs, the state costs range from $60,000 to $400,000 per job, he wrote. "I have defended before, and will no doubt defend again, the right of elected legislators to commit folly if they choose," Smith wrote. "But when our Legislature commits the precise folly that a provision of our Constitution was written to prevent, and this court responds by judicially repealing the constitutional provision, I think I am entitled to be annoyed."

Attorney James Ostrowski, who represented the group of 50 taxpayers, said he knew this was an uphill fight but thought court arguments showed the state "was utterly unable to defend its position in rational terms," and he thought his group had finally won a victory for taxpayers. "Perhaps time will reveal a larger purpose to this bitter defeat," he said. ­Copyright 2011 Associated Press

I am passing along the above update, sent to me by tenant@tenant.net in NYC. Here's their site: http://www.tenant.net/ -Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff-

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Comment 11/22/11: I know an area where hourly employees are told to record this weeks overtime hours on a future time card. Or work the time now and take the time off another week while recording you worked that time. Can you spell 'TAX EVASION?' -Sammy the snot-

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Comment 11/19/11: Shadowschild: With regard to contractors, yes I have personally witnessed that treatment in my area - both furloughs and elimination of overtime. Contractors are only allowed to work OT if they take an equal number of hours off the following week (without pay of course). We are already understaffed in my area and the obvious implication is that salaried IBMers should just pick up the slack. -Whhheeeeeeeeeee-

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Comment 11/18/11: "My opinions above do not necessarily represent the opinions of ALL of Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701. They are my opinions and my sole disappointment in you as my elected representative."
Rick if this is so, why did you sign with your title line and only sign the letter Rick White? -Why closure?-
Rick White's Reply: Fair question. First of all, I wrote this letter to a NY Senator. There are several other states in the US with IBM and Alliance members that may not see the issue raised as what represents their view for their representatives. Second, I'm an officer (Treasurer) for Alliance@IBM; but I'm one member. I felt that if other Alliance members and/or supporters of Alliance@IBM wanted to sign-on to my letter, I could leave that open as an option. Frankly, I respect the opinions and views of all our members and supporters enough to know that I can't and don't always speak for them. I want Senator Schumer to step forward publicly, and address my concern as it relates to IBM US employees and specifically, New York State. Maybe other Alliance members will take a closer look at THEIR representatives and decide to ask THEM about the policies of offshoring, job loss, and employee abuse that is happening in THEIR state. Ultimately, I believe that cornering our representatives is only one part of organizing IBMers to unionize. The main thrust should be to concentrate on building our membership and growing our chances to have a union contract for ALL US IBM employees.

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Comment 11/18/11: Contractors are being forced to take 3 weeks off per year. Something called a furlough. Overheard it in a SARM meeting & later again by a toronto ibm tech. That represents 4 months of savings gone for most. -Shadowschild-

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Comment 11/18/11: Get a load of this hogwash... yet another example of how 'out of touch' the mainstream media is: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/18/sam-palmisano-ibm/ -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/18/11: USIBM corporate Sammy,Three fingure Lou,and Rometty couldn't care less about black Friday. The only thing that will stop IBMUS employee corruption is a Union. RAs will continue, band level cuts, and salaries will drop. The entire corporate system is rigged. Join the union. -ANA-
Alliance reply: ANA, there is a purpose to "black and blue" on black Friday. It does send a message. It gets SSR's doing a joint action on a given day. It encourages other IBMers to show support to SSR's by also wearing black and blue. In short, it shows solidarity and builds support and unity. That is what drives a union.

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Comment 11/17/11: In WWII Admiral William "BULL" Halsey had a saying. Hit the enemy hard, hit them fast and hit them often. IBM SSR's, let this also be your battle cry as you fight for your jobs and salary's and job security for your families and yourselves. The harder you hit management with organization, The faster you do so and how often across this great land of ours will be instrumental in protecting your pay and all your coworkers as well. No one should be fooled into thinking its just retail, they wont do systems. IBM always divides potential resistance groups before they strike out at them. Old vs New. Pension vs 401k and so forth. The SSR jobs cannot be offshored. You are the hands on people in the US. You cannot be offshored. All they can do is force your pay lower and lower if you let them. DO NOT LET them. Stop this attrition NOW. Exercise the power you have left. Your customer relations are critical to IBM's success. You have been the buffer that has shielded customers from IBM's callous disregard. You have covered more and more geography for less and less thanks. Put an end to it NOW. Do not quit in disgust. Organize. Put your anger and disenchantment to work for YOUR own good. Later is too late. Contact the union and fight back as if your life depends on it. Let IBM executives realize they have awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible resolve. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/17/11: Take Action! Support SSR's! Wear black and blue on "black friday" November 25th!
The day after Thanksgiving traditionally is known as "black friday" and a day for shopping.
This year, IBM SSR's in the Retail Division are asking all SSR's and their co-workers in IBM to support their call for a reversal of the pay and band level cuts by wearing black and blue on black friday November 25th.
The wearing of black and blue represents the "beating up" of SSR's standard of living.
Keep the pressure on IBM executives to roll back the pay cuts and band level reductions for SSR's and other support workers! Remember, you could be next in line for a pay cut. SSR organizing committee is being formed!
If you wish to join this committee and be an active volunteer in organizing SSR's please contact us at: ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 11/17/11: Letter sent to New York Senator Chuck Schumer:
Dear Senator,
I am deeply disappointed by your latest decision to support the ITA.
I believe you are wrong to believe that IBM will bring IT jobs back to the US and NY State,
or create any new IT jobs in New York state's IT sector. They have no obligation to do so.
They have no reason to be falsely stimulated into doing anything that doesn't guarantee
an increase to their bottom line.
I think you have missed IBM's disingenuous and cynical attitude toward the state of New York
and the US, et al.
If you need to be reminded of IBM's history in NY State; then I'm happy to help you remember.
In the 1990's IBM began to dismantle their operations in NY and the US by "re-organizing"
their divisions. This meant that thousands of IBM IT workers would slowly but surely be relieved
of their jobs or be confronted with the option to retire "early"; before reaching the 30 year
service acheivement or the age of 55. Times were never really tough for IBM, after 1999.
As a matter of fact, IBM was and has been profitable every fiscal year, since then.
Yet, IBM attributed much of that profit to offshoring and "searching" for new employees
that had 'higher' IT skills than the IBM US workers that were losing their jobs. IBM's big lie.
As it became obvious that IBM was not looking for higher skills, but instead wanted cheap labor
and no regulations in countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China; IBM offshored at a greater rate
each and every year since 1999. IBM then expanded to buying other companies in the US or outside the US
and then immediately or within 6 months, began to fire their newly acquired employees and then send those
jobs, offshore. All this while enjoying taxpayer funded breaks and incentives to continue their business as usual.

In 2009, IBM's CEO Sam Palmisano personally lobbied President Obama for $30 Billion in stimulus funding,
while shamelessly promoting a program called "Project Match"; which was designed to convince IBMers,
about to be fired, that they could leave their home country after they were fired from IBM, and buy
a one way ticket to India to work the same job they were fired from and also train an Indian IBMer
to do that same job for a fraction of what he/she was making in the IBM US IT sector.
For example, an IT Operations Analyst making $60,000 to $80,000 per year, in salary and benefits in IBM US,
would make 250,000 rupees per year in India doing the same job. This translates to $5,000 per year in US dollars.

IBM's US employee population was made public up until and including the year 2009.
After that, IBM stopped sharing that information, publicy.
Here is a list of the shrinking IBM US employee population:

2011: 98,000*
2010:101,000*
2009: 105,000
2008: 115,000
2007: 121,000
2006: 127,000
2005: 133,789

*2010 and 2011 are estimates based on Resource Action numbers (fired IBM US workers)

IBM has never kept any of the promises that they have made to their employees, or any community
they reside in, or even the USA itself. IBM has destroyed community environments and balked
at the idea that they should pay for the entire cleanup. Endicott, Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, and Burlington, VT
are just four examples.

I would like you to know that I am disappointed and discouraged by your actions to 'perusade' and
market such a disingenuous deal with IBM or any corporation that treats US workers like they were lepers.

I have always voted for you, in every election, in the past.
I have written you several letters of commendation, support and thank you's
for your performance of the job the people of NY State elected you to do.
I can no longer support you or vote for you.
You don't represent my interests nor the interests of my IBM US former and current co-workers.
You are not truly supporting the initiative of the Jobs bill, in my opinion.

I cannot believe that you think that IBM will bring jobs back or create new jobs in the USA,
as a result of the Information Technology Trade Agreement you have signed on with. It defies all logic.
Stop kissing the ground that IBM and companies like them, walk on, hoping it will be US ground if you
just give in to them what ever they want.
I have to assume that the "Citizens United" decision is now benefiting you as much as it is the Tea-Party.
That is truly a damn shame.

My opinions above do not necessarily represent the opinions of ALL of Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701.
They are my opinions and my sole disappointment in you as my elected representative.

Disappointingly yours,
Rick White
Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701
Treasurer, IT Admin, Organizer, and
Health & Safety Representative
www.allianceibm.org
Email: iwisweb@endicottalliance.org

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Comment 11/16/11: What is the Occupy Wall Street all about? The folks are angry about crooks like 3-Finger Lou, Sammy, and now Ginny. The folks are tired of fat cat CEO's taking millions and millions from public companies in salaries, stock options, and bonuses, while at the same time cutting jobs in America and shipping them overseas. Support the Occupy Wall Street cause and support a Union! -Occupy Wall Street-

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Comment 11/15/11: Slowly, ever so slowly IBMers begin to realize no one fights to save a job like a union. No one fights to save and improve benifits like a union. No one else will help you so why do you hesitate to join. Don't worry. If the pay cuts don't result in a mass exodus of talent they will get around to cutting your pay also. That you can count on. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/15/11: Writing a letter to Schumer is a nice but ineffective idea because our government has been bought by Korporate Amerika. And with the citizen's united decision by the supreme court, they can now be bought by foreign interests. A much better idea is to get out there and organize a union and negotiate a collective bargaining contract that limits offshoring. To the Alliance supporters: take a visibly active role in organizing and GET IT DONE! No one is going to do it for you. -Dave G.-

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Comment 11/14/11: Occupy Armonk. -None-

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Comment 11/14/11: I think the Alliance should write an open letter to Senator Schumer and tell him to stop encouraging IBM to offshore American jobs. Russia, Chuck?? Really? Better yet, I suggest an "Action" page where IBMers, former and present can send their messages directly to Schumer's office. I think both things should also be splattered all over the media. This is an affront to everything American IBMers have been fighting for; to keep jobs here and to grow the US economy, NOT some other country where Schumer isn't even known as a supposed "working families friend". -Alliance Members: Occupy Schumer's attention-
Alliance reply: We have done "Take Actions" to Schumer and others before, but we can do it again.

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Comment 11/14/11: The following is Sammy's retirement package, He has a contract. We IBMUS employees have no contract. as more RAs continue, no rasies, cuts in band levels. This is a corrupt organzation starting with Three finger Lou, Sammy, and now Rometty. Sammy's retirement is worth more than $170 million, including: a $65.7 million cash payout for stock options and restricted stock units; $1.5 million for life from a retention plan; $4.9 million per year in cash for five years; and a big fat pension that was worth $29.8 million as of the end of last year. If ever IBMUS needed a union it is now. We as IBMUS employees need a union. Join the union -ANA-

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Comment 11/14/11: buffett-hints-us-stock-investments
Investor Warren Buffett says his company bought about $10.7 billion of IBM stock this year, giving him a stake of more than 5 percent in the technology company. Buffett revealed the new investment during an interview on CNBC Monday. Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will file a full quarterly update on its U.S. stock portfolio Monday afternoon. -Anon-

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Comment 11/14/11: Warren Buffet is betting huge on IBM:
"Warren Buffett says his company bought $10.7 billion of IBM stock this year, about a 5.6% stake."
2011-11-14/Buffett-company-buys-56-IBM-stake -anonymous-

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Comment 11/14/11: I was under the impression that IBM did away with lifetime pensions.
living-large-october-executive-compensation-highlights -occupy_all_streets-

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Comment 11/13/11: Remember when Schumer was against offshoring? Now, even the sweet Armonk koolaid tastes good to him (to heck with record IBM profits at the expense of the employees maybe Armonk spiked the libation up now and it's "new and improved"). Folks no union will mean no jobs in the USA. PLAIN and SIMPLE. Take your pick. -anonymous-

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Comment 11/12/11: Is U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer getting dumber and DUMBER? From article printed in POJONEWS:
High-tech jobs in New York state stand to get a boost from a new agreement made by Russia that helps encourage trade, said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, Friday.
"This is a very positive step for free and fair trade that allows American firms to compete on an even playing field in the emerging Russian market; it sets us on the path to creating more high-tech jobs here in New York at companies like IBM and other high-tech and telecommunications firms," he said in his announcement
Schumer said Russia committed to the Information Technology Agreement, or ITA, as part of its negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organization.
Countries that are members of the ITA must eliminate import duties on a wide range of products including computers, telecommunications equipment, semiconductors and software, he said. The result is that American firms like IBM will not face any tariffs when shipping products to Russia.
Schumer said this should increase IBM jobs in the state. IBM spokeswoman Deirdre Murphy had no comment.
Russia is one of IBM's strongest emerging markets, its chief financial officer, Mark Loughridge, has said.

As the submitter, the way I read the article...........of course the IBM spokeswoman is smart to say she had no comment; while Schumer said this should increase IBM jobs in the New York state. Does that tell you how dumb he is? -US Sen. Charles Schumer is DUMB and BLIND-

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Comment 11/11/11: Let's give Sam a proper sendoff by getting our union contract before he retires from IBM chairman. What better way to make a statement to this man who totally scrapped RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL! If it messes up his legacy in his retirement all the better. It will sure give him something to THINK about! -anonymous-

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Comment 11/11/11: Was anyone let go on Nov. 1st? -anonymous-

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Comment 11/10/11: Stop fooling yourselves. The politicians are not offshoring our jobs, The companies we work for are. In case you haven't figured out yet that politicians cannot control corporations but Unions can, to a point, then keep believing that somehow congress is going to fix this mess without you taking any actions for yourselves. That is the easiest path to take. It will not produce any results but it is an easy path to take. A politician will tell you whatever you want to hear till you vote for them then they do whatever they want to do until the next election cycle where you matter enough to be lied to again. You are not going to change their behavior nor are you going to change corporate behavior by wishing it would change. Class warfare like occupy wall street can't work because if they are successful at tearing down wall street and all those evil corporations cease to exist in America who will we work for? Organized labor does work to balance the distribution of wealth in the company you work for. But it only works when you organize. No one else is going to form your union for you. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/10/11: Ok...let's review. Offshoring of American jobs to other countries, started before 1999.. The numbers were smaller, but the activity had begun in the 1990's for IBM; and earlier in other companies. Basically, Corporations became interested in cheap labor, a long time ago. Even during the Reagan era, there was defection from American business to foreign labor. Our great country's big business people decided that "We" were lazy, spoiled, over-paid, and coddled by business and government. They decided to teach 'us' all a lesson. So they punished American workers et al...same old mantra: "Punish the whole group for the actions of a few" and get richer by doing it. The American dream died. The American worker was left holding the "bag" and unemployment began to rise. I remember a comment that a Japanese businessman made about American workers in the early 1980's. He said we were "fat and lazy" and unwilling to sacrifice what was required to be more productive. He was needling us and our country; but IBM and other corporations began to take it as "advice". Japan didn't offshore their jobs, like we did. They still cared about their people and their country. The Japanese business community did not behave like American CEO's. They didn't take HUGE salaries or excessive stock options. They were not greedy and malfeasant, like American executives. And while American corporations were at it, they decided to "buy" politicians. Instead of "fixing' America, they absolutely corrupted it from the top, down. Welcome to the "Corrupt Corporation States of America". We need to organize and make it "United". -LetsReview-

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Comment 11/10/11: What ties to this is that last night there was a GOP debate as regards business. NOT ONE question about the offshoring of jobs or companies. I wonder just what they might have responded with. I understand why Obama doesn't help when he has Sammie on his panel but, the GOP??? If you folks don't unionize you will all be working at menial jobs..... -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: The Republican's are just as guilty for offshoring jobs. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were offshored during the Bush years.

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Comment 11/08/11: IbM  continues to demoaralize IBMUS employess with pay cuts,lower band levels, and Resource Actions. I work in Armonk and there is a 5 year plan to slowly destroy IBMUS and move all jobs off shore. Without a union this will continue in IBMUS. -ANA-

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Comment 11/08/11: RE: Band 4 pay cuts -- What is their mean salary prior to a 32.5% cut?
This is outrageous! The 15% cut to folks in 2008 should have been the call to arms, but it was not to be. Pay will continue to be reduced, hours will be reduced, new hires will make less and less each year.
And for those who are jumping ship to other companies, this will reduce the average pay for people in the industry regardless of your employer if it continues! Organizing a union is the key. -Oatmeal-

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Comment 11/08/11: Here's IBM's definition and explanation of the TVC Tool:
"’Time Volume Capture (TVC)’ is an in-house developed automated tool, institutionalized in the F&A competency for optimal resource utilization. It is also used to improve process efficiency and identify opportunities of improvement that have a direct positive impact on client deliverables at lower cost. The TVC tool captures time spent by each person at micro activity level and their corresponding volumes. The tool was piloted in two contracts in 2007 and was expanded across all the contracts locally and globally, involving 6000 employees, by early 2009. TVC eliminates the legacy of Time and Motion studies and enables the setting of accurate standard time for each micro activity that supports the monitoring of resource availability and efficiency for continual improvement."
Any more questions, -fishfooled-? Join the union and organize. Unless you want to continue to be a 'slave tool' for IBM. -YOU_Are_IBM's_Tool_Fool-

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Comment 11/07/11: -Pay cut 2012- Think it's too late for you? It's not. Organize and fight back to regain what you are losing. Take a visible role and inspire others to do the same unless you're willing work for less and less and less....... -Dave G.-

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Comment 11/07/11: Has anybody asked what the TvC tool is actually be used for? Otherwise, isn't it a meaningless exercise? -fishfooled-

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Comment 11/06/11: IT band 4 has been hit with a pay cut of 32.5 percent starting January 2012. Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn't talk about going through bankrupcy. Such a huge cut is devistating. Morale is terrible. On top of that the work load is increasing and we're loosing quality people that are leaving for other jobs. Take action while you can. Don't end up like us. -Pay cut 2012-

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Comment 11/06/11:
Urgent action needed this week!
Stop pay and band level cuts for IBM US service support workers!

The Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701 is asking for your urgent support in fighting the announced pay cut and band level reduction for SSR's and other support workers in the IBM Retail Services Division in the US.
Last week IBM executives informed SSR's (service techs) and other support groups that band levels would be lowered and they would face pay cuts up to 10% starting January 1st 2012.
This attack on the standard of living of IBM's service employees is unacceptable and demeaning. In fact many support workers have received very little in pay increases over the years.
Last year IBM had record net income of $53 billion and free cash flow of $8 billion. IBM is not a company in distress.
There is no need to decrease the pay of hard working IBM employees.
Please send emails this week to the following list of IBM management asking them to reverse this decision to cut pay and band levels. An injury to one is an injury to all!

Please send letters to:
Sam Palmisano sam@us.ibm.com
Virginia Rometty grometty@us.ibm.com
Michael Daniels medan@us.ibm.com
Robert Zapfel zapfel@us.ibm.com
Richard Rosso rrosso@us.ibm.com
Larry Arrington arringto@us.ibm.com
Phillip Cunningham cunningp@us.ibm.com -Alliance-

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Comment 11/04/11: To Shafted and all of the other SSRs re: The 10% salary cut announcement postings starting 1/1/12. First of all, you all need to join the Alliance. Second, can you not stage a 'Blue Flu' the weekend after Thanksgiving??? Folks need to rally...it's working in the banking industry and other places. We need to NOT take this lying down!!! If you do, then you are partly to blame. We need to UNITE!!! I bet if we did, we could actually make a change!!! Join the Alliance!!! -Former SSR-

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Comment 11/03/11: What a contract can do:
"US Airways is returning more than 400 outsourced call center jobs to the United States as part of an agreement CWA and the Teamsters negotiated with the airline after the company's second bankruptcy in as many years."
Local 3640 President Vonda Hardy discussed the return of jobs in a TV interview in Winston-Salem.
About half of the jobs will be at the airline's reservations center in Winston-Salem, and the other half at centers in Phoenix and Reno. "We are excited about the jobs coming back from Manila," said Vonda Hardy, president of CWA Local 3640. "It is a great, great day."
The jobs, once held by stateside US Airways agents who took early buyouts when the company was in bankruptcy, were offshored to Manila and other foreign cities. However, as stipulated in the union contracts, US Airways agreed to bring the jobs back to the United States by Nov. 1, 2011.
"We made a diligent effort to be able to save and retain as much protection for workers in the contract as we could, faced with the economic times," Hardy said.
CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins, who oversees customer service issues, said, "This move shows that quality, professional customer service wins over low-road, low-wage, high-turnover operations every time. CWA is committed to building the customer service profession and we're pleased that US Airways is a partner in this effort."
Overall, CWA and the Teamsters represent more than 6,000 reservations and customer service employees at US Airways.
At an event in Winston-Salem with US Airways CEO Doug Parker to celebrate the returned jobs, Hardy said that bringing the jobs back will improve the quality of customer service in the United States."There is a certain comfort to our customers when they call US Airways now; they know their call will be answered in one of our three U.S.-based centers," she said." -Alliance-

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Comment 11/03/11: To Anon: Project Match was a program to create ex-pats. You left IBM US, became an employee of the target country, with IBM helping to secure the work permits/Visas to make all that happen. You were paid in local wages, at local scale, with local benefits and insurance. With of course the added benefit of being potentially liable for some level of US income tax, none of which would IBM would help. If it were an assignment, as you imply, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. But Project Match was "you no longer work for IBM US; you're now working for IBM Croatia, IBM Slovenia etc... -RAed 09-

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Comment 11/03/11: Ginni will be another greedy CEO that is in it for the millions just like Sammy and 3-Finger Lou. Watch how Ginnie takes millions in stock options and bonuses as she cuts US jobs and ships them overseas. Ginnie makes me want to puke just looking at her. -ImGettingSick-
Alliance Reply: Instead of getting sick, why not get organized? Fight back with a union and a contract. Relief is just a contract away!

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Comment 11/03/11: Those who take the sales assignments may find there is no opening to come back to. It is naive to think that IBM will just find jobs for them. It is a relatively painless to have expertise in growth countries who will train the sales personnel there and reduce US headcount. Beware. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/03/11: IBM got $8 billion in tax subsidies while cutting US jobs. Join the union!
Corporate Tax Dodgers Report (pdf file) -Alliance-

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Comment 11/02/11: This is not an RA situation. The email was sent to all Sales professionals. The Growth Market positions are supposed to be more earnings, competitive pay, benefits and MLE. You get experience for working globally. It is a 6 month to 2 year assignment in the growth market country of your choice. I will definitely investigate before deciding to go. I have talked to people who went over so they thought it was a good experience. They were able to come back to the US. It would be a risk to go overseas as it will to stay in the USA. -anon-

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Comment 11/02/11: So this is Sammys pension for life:
Then there’s Palmisano’s pension: As of December 31, it was worth some $29.8 million, or about $3.2 million a year for life. This a bull S****, and IBM freezes the workers pensions with no raises. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 11/02/11: This post is really about the opposite of a job cut, but would hope the moderators will let it stand please? Sam's CEO exit package has an estimated net present value of $180+ Million. Job cuts funded a lot of that eh? See:my-big-fat-deal/the-palmisano-equation-at-ibm -anon-

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Comment 11/02/11: I think the best thing that could happen to IBM is a Union. There is so much dirty pool going on at IBM right now. Why? Because management has all the power, calls all the shots, and can do whatever they want. With a Union contract you would have something on your side to protect your job. I worked for a horrible manager for several years at IBM. When I went to my second line manager to complain he sided with my manager. The next thing that happened was my manager systematically and methodically lowered my apprasial, one step at a time. It was agonizing and there was nothing I could do about it. Management finally had the evidence they needed to lay me off as a poor performer. The IBM management culture really sucks. It is all about protecting their managers and covering their tracks to avoid lawsuits. You can thank Sammy Palmisano for that. A Union contract is what I needed to save my job -dell-

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Comment 11/02/11: Retail Services Division (RSD) SSR teams top pay-Band 3. $38,640-$57,960. 1/1/12 saleries to be reduced 10%. Told our costs too high and need to lower so to attract the WalMarts etc. Hope the retail giants can find good service come the holidays next year. SSRs will be jumping ship to other servicers..Bank on it! -Shafted-

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Comment 11/01/11: The way raises were not handed out a 10 percent pay cut, is a loss of 10 years worth of raises. It reduces 401K money and therefore your retirement. Betcha medical went up another 10 percent so its an effective 20 percent cut. Still think you don't need a union? Feel better that 'Larry Arrogant' is in the same boat you are? Just remember he is the one saying row row row to you hamsters. Expect him to issue no overtime orders if they are not already in place. They will continue to call your houses and wake up your families but you can't charge 'em overtime. Just stay bent over and take it like a man, I guess. No need for a union huh? -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/01/11: To qtr_century. COBRA plans are group plans and are way cheaper than plans on the open market for similar benefits, even with the admin cost tagged on. An example for a single person. I had the employee IBM PPO and had zero premium, so for the first 6 months of Cobra, which was TMP benefits, I paid nothing for premium. Then I paid the full premium / admin cost for the remaining 12 months of COBRA and was paying only $377 a month, about 4500 a year. After COBRA, I had access-only to the FHA early retiree plans and chose a plan without as good benefits (all retiree plans are worse than employee plans and cost more) and now pay $750/mo. so just over $9000 year. Open market plans with benefits as good would be about $10,000 or more. FHA is still a group plan and cheaper than open market plans. COBRA...if you are healthy you can do better in the private market, -qtr_century- -anonymous-

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Comment 11/01/11: It's not just remote support (rsc), it's the SSRs and managers. Larry Arrington announced he is even taking a compensation cut. All SSRs above band 3 are being lowered. Everyone is loosing 10%. These are the customer facing SSRs who deliver the service to major national networks and accounts. -gadfly-

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Comment 11/01/11: Not sure of the exact numbers, but IBM purchased an international company in Toronto and presented layoff offers to dozens of employees who have been working for 10+ years for a GREAT company. Their reason? Our jobs are being "outsourced". Thanks IBM. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: We need more information.The name of the company and where the jobs are going.
The workers need to contact the media on this.

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Comment 10/31/11: Concerning the severance package: You don't get this package until you sign a rather lengthy document where you basically forfeit almost all rights to sue IBM for damages in the future. If there is some sort of class action you agree not to receive any benefits. You also make numerous agreements about taking jobs or work with competitors and customers for a period of time. You agree to assist post-employment with certain items such as patents you submitted. If you come back to work for IBM for a period of time, you agree to give back part of the payment. You are also expected to be a "good employee" during the 30 day severance period including training your replacement and doing everything you can to insure that your departure will be as seamless as possible for IBM. The process is you sign these documents, turn them in to your manager, the party who laid you off, and he submits it. If the manager decides you didn't comply, i.e. you were difficult, they can withhold the payment. So basically the "package" is a settlement payment from IBM for your agreement to their terms for being laid off. Furthermore, you won't get this payment until you have signed the documents and turned in your badge, cc, laptop, and anything else they request. They are not doing it out of concern for you. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/30/11: Ginny, Sammy, Lou, it does not matter who is CEO of IBM. There is 5 year plan is to destory IBM US and relocate jobs over seas. These 3 people do not give a rats a@@ about IBM US employees. There will continue to be more RAs at IBMUS until IBMers US wake up and join the union. These 3 CEOS are only about greed and share holder profitability. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 10/30/11: to Anon re. growth markets - don't do it. Conversations with our counterparts in those growth markets show that they are treated quite badly. Typically what's done is to script those jobs and provide detailed cheatsheets in order to treat those employees not like professionals but more like junior grunt workers who must be constantly micromanaged, timed, overseen and reported on. The funny thing about IBM is that while they enjoy paying low wages, it also influences their opinion of the employee. If someone works for a low wage, they must be treated like a low-wage employee, even though they may have professional skills. If you want a work environment akin to that of a fast food joint, by all means, go work in "growth market", take the pittance and become a disposable cheap labor resource. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/29/11: Fed law says IBM must offer COBRA for 18 months if employer initiated separation, and they can ONLY charge 102% of actual cost, but its still expensive, if you are healthy you can do better in the private market. -qtr_century-

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Comment 10/29/11: This just in!: SSR's in the Remote Support group of the Retail Services Division were told there would be band reductions and pay cuts up to 10%. If you have more information or want to be involved in challenging this, send email to:ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 10/29/11: A manager buddy implied more IGS layoffs & "announcements" are scheduled for Monday 10/31/11. Has anyone else heard similar rumblings? -Anonxx-

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Comment 10/29/11: Tony: Some employees might be forced to leave without a package, but typically if a US employee gets booted and has a good appraisal rating they would get 2-weeks pay per year of service capped at 26 wks. Others, and some employees let go for performance reasons might get 1 week per year of service capped @ 13 weeks. IBM will sometimes pick up the cost of COBRA for up to a year. -Anon55-

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Comment 10/28/11: When IBM says they can't find the skills in the USA what they leave off the end of the sentance is "For what we are willing to pay". Period. There are NO skills anywhere in the world in the IT industry that cannot be found here. When IBM and most if not all companies say that they are lying pure and simple. If there are so many great skills in the bric countries why has no one formed a company there and taken the US market by storm due to overpowering skillset? -Exodus2007-

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Comment 10/28/11: Hi Skills'&'Customers: I think it has to do with IBM not finding the skilled resources here in the US at the price that their customers are willing to pay and at the profit margin that IBM wants to have. -Jaggua-

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Comment 10/28/11: This is somewhat diverged of the topic; however, I would like the opinions of the IBMers that come here. Do you think that when IBM says they can't find the skills here in the US and are then forced to go to India or China, etc. that instead the real reason is twofold: cheaper labor and people that will do EVERYTHING IBM tells them to do (even if it's wrong)? I think so. I also think that the IT Architects and Specialists that get RA'ed are actually being let go because they are too expensive and they know too much. IBM does not want that caliber of intellect and skill, joining a union. They want people that they can control and dictate to and keep them in fear of losing their job or they make promises to them that keep getting postponed or put on the back burner... I suppose most people that come here already know this. I've been out of IBM for some time. However, when I was there and worked in their IS group. I found that programmers that made decisions about certain software strategies, usually had to EXPLAIN things to management as though they were in grade school... Especially 1st line and 2nd line. I may be wrong, but I think IBM needs a union with IT workers that are already part of a smarter group on a smarter planet. -Skills'&'Customers-

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Comment 10/28/11: What is the current package for being asked to leave IBM? -Tony-

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Comment 10/28/11: About the offer to work in another country, if like Project Match, you become an employee of the overseas entity and get their (far less) rates and benefits. You lose any tie to IBM USA. IBM helps you get there to help you attain your new career step, but there is nothing to help you if you want to return. In effect, you will have left IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/27/11: Time to welcome the new CEO with a Union! If your an IBMer in the USA and you are not afraid for your job you must be senior Management. Ginny will have to RA more then Sam and Lou to prove she is as tough as the boys. Expect no less. Do not waste time arguing about what she may or may not do. Organize now. Become proactive NOW. It may already be too late for some of you. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 10/27/11: See the article on the main page of this website:
"Welcome the new boss, same as the old boss." -Alliance-

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Comment 10/27/11: Jaggua: "Rometty made it clear she would follow the road map the company has laid out because she helped construct it."
Ginni is a clone of Sammy with different body parts. I bet the five year plan goes like the following: 2013 - 80K US Employees, 2014 - 60K US Employees, 2015 - 40K US Employees, 2016 - 20K US Employees, 2017 - 0 US Employees -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: That's why IBM US workers need an IMMEDIATE plan. Join the Alliance, get your co-workers to join , and start building your way toward a contract and a voice in your workplace. #OccupyIBM with a union.

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Comment 10/27/11: The Remot e Support group in Atlanta, has been reclassified as Retail Services Division. Mandatory meetings today, essentially will result in band reductions and pay cuts up to 10% including managers. -anon-

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Comment 10/27/11: Re: Anon-> Growth Markets work?
Is that anything like the "Project Match" that IBM tried to pass off a while back? So..do you get RA'ed first and THEN go to work for IBM in another country? Sounds like a 'one-way ticket', to me. Oh, BTW... You'll find out how stressful it is AFTER you get there, and my guess is IBM will not let you come back to IBM US, if you don't like it. If I was you, I'd do a bit more investigation before you sign up... -member-observer-

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Comment 10/27/11: Did anyone get a note to work in another country? I work in sales so I got email from the General Manager asking people to look at Growth Markets as a place to work. I am thinking about it. I can transfer skills and gain global experience. It is probably not as stressful as it is in the US. -anon-

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Comment 10/26/11: source-->> Palmisano retiring

looks like pok journal has the latest number
"IBM is the largest private employer in the mid-Hudson Valley, with about 7,700 direct employees in Dutchess County, not counting contract workers, vendors. It has its major plant for large computers in Poughkeepsie and its main microelectronics complex at East Fishkill."

only 7,700 in the mid-hudson valley, omg! too fast way down from at least 30,000 (pok+efk) less than 10 years ago. i'm shocked at how fast they axed. mind you, i know ibm had resource actions from time to time however i didn't realize how fast the headcount in ibm mhv plummeted!
from 30,000 to the fact that ibm is the largest private employer of only 7,700 employees at pok and efk. larger than ibm austin???
whatever happens to ibm rochester (how many employees are there today?). what about ibm san jose? how about ibm rtp (last time i was told it had over 9,000). don't forget ibm tuson ariz. can you get us the latest breakdown of each ibm us site. don't look like we have under 90,000 employees in the united states as ibm claimed a few months ago. -Still Shocked!-
Alliance reply: IBM has not "claimed" any number of employees since 2009.
When Palmisano took over in 2002 there were 154,000 US employees. The Alliance reported RA's every year. It is now 98,000 according to our estimate.
It was and has been devestating.

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Comment 10/26/11: SWG Lotus looking to cut head count. Told to update resume and start applying to provided internal jobs at IBM..Not told of timeline of RA...first line does not know... -Soon2bRAd-

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Comment 10/26/11: New CEO article. Alliance quoted. IBMs_new_CEO_Virginia_Rometty_has_a_plan -member-

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Comment 10/26/11: Rometty made it clear she would follow the road map the company has
laid out because she helped construct it. "I've been head of strategy at IBM and together with my colleagues built our five-year plan," she said. "My priorities are going to be to continue to execute on that" -Jaggua-

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Comment 10/25/11: Looks like IBM has a new CEO. Ginni Rometty:
ibm-names-rometty-to-succeed-palmisano-as-first-female-ceo
I hope she doesn't continue to run the company into the ground like Sammy has done over the last 10 years. -Ginni Who?-

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Comment 10/25/11: Buh Bye..... IBM_CEO_Sam Palmisano_Steps_Down -eyeswideopen-

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Comment 10/25/11: Ginny Rometty is IBM's new CEO. Will things change for the better? Will she be true to her belief that "culture is a company's most important asset", and will she stop the unrelentless, morale killing off-shoring and RAs? -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Why would she stop offshoring jobs and firing employees? Hasn't she been doing that right along. Think Union and get a contract. That is the only way things will get better.

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Comment 10/25/11: Virginia Rometty appointed President and CEO of IBM. Sam stays on as Chairman. -Jaggua-

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Comment 10/25/11: Palmisano leaves, and Rometty takes over to cut more jobs. A new CEO to blame on ruining your way of living. -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 10/25/11: Why do people think of joining the Alliance as a punishment to IBM? I feel the gist of most posts asking the Alliance to try and do something to expose IBM or somehow hurt IBM really miss the point of the Alliance. The Alliance exposes IBM's lies in an effort to encourage YOU to join. Alliance does not want to hurt IBM anymore than Auto worker's unions want to hurt auto manufacturers. You get no where killing the golden goose. The point of the Alliance is for the workers in IBM to get better treatment from management in IBM. Things like better pay, better benefits, better training, better work life balance. All negotiated and agreed to by both parties in a contract. A way of making the distribution of raises and training and with it opportunities for advancement more evenly distributed among all employees and not just management's pets. In no way does anyone want to hurt the company providing the jobs we want a contract for. A union is not a company's enemy . It is a company's partner who wants the company to be extremely successful; so as partners we can share in the success. ReTHINK how you think of unions, if you think otherwise. I will certainly raise a glass and toast Sammy's success, when I have a fair contract and know I am getting treated fairly in all aspects of my employment. It would be foolish of me not to at that point! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 10/24/11: Why should anyone be shocked about Poughkeepsie and Kingston. I worked at Endicott and at one time, Endicott and Glendale in the 1990's had 12,000-15,000 employees. IBM only has about 300 -400 IBM employees working there today. Louie Gerstner did a great job in destroying IBM Endicott. Sammy wants to destroy IBMUS . Join the Alliance to stop this corrupt company. -ANA-

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Comment 10/24/11: "To MyHeadAches - The Lotus Notes "lock" - there is an attribute to prevent copy of an email. So copy & paste would not work."
Then try MWSnap screencapture, it's free. Or Ctrl-Printscreen, Ctrl-paste. Or on the newer Thinkpads (Lenovos!) it might be FN-printsceen. No offense but C'mon, you work for a technology company. -MyHeadAches-

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Comment 10/24/11: "ibm poughkeepsie has a total of 3,200 employees"
I wonder if IBM is now in violation of employment numbers they need to keep for Duchess County and State of NY tax breaks and any taxpayer subsidy grants? What better way for the Alliance to expose IBM on this. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: It is being exposed because the Alliance exists. We have been the only ones that show the employment numbers of IBM and the number of RA's. Now imagine if we weren't here.
We have asked for people to join as members or to donate to keep this organization going.
Our last appeal gained us 7 new members and 1 donation. Nowhere near enough for us to build an aggressive campaign. Please join today!

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Comment 10/23/11: The Lotus Notes "lock" problem. Sheeezzz, just shft-print screen and paste it into Paint, save it, done. -Always-a-Way-

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Comment 10/22/11: this is the most shocking news!!!!!!! it is no wonder ibm does not disclose the number of ibm employees at the poughkeepsie plant but then we had iso auditors last week requiring the latest information. you ready to hear? according to the iso report, as of last week, ibm poughkeepsie has a total of 3,200 employees. i remember we had approx. 5,000 employees not too long ago. i remember we had 12,000 employees at ibm poughkeepsie in 1990s while we had ibm kingston and ibm myers corners. unbelievable!!!!!!!! -Shocked in Poughkeepsie-
Alliance Reply: We have been telling IBMers for sometime, (12 years) that IBM is making a concerted effort to fire US IBM employees, and reduce the numbers of IBM employees in its IBM US locations. This should not be a shock. If you are an active employee, you need to organize your co-workers and fight this continuous abuse and firing of IBM US employees, in POK and every other IBM US location. The fact that IBM stopped reporting its US headcount should not have ever been a 'wonder' or a 'shock' to anyone. That's what corporations do when they don't want their employees to know what they are up to, specifically. IBM does things that are strictly in IBM's interest, and NOT in the interests of their employees. The employees interests can be best represented with a union contract. Then there is no "shock and awe" and nothing to "wonder" about. Click the 'Join the Alliance' links in the right column

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Comment 10/22/11: I'm not an IBMer but find this forum interesting. I find the intelligent posts are those that are for a union and the rest are all naive and woo is me what can I do in sentiment. I'm surprised at this since I thought IBMers were always rather intelligent people. Now I have my doubts. Have I been fooled. A word of advice from someone who has worked in a union shop and also in a non-union environment: you IBMers need serious HELP. I would say you chances of HELP are only possible with a union effort otherwise you are going to see things get worse. -outsider-

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Comment 10/21/11: To MyHeadAches - The Lotus Notes "lock" - there is an attribute to prevent copy of an email. So copy & paste would not work. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/21/11: IBM sexual harassment case -Big Blue Bayou-

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Comment 10/21/11: Daily_Camera_Article This is a company many IBMers were sold to. -anon-

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Comment 10/21/11: I think the best thing that could happen to IBM is a Union. There is so much dirty pool going on at IBM right now. Why? Because management has all the power, calls all the shots, and can do whatever they want. With a Union contract you would have something on your side to protect your job. I worked for a horrible manager for several years at IBM. When I went to my second line manager to complain he sided with my manager. The next thing that happened was my manager systematically and methodically lowered my apprasial, one step at a time. It was agonizing and there was nothing I could do about it. Management finally had the evidence they needed to lay me off as a poor performer. The IBM management culture really sucks. It is all about protecting their managers and covering their tracks to avoid lawsuits. You can thank Sammy Palmisano for that. A Union contract is what I needed to save my job. -Gone From Big Blow-

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Comment 10/20/11: "They may put a lotus notes lock on the letter that prevents it from being printed or sent anywhere, but it's easy to defeat. (Do a search.)"
Save yourself the search. It's called copy&paste. Outside the box! -myheadaches-

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Comment 10/20/11: Answer on question about off-shoring vs RA.
In 2008, I had a conversation with a 3nd line in IGS who simply stated they where given a must meet target of 60% of GR labor. It was up to them at the time in how they met the target. They could either grow their business or release US employees. This is normal business and I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage has been pushed higher since then.
There are other reasons beyond that for the RAs. If the executives are not going to meet their numbers, or they failed to meet their numbers, you can bet that RAs are coming. The days of competing with employees are long gone having been replaced by competing against employees. This is the way it works now and a Union is the only way to combat it. Otherwise you are at their mercy.
If you get a RA letter, make sure you get a copy of it. It protects you from later claims that your release was your fault. They may put a lotus notes lock on the letter that prevents it from being printed or sent anywhere, but it's easy to defeat. (Do a search.) If you were represented by a Union, you wouldn't have to deal with such nonsense. -RA'd in June 2011-

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Comment 10/19/11: This story has some thought-provoking ideas: "Debate over trade unions rages in India" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15346605 -ibm_global_union_connection?-

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Comment 10/19/11: With all the talk of upcoming RA's, does anyone know how much offshoring of our jobs is involved? -anon-

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Comment 10/18/11: The 3rd quarter earnings are up,BUT, SG&A expense last quarter is up 10% and revenue only went up 7.8%. Also for the quarter SG&A as a percent of revenue also went up .So the cost of sales must get back in line..the way to do that is cut Travel, head count raises,etc. that will be the plan going forward. -Anon-

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Comment 10/18/11: Member - you can bet there will be an RA, and soon. Look at IBM stock price today: it's tanking. So much for Sam the Sham's "great" news about the QTR results. Something like $10B has disappeared based on market cap. How do ya think they are going to make this up quickly? Yep, an RA. And if you can believe it more operational cost cuts for employees, supplementals, and contractors to suffer in. You can also bet the Armonk royalty (they are definitely in the 1% group) have already cashed stock options out as a profit take (or should I say steal!?) before today to greedily grab more wealth. The only way to stop RAs is to unionize. Why folks are camping out near Wall St. without a clear agenda and get attention and IBMers can't even make a real try for positive change with a union boggles my mind. -Member2-

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Comment 10/18/11: IBM Profits Rise - Forcast Boosted
"Loughridge offered a comment that may prove to be bad news for IBM workers. He said the "spend takeout," or cost-cutting plan, was to be at least $3 billion. But he added, "We're chasing eight (billion)," leaving another $5 billion of "opportunity." Such cost-cutting in the past has meant job reductions, notably in the United States." -Member-

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Comment 10/17/11: anon2: I do not know how far the furloughs extend, I can only say they are being applied NOW to some areas of IGS-ITD. In addition overtime is mostly eliminated.
~"In other news" -- If anyone has news on the Q4 RA plan please post! -Anon-

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Comment 10/17/11: Sam just posted 3Q earnings, 13% up, 8 % up; basically up everywhere. Now the question is, will workers get rasies? NO! "Thank you for the good work you did, this proves that not giving raises and firing people is a good method".
Pretty much a lost cause; but as a business analyst, I plan to bleed them from every paycheck I can and do as little as posssible. If they gave me raises, I would work harder; but after 5 years of no raises, f' it. I'll milk this cow till they let me go -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: If you want raises, would you fight for a contract that could guarantee raises?

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Comment 10/17/11: "And remember...never access the alliance website from your work laptop."
Why? What is being tracked? What if I accessed the site in the past from the IBM network? -Occupied-
Alliance Reply: Why? Because you could be fired for doing it, that's why. As an "At Will Empoyee", IBM has the right to fire you for any reason or no reason.
Accessing the Alliance@IBM web site on your work time, using company laptops, servers and their ISP could be grounds for dismissal. If you accessed this site in the past, then it's possible. If you want to be a member of Alliance@IBM and are interested in organizing your co-workers; then you have to follow all the rules that apply to union organizers within the workplace.
See our Simple Fact Sheet for more information.

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Comment 10/14/11: IBM fires 1,000 workers in India <link>

BANGALORE: One of the largest private sector employers in India, IT services firm IBM is trimming its contract workforce. At least 600-1,000 contract employees have been asked to leave the company since August.

Sources in the recruitment industry and the company attribute this to both economic uncertainty and cyclical reasons.

These contract employees work for IBM, but are on the payrolls of either a recruitment firm or another IT vendor. Two of the biggest providers of contract staff to IBM, who did not wish to be named, confirm this. One of them told ET that IBM had asked few hundreds of contract staffers to leave in August. -Anon-

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Comment 10/13/11: I too agree with the protestors on Wall Street. Sammy is all about GREED. Being RA'd by IBM, Sammy will have another 4th qt RA action so he can make his numbers by the end of the year. This will cause SAMMY to receive another large bonus and stockoptions at the end of the year. SAMMY does not give a rats a** about IBM US employees. Join the union -ANA-

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Comment 10/13/11: -Wall Street Protester- But are you here with us? You dont have to wish ,just join! Be a dues paying monthly member and actually fight back. Fight the battle on your own home front, IBM, before you try to take on all of corporate America. A victory in organising IBM will have more impact on corporate america then a hundred " Occupy" protests. Force Wall Street to the table by organising and voting union yes and you will counter that corporate greed. Camping in the park thinking your going to make a difference to a CEO who isn't even there is a waste of your time and manpower. Get involved with the union efforts and really make a difference. Just my 2 cents worth. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 10/13/11: I've seen the protesters on Wall Street on the news and I know how they feel. I wish I could be there with them. They are sick and tired of fat cat greedy CEO's like Sammy ripping us off. GREED GREED GREED. It's all about GREED. All Sammy is interested in is his personal wealth and pleasing the stockholders. Expect more job cuts as Sammy continues to lay off valuable employees to make the financial quarter look good for Wall Street. -Wall Street Protester-

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Comment 10/13/11: There is no downside to joining the alliance. I'm glad we have some members who are highly visible, and good organizers, but I can state without a doubt that if you want to remain anonymous, you can certainly do that. I was worried about being targeted by management, but joined anyway because they have been offshoring my group so I had nothing to lose. Two years later I'm still anonymous. It's completely confidential, and now I have proof. Join up, folks. Now's the time. (And remember...never access the alliance website from your work laptop.) -Anon-

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Comment 10/12/11: Any additional information, yet, on the S&D RA?...when, how many, what area? -Anon-

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Comment 10/12/11:
The Alliance@IBM is considering an organizing campaign at IBM's delivery centers.
We are beginning to get support from workers in the GDF's at Dubuque IA, Lansing MI, Fishkill NY, Boulder CO and Columbia MO.
Although it is in the initial stages, we are hopeful that we can develop a network of concerned GDF workers and Alliance chapters at those locations.
The ultimate goal of course is union recognition and a contract.
But we need your help.
As many of you know, the Alliance struggles to stay afloat. Our dues paying membership at 200 members is not sufficient to have an aggressive organizing campaign. That needs to change. A victory at IBM's delivery centers can have positive effects for all IBMers.
So while you have heard this pitch before, we are once again asking you to help support the Alliance by becoming a full member at only $10 a month, or an associate member at $5 a month.
There has been concern that IBM would know who you are if you join.
The Alliance membership is confidential. IBM will not know if you are a member unless you tell them.
The link to join is here:
https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4004/donate_page/alliance-join
Or you can go to our web site at: www.allianceibm.org There is also a paypal donate link on this web page.
To those that are members and associate members your financial support is greatly appreciated.
If you work at a GDF and want to be part of the network, contact us at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com
The following is an email being sent to IBM GDF employees:

Join the IBM GDF Worker Network at:
http://www.endicottalliance.org/allianceibmglobaldelivery.htm

From the Alliance@IBM, the employees advocate! www.allianceibm.org

Did you know that Dubuque IBM GDF employees are paid an average of $20,000 LESS per year than GDF workers in Fishkill?

Are you concerned about working conditions at your delivery center?

Working hard and did not get a pay raise July 1st as IBM makes billions in profit?
wages in the new GDF's are much lower than other locations.
GDF workers in Boulder got a 15% pay cut.
your concerns are not addressed by management.
if you were "selected" to move to a GDF your choice was move or quit.
IBM did not pay moving expenses.
transfers are being blocked by management.
Band levels are lower.
Verbal promises made by IBM become promises broken
Don't you think it is time to join with your co-workers at all the GDF's to improve working conditions and wages?
Isn't it time you were treated as a professional?

Well that time is now! Make your voice heard!

Based on information and concerns from GDF workers, the Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701 is starting a campaign to organize GDF workers, including contractors.
To do this the involvement of IBM GDF workers in the Alliance needs to increase and information gathered.

If you work at one of IBM's GDF's in the US please contact the Alliance at: ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

Information we need from you:
Name and contact info
GDF location
job title
employee or contractor
Information will be held in confidence.

Help build a better future for GDF workers!

Statement of Principles:
Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701 is an IBM employee organization that is dedicated to preserving and improving our rights and benefits at IBM. We also strive towards restoring management's respect for the individual and the value we bring to the company as employees. Our mission is to make our voice heard with IBM management, shareholders, government and the media. While our ultimate goal is collective bargaining rights with IBM, we will build our union now and challenge IBM on the many issues facing employees from off-shoring and job security to working conditions and company policy. -Alliance-

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Comment 10/12/11: S&D layoffs coming confirmed by my manager. -soon to be ex-ibmer-

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Comment 10/12/11: I was hit with, what IBM told me, was an RA on May 23rd... it took me 3 months to find another job.. They told me that only 1.3% were hit.. is this true or not? My feeling is that it was not but they used it as an excuse to get rid of me... I was an awesome worker but others were jealous and wanted me laid off... any action Ican take againist IBM? might be too late now..let me know -Mike-
Alliance Reply: 1) Whatever IBM tells you is whatever they WANT to tell you.
They aren't obligated by any agreements with you, to tell you the truth.
2) Only 1.3% were RA'd?? See 1), above.
3) Others jealous of you and wanted you laid off? Doubtful.
4) Any action you can take? Not now, you're gone from IBM, correct?
The time to have taken action would have been before you were RA'd. But that would've meant that you were aware of your status as an "At Will Employee"; which every IBM employee is the same.
There are many IBMers like you that aren't aware of that status (click our Simple Fact Sheet). IBMers have no employment contract or agreement. IBM can lie to you, abuse you, and fire you for any reason or no reason anytime they wish. You have no legal action to take; unless you can prove you were fired under discriminatory terms. And YOU have to pay for a lawyer to help you prove that. IBMers need to wake up and realize that the only fairness and decent treatment you will ever get from IBM will occur because you have a union contract that guarantees fairness and decent treatment. And you have to fight to get that, along with your co-workers.

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Comment 10/11/11: Hi @Anonymous, where you get your info about IBM Outsourcing Services will be closing end of year? Is it going to affect Canada Outsourcing team? Please advice -Bond-

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Comment 10/11/11: -Plan-In-Place-and-Action- You sure hit that out of the park. IBM has had a plan in place since 1999. They are executing year after year to perfection as you can see by measuring executive bonus payouts.Some IBM employees tried to counter the plan with a plan of their own called the Alliance @ IBM. Sadly so far not enough of the cannon fodder getting chewed up by IBM's plans have realized they are in a no win scenario unless they join the Alliance. Rest assured that nothing else will even slow down the IBM juggernaught. Winning to me is getting what you need and most of what you want from your employment and creating a workplace you would be happy to see your children and grandchildren working in. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 10/11/11: @Anonymous - IBM Outsourcing Services will be closing end of year ---
Don't kid yourself, the plan is in place already and it is called the road map to 2015 as the RA's will intensify. -Plan-In-Place-and-Action-

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Comment 10/10/11: -Anon- When are we required to take the furlough in 4th QTR? This is obscene. How am I going to be able to manage to pay for my
holiday (Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa) expenses? My wish for 4th QTR? A UNION now! -anon2-

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Comment 10/10/11:
Yikes: top-brands-tragedy-of-labor-rights-repression-in-IBM -Ex-IBMer-

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Comment 10/09/11: During Q3 contractors were required to take 5-day unpaid furlough and most were unable to collect any OT payments. This is now being repeated in Q4. Also, If anyone has news of RAs in IGS-ITD please post... -Anon-

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Comment 10/08/11: IBM Outsourcing Services will be closing end of year. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/08/11: An AARP interview of Ellen Schultz on her book Retirement Heist. An excerpt is below: http://tinyurl.com/3rdvfn7
Q. What is "dead peasants insurance"?
A. The way that companies have found to create a pension plan [for executives] with tax breaks is by buying large amounts of life insurance on the workforce. A policy is basically a giant tax-sheltered investment pool. It's like an IRA, where you put money into it and it grows tax-deferred. And you would get the death benefit tax-free. Essentially, it was a tax dodge.
Q. How did families find out?
A. Usually by accident. An insurance claims adjuster would mistakenly contact the family instead of the company.
Q. What was the reaction?
A. Horrified. In many cases, the person who died didn't even have health coverage. The family would be left with medical bills, debts, and the company would get millions of dollars.-Anonymous-

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Comment 10/07/11: Like biker'mike (somewhere in the recent thread) I also joined in 1999 and had an actual telegraph sent to my then manager that I was an official union organizer. I've told several managers since the same thing, (4 or 5 managers) and made no secret of it as I've handed out thousands of flyers, often to people I know were managers, (never my own) and we both had a bit of a laugh about it on some occasions. I also filed labor charges against my second line who basically told me to take down my union signs or risk being 'written up' (whatever that implies, the court took it as a veiled threat) the case was eventually won in our favor, a nationally recognized/Federal case. I also confronted Gerstner and and Sam at various Shareholder meetings, the last meeting Sam actually refused to call on me at the microphone, skipping the normal functioning of the shareholder meeting, which tells an awful lot about him in my opinion. I get along well with my managers, (even the one in the Fed case mentioned) as I can tell them quite honestly I have nothing to hide and don't consider management the problem. Management doesn't send thousands of jobs offshore, Armonk executives do. Management didn't decide to replace thousands of Americans with visa workers as is ongoing, Armonk executives did. Managers aren't fleecing workers pensions and cutting benefits and keeping raises down, Armonk executives are. Managers are in many cases just as screwed as we are in terms of benefits and retirement issues and have even more difficult rights to pursue if they wanted to, and some have even told me they wanted their own union! Managers and we are basically in the same position, financially screwed. My ratings have been consistent 2-2+ for my career and didn't change since joining. I'm often approached by the fearful wondering why I keep my job while thousands keeping their head down and hiding their frustrations are fired. While there are many reasons, the main ones are I am a solid contributor and follow the legal rules regarding organizing, no bending things, just stick to the laws and be ready to fight legally if the company ties to violate your rights. This removes a big incentive for the company to target organizers as the company can fire hundreds who won't make a peep about leaving. You don't have to do what others like me have done, you can join and support the cause anonymously, but either way, stand up for yourselves and gain some self respect while you're at it. You have nothing to lose but your self imposed chains!
...........
POKJournal IBM Labor Group Sees Growth
...........
The story I'm in above notes about some workers who were fired, who tried to use union rules while not being involved with the union:"They were not involved with a union, the board said, and thus lacked the rule's protection." So if you want to stand up for your rights, smarten up and join the Alliance, regardless of the long term outcome, you can be proud of yourself for standing up while others hide or pretend they don't care about where things are heading. I wear my union button daily and my alliance tee-shirt every Friday, if you're in Fishkill, NY, look me up and say hello anytime, we can take a break and head to a break area and have a legal and protected conversation about workers rights! Plus I've met hundreds of CWA workers and even joined them on the picket lines on several occasions, my Union Brothers really are a part of my family now, I know they can be counted on, unlike the Armonk bunch.... -Bill Costine-
Alliance reply: To clarify our membership number in the linked article: The 6000 were both supporters and members.
Dues paying members at that time were about 450. Currently, we have about 200 members and 4000 supporters.

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Comment 10/07/11: Will any groups beyond S&D be hit by the RA? IBM is making big bucks right now, and the stock sky high. Why do they have to do this to their people? -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: IBM does it because they can. If you want to stop them, you need to organize and fight for a contract. No amount of complaining to any of the executives will make any difference. Fight back. Occupy IBM USA with Alliance and a union contract. Organize.

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Comment 10/06/11: Check this out:"Lockheed Martin Contractor Praises Union Labor During NLRB/DOL Hearing"
http://tinyurl.com/6fg78zh -member-observer-

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Comment 10/06/11: -ChopChop-: Did your manager tell you the RA would come in Dec? I heard it's coming in Dec. -B-

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Comment 10/04/11:
Senator Demands Accountability in $400 Million Deal
Brewster, N.Y. - (10/03/11) - Senator Greg Ball (R, C - Patterson) is demanding answers after Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced plans to give $400 million in taxpayer money to a host of corporate giants with a track record of outsourcing American jobs. What the Governor failed to discuss were specifics and guarantees.

Who: Senator Greg Ball

When: Thursday, October 6th at 2 p.m.

Where: Yorktown
Health & Wellness Center
1853 Commerce Street
Underhill Plaza
Yorktown Heights, N.Y. 10598

More on Sen. Ball and IBM outsourcing.
Ball_Questions_Cuomos_Nano_Deal -member-

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Comment 10/04/11: Please sign and ask your members to Protect Whistleblowers/Enforce Labor Laws in ALL Workplaces http://wh.gov/gMG -Denise Romano-

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Comment 10/04/11: RA for 1st week in Nov. packets being printed and bound. S&D will be hit. No further details... -ChopChop-

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Comment 10/03/11: Just imagine if US IBMers became fed up enough, to gather together and occupy their work site with employees wearing buttons or signs; or handing out flyers that read "Occupy IBM with a union contract"? The #OccupyWallStreet idea has grown the crowd to nearly 2,000. Can you imagine the power that 2,000 IBM employees would have if they were to assemble, and really start organizing IBM in the whole USA? Think about it. This can work. Corporations and Wall Street ARE paying attention, now, to what #OccupyWallSt is doing. Why not grab a little bit of that attention to what IBM workers have been suffering from, for way too long? -#OccupyIBMwithAlliance-

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Comment 10/03/11: Video on CSPAN of "Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers" Ellen Schultz
http://tinyurl.com/3zestsf -anonymous-

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Comment 10/03/11: @GDF Loser--- When did you join the Alliance? -Why-Not-

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Comment 10/01/11: Don't laugh, but IBM Canada is ranked #2 as Canada's most attractive employers:
Randstad_Award_Press_Release
I think they polled job seekers, not actual employees. Otherwise some on this list would be on the bottom. RIM will eventually be going out of business and Air Canada just avoided a strike. -Canonymous-

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Comment 10/01/11: To GDF Loser, The managers have the right to do as they wish since you do not have a contract detailing your rights as an employee. The only way this will change is to join the union and vote for for collective bargaining. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/01/11: Back in the good old days of IBM, a manager could delay your request for transfer for some time. In 1986 IBM East Fishkill had an open site, meaning if you wanted to transfer elsewhere you could. So many people took advantage of it that my request was delayed from the summer of 1986 all the way until December 1988. But no manager in those days wanted to force you to stay in a position. Today the employee alone has almost no power. Nonetheless, ask nicely for a date of departure and keep doing your job. Today there are no guarantees without a union to advocate for the employee. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/01/11: -Flabbergasted- I totally agree, folks need to do something/anything they can to promote the visibility of the Alliance. I always enjoyed handing out flyers at the cafeteria entrance at lunchtime, or at the exit gates before or after work. The expressions on the faces of some as they try to deny that you're there doing that is priceless. I'd recommend that all your supporters try it in groups, the more the merrier. Visibility counts! -Dave G -

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Comment 9/30/11: >> "I want to know what gives managers the right to block transfers."
What gives them the right? The fact that you and the majority of other IBM employees don't have a contract that denies them that right. Only the upper executives have contracts spelling out what IBM can and can't do to them. You? You're an "at will" employee. Meaning, if they want to do it to you, they can and will. Wake up, and join the union, or shutup and keep your head down, or leave the company. Those are your choices. -irRational-
Alliance Reply: To find out more about what an At Will Employee is, click here: http://www.endicottalliance.org/atwillemployment.htm and here:
http://www.endicottalliance.org/allianceibmsimplefactsheet.htm

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Comment 9/30/11: -GDF Loser- There is an old joke about "they can't fire me, Slaves have to be sold". These days it applies to transfers too. Live Better Work Union. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 9/30/11: "I want to know what gives managers the right to block transfers"
You know what? It is called not having a union contract! -IBMUnionYes-

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Comment 9/30/11: I want to know what gives managers the right to block transfers. If the manager cannot get me a raise then they should not be able to block me from getting out of this stinkpot they call Dubuque. To anyone thinking of moving there for a job with IBM, DO NOT! Any job where you are at now is 10X better, trust me. IBM Dubuque's managers are completely useless and should all be fired first and foremost. Then they can give raises to the SA's actually doing the work. Drop the stupid huddles and Green Team as well. Metrics have no place in Dubuque. -GDF Loser-

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Comment 9/30/11: To any current IBMers, I again urge you to do *something," no matter how small, to support our cause. I am fortunate enough to be in a financial position where I can easily afford the $10/month to be full member. If you are also able to comfortably shoulder that load, then that would be the most obvious, helpful action to take. If you are not so fortunate, there are still other actions you could take. Talk to your co-workers about Alliance, for example. Or leave some Alliance flyers in the lunch room -- a protected right so long as you don't use IBM resources such as their printers, and you don't do it during your working hours (if you look, you'll probably find a National Labor Relations Act flyer posted somewhere in or near your lunch room that describes your protected rights). If you are mad and want to get back at IBM, support this cause -- there is nothing that scares IBM more than the prospect of an American union. Heck, merely seeing that they've pushed us so far that we're seriously thinking about it will probably cause them to treat us better. Egypt and Tunisia emboldened other countries like Libya to fight for their rights. Follow the example of our Chilean and Argentinian co-workers, and demand your rights as well. -Flabbergasted-
Alliance Reply: Excellent comment! If you decide to hand out flyers, within IBM property or even off IBM property, please read the information in the link:
http://www.endicottalliance.org/dosdontsflyer.htm
You must make sure to follow all the rules, when handing out flyers.

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Comment 9/29/11: To Alliance Supporter: I am no longer on the fence. I'm all in. Just joined the Alliance. 34 years with IBM and hoping to make a difference. -Nolongeronthefence-

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Comment 9/28/11: America used to lead the way in IBM. Looks like Argentina is leading the way now. Way to stand up for yourselves in Argentina. Bravo. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 9/27/11: See news on front page of new strike by IBM Argentina workers. -Alliance-

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Comment 9/26/11: First, I am a Democrat so... this isn't a political statement.
Watch this http://www.linkedin.com/today/specials/jobs-growth-
Barack Obama, for whom I *did* vote, cites IBM for something related to helping to build jobs. .....
Now, what can we do - this is a decade-long project.... .... ....
IBM is engaged in an interesting experience in NY,... as early as 8th grade... worked with public schools....
you work hard.... IBM will hire you .... Gee. Think so? Are they just hiring you so you can train your off-shore replacement?
'Cause that wouldn't be great, to get a job and then turn around in a year or less to TRAIN my ******* offshore replacement.
I was RA'ed in 2009 after more than 25 years at IBM; guess I missed the fabulous new IBM program. -No longer at IBM - RA'd-

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Comment 9/26/11: "As a member, I am concerned that the complaining and the inaction by non-members is hurting the organizing. I am concerned that the comments by non-members might "define" what we are about even with the Alliance replies to refute some comments. I think more information from the Alliance to employees instead of this comment section might be better. Time to cut off access to non-members who just come here for gossip or news." -another member-
If you block off this comment section to non-members how are you going to get any new members? The only complaining I see is the lack of support for the Alliance and the mistreatment of employees going on at IBM. What is wrong with complaining about that? Kudos to the Alliance for provding this comment section. I think this will help generate support for the Alliance. -Alliance Supporter-

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Comment 9/25/11: Here's some karma. Tim Geithner says that China continues it decades old policy of stealing technology. I just wonder how long it will be before Lenovo markets a mainframe running MVS. There is no honor among theives... US-China_Geithner -gadfly-

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Comment 9/25/11: HR won't permit IBM regulars to be RA'd unless the ratio of contractors to IBM'ers is very low in a group (think VP-level here). The 3000 folks in India seems to be "weeding the lawn" which is OK in my book. Not that they are from India, rather the skills management there was way off (people working DBA roles and having no experience, expecing OTJ training). Seriously, I know this is factual. As far as membership and complaining, it is a sign of the times and the way the Alliance communicates today. A major facelift is needed. At least Facebook makes an attempt to change. Here, I don't know. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: What are your suggestions? Please send to webmaster (your email) not to this comment section. By the way, are you a member?

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Comment 9/24/11: Air canada has opted to transition their Catalogue services (gts) to cairo. They get payed $500 usd a month & they speak french,, how can anyone compete with that? Sadly my collegue is there now, & is showing a bunch of high school graduates how to perform id administration. But he first needed to shownthem how to copy/paste. Can you believe this? Join the union & help put an end to this nonsense. -Shadowschild-

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Comment 9/23/11: As a member, I am concerned that the complaining and the inaction by non-members is hurting the organizing. I am concerned that the comments by non-members might "define" what we are about even with the Alliance replies to refute some comments. I think more information from the Alliance to employees instead of this comment section might be better. Time to cut off access to non-members who just come here for gossip or news. -another member-

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Comment 9/22/11: The Alliance statement of principles on the main page says it all. I have to wonder why people don't join and get behind this.
Statement of Principles:
Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701 is an IBM employee organization that is dedicated to preserving and improving our rights and benefits at IBM. We also strive towards restoring management's respect for the individual and the value we bring to the company as employees. Our mission is to make our voice heard with IBM management, shareholders, government and the media. While our ultimate goal is collective bargaining rights with IBM, we will build our union now and challenge IBM on the many issues facing employees from off-shoring and job security to working conditions and company policy.-member-

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Comment 9/22/11: Biker1mike, It sounds like you have had some exceptional managers. The problem I have is that I don't trust my manager. The rules are constantly changing and they will find something to RA you. Remember, managers make the rules. For example, they can stop giving you work and then RA you because you haven't done anything. I would love to do what you have done and join the Alliance and be an organizer. But what you have done is easier said than done. -fencesitter-
Alliance reply: As has been said before, you can still join the Alliance and your name will be confidential. IBM does not see our membership database.
You do not have to be open or at the level of biker1mike to support the cause.

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Comment 9/22/11: Get off the fence. I joined the Alliance in 1999. The next day I told my fist line that I was an organizer. I have given the same message to the next three first lines I reported to. I have 30 years as of this year and plan on working plenty more. Sure I know my phone calls are tracked, my lap top and notes are tracked. My performance has been rated from 1, 2+ and 2 depending on the manager. If you play by the rules you are no more likely to be ra'd. Piss off your manager or break the rules and you will be gone no matter your union stance. -Biker1mike-

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Comment 9/22/11: A server team member in India reported 3000 contractors cut this month. Cannot be independently verified. -Anon11-

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Comment 9/21/11: "I'd be happy to join if I was confident that an election was going to be held sometime in the near future."
Everyone likes to support and back a favorite but the only way to win a union election is to first be the underdog. So where is the reasoning that an election means there will be a union? An election does not guarantee anything. But joining the union one-by-one does guarantee that it is one employee closer to becoming a union BEFORE any election takes place. I don't get the average IBMer: so full of excuses. -anonymous-

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Comment 9/21/11: To Call4election and Biker1mike: I'd be happy to join as well if I knew for sure "IBM big brother" wasn't watching. IMHO, I know this Alliance can make a difference once they have the membership count. But who wants to join and risk their job in the process? -CannotGetOffTheFence-
Alliance Reply: If you decide to join; it is your choice whether or not you want to be public. IBM does NOT have access to a list of our members. We do have members that insist on being public, because that is how organizing gets done. Contacting your co-workers and encouraging them to join, is how the membership and the numbers of IBMers that want a contract, grows. Once the number grows to a level where CWA can request an NLRB certified election; the process then leads to a union and a united fight to bargain for a contract with IBM US. If you prefer not to participate at that level; that's your choice. Your membership with Alliance@IBM, will remain confidential. However, know this: Doing nothing will NOT gain you any chance to change your current situation for the better, or your employment with IBM, with a contract. That's what IBM wants you to do: nothing.

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Comment 9/21/11: -Call4election-:"I'd be happy to join if I was confident that an election was going to be held sometime in the near future."
So if someone else takes the risk of being an organizer and does all the hard work you will join after the fact. You should do well at IBM as long as others do the hard work and you come in at the end and claim, "Look what WE did" Somethings at IBM will never change. -Biker1mike-

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Comment 9/21/11: I used to think that Americans stood for what was right. How wrong was I. You need to take a long hard look at yourselves and do something constructive instead of beating your gums and the only answer is to get unionised - but even then that might be too late. -Silver Fox-

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Comment 9/21/11: "Many in my department were unaware that there is a union." The Alliance has been around since 1999 and has been in the media: in newspapers, radio. The Alliance has done its best to get the word out. Based on the number of site visits to this forum IBMers do know there is a union but keep it a secret to themselves. Why? Is it because they don't want to pay to join the union or are they just plain scared? Both not paying to join and being scared at the same time is no excuse. -anonymous-

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Comment 9/19/11: RA's will come, and with the super-productive US workforce, management probably figures instead of paying 6 months severance, work people to death over the rest of this year, lower their appraisal, and then pay them 3 months severance. So you got them to work for those 3 months severance instead of sitting around. And you only had to fund their 401K and medical an extra 3 months to get 3 months of extra work. Also most of next year's 3's have already been threatened with a "3", so they're working like demons. I support this union, and will continue to do so. Many in my department were unaware that there is a union. I've tried to enlighten them. I wonder if people are so beaten down, they don't want to improve their lot and join the union. Social Media is currently fueling some interesting nascent movements in the USA. I wonder how it could be used to raise awareness about the existence of thi s GREAT employees union that would improve their lives and their families' lives. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/18/11: re: "So, when's the next RA?"
Interesting question, especially since there was so much talk about a 3Q RA planned for end of August. According to my manager (IGS-GTS div.07) we are in such a tight financial condition that they can't afford an RA right now. That seems strange considering how strong the 2Q earnings report was, but it sounds like parts of IGS-NA did not do so well, and are under huge cost pressures. What they are saying is it costs money to RA people. Well of course it does, but I thought corporations had accounting tricks to balance the severance costs against future savings. -CJ-Roc-

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Comment 9/18/11: I was part of the great remix several years back, my shift premium and weekend pay was taken away, and now I am being told no OT yet I still work over 40 hrs. I (along with many of my colleagues in ITS) would vote in favor of forming a union. This site seems to only be a forum for complaining with no bite behind the bark. Instead of constantly asking for new paying members, why not first call for a vote. I'd be happy to join if I was confident that an election was going to be held sometime in the near future.-call4election-
Alliance reply: We have explained this numerous times over the years. The Alliance can NOT simply ask for a vote. We have to PROVE to the Federal Government that there is sufficient support for a union election. There is a process involved, by law. We do this by having IBMers sign up with the Alliance in any of our 3 membership catagories. The subscriber/supporter catagory is free. The others contribute voluntary dues to help keep this campaign and web site going. So far we are not even close or anywhere near enough support to petition for an election The bite comes from you. You want an election, then sign up and get your co-workers signed up.

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Comment 9/17/11: The alliance is correct. All of America knows CEO's are selling out American jobs. Hating them and calling them rats is a waste of effort. They do what they do to maximize their income and make a better life for their families. I don't blame them at all. I want to do the same thing through collective bargaining and a union contract. They are one. I am one of the many. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 9/17/11: Ok. Do any of the unions have plans to participate in this action? It's a great idea and I'm inclined to at least go there and check it out...
Thousands of protesters to 'Occupy Wall Street' on Saturday -
CNN_Money_Occupy_Wall_Street_Article -Alliance Advocate -

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Comment 9/17/11: re: So, when's the next RA?
They don't need to, the new strategy as you mention is to have lower appraisals, if you get 2 3s you will be let go, with a reduced severance package (13 wk max), saving them money. So expect the carnage to occur e/o Jan. If you got a 3 last year, you are on borrowed time. -qtr_century-

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Comment 9/16/11: So, when's the next RA? Appraisals are unfairly dropping on US resources in IGS as jobs continue to move overseas or are replaced by Liquid Portal competitions. What is Liquid Portal, you ask? It's basically IBM's version of topcoder.com - i.e., work done on the cheap by freelancers, most of whom are in India/China. IBMers can check it out here - http://liquidportal.boulder.ibm.com So, the game is to continue to drop the appraisals on the US workforce and continue waves of RAs in favor of short-term freelancer and/or overseas labor. The outlook could not be more dismal in my IGS organization, and people could not be more demoralized. How are things for the rest of you IBMers out there? -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/15/11: -Exodus2007-: Right on! When will Joe and Jane IBMer finally THINK TWICE? -IveBeenMaligned-

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Comment 9/15/11: -Exodus2007-: I agree, but rats like Sammy have to be exposed for what they really are and rooted out. I'm tired of reading about jobless claims continuing to rise in America. CEO rats like Sammy are to blame for the mess America is in right now. Sammy has offshored thousands of American jobs putting thousands of loyal IBMers on the unemployment line. Let's get back to an American where we are proud to work for IBM and have a job. I'm sick of working for a greedy slimeball rat like Sammy who is only interested in himself and his bank account. -Aliance Supporter-
Alliance reply: IBM's CEO has been "exposed" already; by his own actions and his underlings actions, many times over. IBMers need to concentrate on organizing their way toward a contract and a strong force to be reckoned with. Spending time chasing Sam Palmisano's misadventures is wasting time. Spread the word that IBM employees have an organizaton that can and will reprsent them; if they want to be part of it. Get them to join Alliance@IBM.

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Comment 9/13/11: Sammy does this. Randy does that. He isn't qualified for his job. Wah wah wah. The power to stop this crap is in YOUR hands. It is in every Americans hands. Join a union. Make it a strong union by supporting it both financially and through your actions. American Corporations actually need less regulation by Government and More regulation by their own workforce to be able to compete worldwide. The employees of a company know inherently what is right and wrong about what a company is doing. Because they are the ones doing it. By them not stepping up, organizing and leading the way they allow bean counters to run companies . We can see how bad things get in our own company when the bean counters take over. It does no good to get mad at a bean counter. Counting beans is what they do. Limit their effective power through organization. Take back your lives. Take back your company. Take back your country in the process. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 9/12/11: --Financially Strapped-- What "heroes" are you talking about? The employees that are taking the abuse and not doing anything to reform or stop it? -anonymous-

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Comment 9/12/11: Sammy will continue to cut American jobs until we have backing from an organized labor force. Remember Sammy works for the stock holders and he is focused on one thing - the stock price. This will line Sammys pockets too with mega wealth due to his stock options and bonuses. So it is a Win-Win for Sammy. Meanwhile IBMers will continue to lose their jobs in America. Sammy thinks Americans are fat, overpaid, lazy, and not productive. This has become the peception of the American workforce. -da facts-

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Comment 9/11/11: I worked for IBM H/R and for Randy McDonald. He has no advanced Degree in H/R and has no certification( PHR or SPHR). He only got his job because of politics. If he was not such a potical player he to would be in NYS unemployment lines. He is no director of H/R. He wants to destroy IBM USA. Join the Union -ANA-

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Comment 9/10/11: -Financially Strapped- You said "What does the Alliance think they could do to stop this kind of abuse. I simply suspect what would happen would be people get fired." What makes any of you think you won't get fired if you don't take a visible role and organize? The alliance reply is absolutely correct.. - Dave G-

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Comment 9/09/11: --Financially Strapped -- I hear what you say. But thousands of those that got "remixed" didn't band together and fight it. I bet most embraced it figuring that the OT gravy train would perhaps more than make up for the 15% PAY CUT. IBM does want a reform of the FLSA. You can bet they are actively working on it NOW. Randy Mac wants all of us to work for less than minimum wage i.e. the wage he would propose as best for "competitive" reasons to our "do nothing but screw us" US gov't or the prevailing wage of the GRs (BRICs). Tsk..Tsk..for all those that take IBM management, HR, RandyMac on their word. And shame on all those that are affected similar to you that have not done anything like joining the Alliance. Yes, it's not nice in the race to the bottom of the economic ladder. -anonymous-

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Comment 9/09/11: -Financially Strapped- , Join the union. Sammy is all about greed. All he cares about stock options,bonues,and a huge salary. He does not give a rats a** about you. The only thing that will stop this abuse is a union. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 9/08/11: By now we've all heard about the no overtime nonsense for those of us that are in IGS / GBS etc. after getting the delightful 15% base pay cut & the demise of shift premium pay. For some of us, this worked out to an effective 27% cut in total! Delightful just delightful! Now, there are some folks around that are just as hourly as the rest of us. Yet the management team believes they have the right to tell these hourly people to work well in excess of the 40 hour / week management mandated limit and only enter 40 hours in the appropriate hourly tools we all use. It's interesting we all sign agreements every year to accurately and truthfully report the time (that's the actual work hours in duration as well as start and stop times) and we are even reminded failure to comply is sufficient grounds for 'discipline' and that it's illegal at both the federal and state levels. Yet, some of these heroic individuals do exactly what is illegal while the management teams are completely aware and encourage the practice while there are others who have been terminated because of expense reporting violations (embezzlement?) It would be nice if the respective states; county; city and federal governments would do a complete audit of time records reported versus the data recorded from the badge entry systems to see exactly how things align then realize how much revenue the government entities are not receiving because of misreporting by the employees. I suspect from a tax law prospective this could be construed to be "Tax Evasion". The other big misnomer these "heroes" put forward is how many people aren't required to perform the necessary work. Some of these "heroes" are working well in excess of 60 hours a week on a regular basis which in reality is reducing the necessity to either acquire another FTE or contractor which harms us all during this period of economic devastation. I can't advise anyone to "go forward and report" the illegal activities to anyone as we all know the "whistle blower" laws don't seem to adequately protect the anonymity of the person doing the reporting. Meanwhile, none of us get raises (including the "heroes") we all get financially behind every single day and these "heroes" have had their spines removed likely because they are frequently threatened with termination if they don't succumb to the management mandates regarding the illegal hourly reporting practices. So my question is this: What does the Alliance think they could do to stop this kind of abuse. I simply suspect what would happen would be people get fired. --Financially Strapped --
Alliance Reply: If you and all your co-workers were able to get together, join the Alliance, and publicly reveal how IBM is abusing their employees; you could turn the tide against IBM's abuses. No one person can walk into an IBM location, and declare a union to be representing the employees. It's the employees, the workers who must organize and form committees to expose IBM's abuses and underhanded tactics, publicly, through the Press. This takes courage and perseverance; all of which you have, but are not using it, yet. Nothing is easy. We've never said so, either. The hard work is ahead; but joining the Alliance and forming groups of workers that get the word out about how IBM is really operating under the radar, is what needs to be done. Grow the numbers of your co-workers that can do this as a group. It's the only answer.

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Comment 9/08/11: -Dave G- I hear ya. I have been waiting for over 10 years, as an Alliance member and still the same lousy sentiment from the average Joe and Jane IBMer. I hate to say it, most IBMers have no B*lls. They are naive and they play scared. It's sad. And you know something?, Sam and Randy and the rest of the Armonk posse like their inaction. It makes their jobs so easy that it is more than money in their banks. -anonymous-

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Comment 9/08/11: Read a report today regarding capacity planning. IBM India August 2011 : 95,600. IBM India Dec. 2012 : 125,500. Expected growth rate is 20% per year through 2015. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/08/11: In case you didn't know IBM has a pending law suit from DEVON IT. In essence the STG division of IBM bilked a small company from $12 million dollars in investing money and never produced anything for them. They used that money to fund other projects and mask the STG revenue numbers.
More info: http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/18/IBM.pdf |--|
IBM PONZI-RICO-TRIAL-Scheduling_Order -Ex-IBM 2007-

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Comment 9/07/11: We don't remember what Chile and Argentine did because no one knows what the results were. Did they win anything or did they just stur up the waters and get nothing. What did they get? -No Answers Yet-
Alliance reply: News of IBM Chile union victory was on the front page of our website.
A translated copy of the union contract was sent to Alliance members.
IBM Argentina held a 1 day strike and are planning another. Further news is on their web site at the
IBM Global union link on the main page.

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Comment 9/07/11: Re the results of the appeal for support: imho, it sounds as if sam's putting saltpeter in the cafeteria mashed potatoes. Every member and lurker here needs to wake up and take an ACTIVE and VISIBLE role. Talk to all of your friends about the Alliance, sign at least two of them up, and then have them each find at least two more who will do the same. Hand out flyers. Do SOMETHING. There's no other way. -Dave G-

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Comment 9/06/11: -Not laughing- There is not much you can do about Sammy. You can do something if you and many others join the Alliance. Then we can do some good for ourselves despite Sammy. We might even get a smile when we are unified and have our own contract! -Hope2Smile-

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Comment 9/06/11: -Laughable-: There needs to be government reform to stop the kind of obscene behavior from CEOs like Sammy. Sammy doesn't give a rat's ass about your job. All he is interested in is his bank account and personal wealth. Sammy is a greedy bastard. -Not laughing-
Alliance reply: Maybe there does need to be Government reform; but you will never see it in your lifetime. What really needs to be done is that IBM employees in the US, need to work hard to organize themselves and build the numbers of workers that can literally gain a union contract and a voice in their workplace. Your point about the CEO's greed has been made hundreds of times, before. It changes nothing. We've been criticized several times for not doing enough to get attention from US IBMers that may want to have a union contract. The real problem has been participation by the employees themselves. Alliance@IBM has the power to facilitate a successful organizing campaign, ONLY, if more IBMers join and become actively involved in growing the membership and actively , publicly showing IBM that we will continue to grow to a number that can win a union election, and thus, a union contract with IBM. None of this will happen until IBMers decide to become active, and not sit on the sidelines; watching this all just fade away.
Remember what the IBM Chile and IBM Argentine workers did. IBM-GUA web page It's up to you.

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Comment 9/06/11: Anyone else had a review letter recently? 11 year veteran tech (Band 9) near top of salary curve. Technologist in a WW overlay STG group of sales people. Been 1's and solid 2 until this "mid year review" which I was not invited to. FLM said it was stock wording and he could only change the middle paragraph. Anyone else seen one? -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/06/11: Happy Labor Day to all Alliance members. Not so much happy for all the lurkers doing nothing. Didn't you have American History in school? Didn't you learn about the robber barons and the rise of the labor movement? Look around now. I think Mark Twain said "History doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes". I can hear it rhyming now. Do you? I wore my Alliance shirt today - not that anybody cared (sigh). -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 9/05/11: GDF wave 2011.2 in progress in Canada (2011.2 is for the legacy systems). Everybody back in the office 5 days a week starting October 24th (except people living over 50 miles away), even if you're the only member of your team at that location (as in Canada Global Delivery Centers are virtual and located in multiple cities like Toronto, Montreal, etc.) -Canonymous-

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Comment 9/03/11: It is certainly disappointing to see how few have donated or joined the Alliance.
How many hits does the Alliance web site get? I bet it's higher when there are RA's. -member-
Alliance reply: We average 55,000 visits per month and 16,000 unique visitors.
When RA's took place in March 2010 we had 128,000 visits for that month with 42,000 unique visitors.
We have received 4,029,440 visits since the web site was launched over 10 years ago.

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Comment 9/03/11: -Laughable- Yes, I hear ya! So folks are sticking around to collect $16 a month and they will not even think once, let alone twice, of joining the Alliance even as an associate member for ONLY $5 a month/about $0.16 a day. This is also pathetic I'm sure you agree. -Think2X-

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Comment 9/01/11: STG cuts confirmed coming in partner/ISV teams. Contractor pay rate and a week per two months mandatory off proposed. Get your bags packed. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/01/11: @Think2x, yeah, it is pathetic anyway, it comes out to $16./ Month. WOO HOO. -Laughable-

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Comment 9/01/11: RA is happening First week of Sept. in Canada -Think2x-

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Comment 8/31/11: You really think you all will be around to collect your $1,000 stock award? THINK TWICE. It's called Project 2015. -Think2x-

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Comment 8/29/11: Tivoli Sales going through a ranking exercise of "revenue contribution". FLMs have no control over language within warning letter. If you're in the bottom third, the axes are being sharpened. Part of Project 2015 -SalesWeenie-

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Comment 8/28/11: Wow, Sammy cashes in some IBM stock for $83,573,000 in August and the Alliance rakes in $75. What is wrong with this picture? This is so wrong it is laughable. I guess the IBM employees are happy with their situation and don't need an orgaization like the Alliance to protect their rights. See ya on the unemployment line while Sammy enjoys his mega wealth from the sweat off your back. -Sad Man-

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Comment 8/27/11: -Silver Fox-, Um.... er... uh... you've got it almost correct... the target has been no more than 55,000 US. This was the game plan Lou put in place when he was CEO. ---FFU (Fed F&^#ing Up!) ---

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Comment 8/26/11: How did the appeal for donations and members go? -member-
Alliance Reply: Not good. We received 3 donations of a total of $75. Thank you to those that donated.
We gained 1 new member. As stated previously in this comment section, your donations and membership dues go to an organization not just a web site.
We have office bills to pay, organizing expenses (mailings, paper, flyer printing etc). We are just limping along due to lack of funds.
If we all want to increase the organizing and visibility of the Alliance we need financial support and growth in membership.

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Comment 8/25/11: Massive changes coming with "Project 2015" and this will result in further decimation of IBM US. The aim is to get it down to 60-65,000 workers and most of that which remains will be customer facing people only - or very close to customer facing. IBM is already restricting the amount of time non-US people can come to the US, and at the same time increasing the development work that is being done offshore with some of the flagship products that are cash cows for IBM. -Silver Fox-

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Comment 8/25/11: Sammy does not care about full time IBM employees or contractors. He is all about greed for himself. Join the union. Without a union, this will continue. Respect for the individual and full employment no longer exsist in IBM. A union is needed. -ANA-

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Comment 8/25/11: -Anoid- Why don't you force Sam to do all the things you suggested? Thats right. Because he is the CEO and you are not. The next best thing is to join the Alliance and get all your co workers to join so we can stop Sam from walking all over us all. Otherwise corporate will keep singing " These wingtips were made for walking, and thats just what they'll do and one of these days these wingtips are gonna walk all over you"! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 8/25/11: IBM is walking all over employees and contractors. Why don't Sam take a furlough (e.g. a layoff, albeit very temporary) for a week without pay? Why don't he forgo his bonus pay, since employees have to do without OT pay? Talk about his leadership by example. His example is a poor one at best. -Anoid-

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Comment 8/24/11: Hartmann: Corps getting job-creation tax breaks while outsourcing U.S. jobs?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw7r4DHW2xs -i(PIG)m-

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Comment 8/24/11: To MustHaq PM: Are those of you in IBM India part of the Alliance? Are you pushing for a Union? If not you will have the same fate as those of us in the USA. Do you know what an "at will" employee is? Time to wake up and smell the coffee. -Gone_in_07-
Alliance Reply: India is not able to join Alliance@IBM directly; however, they DO have organizers working with us through the IBM Global Union Alliance. "At Will Employee" policy is a US policy used by most States.

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Comment 8/23/11: Outage could have been related to the east coast earthquake. So much for IBM's backbone network to get customers through a disaster! -Anon-

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Comment 8/23/11: Sammy has O in his budget for RD for equipment and software beacuse he needs a bigger salary and more stock options.He is all about greed. IBM needs a union -ANA-

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Comment 8/22/11: I work for SWG, today IBM W3 network took a HUGE network outage, multiple w3 apps down, all D01 and D01 notes servers down, Helpdesk
is like " cna we take conrtonl of your computer," but honestly, the 9 dot network took a huge hit today, across divisions work was stopped because IBM network ewnet to s#!T -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/22/11: "Bull City Burger and Brewery ..." I like how earlier in the article Sam brags about the 4000 IBM employees in Silicon Valley. I remember a time when it was three times that amount. My prediction is without a union his next speech will be bragging about zero employees in Silicon Valley. -anonymous too-

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Comment 8/22/11: Sam has got a great team of speechwriters telling him just what to say. I don't think much of his own words comes out anymore. What changes and what endures? Shortsighted, greedy, egoist, talking head CEOs! So Sam is not willing to invest more in R&D? If so, I'm not surprised at all. He just cares about himself to make more money mainly through IBM stock. At no risk at all. He is far from a technologist (ever see him do a demo like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?) but just a tightfisted beancounter. So why should he care much for R&D in the first place? He is so detached from the overall moral and pulse of the average IBM employee who is making IBM what it is. We need the Alliance since they are the pulse of the IBM employee. Without the Alliance Sam runs roughshod over what is now left of IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/21/11: Sam, How can you spout this (below) when you're own Research Divisions have (0) ZERO budgets for equipment or software. In Watson there is a "board" that meets twice a week to review and approve any expense item over $200. Any travel expense no matter how small requires third level approval.
"In his Centennial Conversation at the Computer History Museum, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano emphasized the importance of investing in R&D, even
in a down economy. 'Shareholder expectations for higher returns don't diminish when the economy stutters,' said Sam. 'And yet, Tom Watson Sr. actually increased research investment during the Great Depression.' Palmisano added, 'I will tell you that my own instinctive reflex isn't to continue investing $6 billion a year during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. In that regard, I'm like all CEOs.'"
http://www.ibm.com/ibm100/us/en/lectures/what_changes_and_what_endures.html -anonymous-

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Comment 8/21/11: About the "fire drills"..why can't IBM just make all employees under band 9 contractors? Then IBM has their flexible and disposable at will workforce where they can save lots of $$$, blow the doors off their EPS estimates, and further lavish the wealth on the select IBM management few. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/21/11: "9/2 could be the day for the next batch of RAs. It clears the books in the 3Q and gives all effected 3 days to cool off"
Yep, it's Labor Day. How fitting. And this action would be typical of this IBM. And you can bet RandyMcDonald will be enjoying himself in his Catskill palace knowing he made more money for Sam and himself by disposing of more laborers around Labor Day. -LaboredDayed-

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Comment 8/21/11: I'm an IBM contractor, IBM India has fired lot of people on last Friday irrespective of performance,I feel like randomly picked the resources, Could it happen again, Why IBM doing this, One of my friends got call from parent company on friday and informed "Today us your last working day" Its so much frustration for us -MustHaq PM-

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Comment 8/21/11: Scooby Do: The RA's will begin this week because 9/2 would take the thirty day notice into October and IBM would have to pay those RA'd accumulated vacation for September -SecondInLine-

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Comment 8/20/11: Systems & Technology Group are running "Fire Drills" for a 20% contractor reduction on what projects will be effected, etc.. The time table is for the end of August (25th) and maybe bringing some of them back for 4Q. -STG_Anonymous-

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Comment 8/19/11: So Sammy sold some 57 million dollars of IBM stock recently. Its all about greed. Sammy does not care about IBMers or contractors. Get ready for some more RAs. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 8/19/11: IBM stock is tanking (now at $159 when it was over $180 on 8/1/11) and Sam sold on 8/1/11 a hefty amount of his owned (not optioned) shares to the tune of some $57 million and IBM contractors are told to take a week off and be sure to not tell the customer why and employees who had their pay remixed years ago with the premise of OT as part of the remix now are told ZERO OT (how do you add to a remix zero OT? You can bet IBM is pulling out all the stops to try to salvage a 3rd QTR to make their lofty and ever greedy EPS all on the backs of it's employees and contractors. You can bet there will be job cuts and RAs all over the joint between now and 9/30/11. So for those folks who have not and will not join the Alliance in their time of need: Have a Happy RA. You worked so hard for it. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/19/11: Come on in..the water's fine. There is no reason NOT to join the union. If you're reading this, you already enjoy some of the benefits a union would bring - communication outside the official channels is important! The cost is low, and the impact we could have is so high. Let's take some responsibility for our own lives and stand strong together. Please click the link and join today. I did. -Anon-

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Comment 8/18/11: 9/2 could be the day for the next batch of RAs. It clears the books in the 3Q and gives all effected 3 days to cool off. -just a thought, not confirmed (nor denied). -Scooby Doo-

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Comment 8/18/11: Foreign student at Hersey plant claim abuse: Representatives from two American labor unions participated in the rally at an intersection outside the plant. Three labor officials, including Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania State Federation of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Neal Bisno, president of a Pennsylvania branch of the Service Employees International Union, staged a brief sit-in at the plant entrance and were arrested. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/us/18immig.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB -Frodo-

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Comment 8/17/11: Thanks for the update Lee. I am going to contribute and support this. -UnionJack-
Alliance reply: Thanks for your support!

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Comment 8/17/11: "We have around 200 dues paying members and 4500 supporters. Not all still work at IBM."
Wow, that is pathetic. Only 200 dues paying members? I thought the number was at least 10 times that. I really think Sammy's strategy is to hire young thoughtless droans and have a revolving door. Kick you out and bring in another before you even have time to THINK about your rights as an employee. Remember the Watson slogan, THINK? Sammy's slogan is DON'T THINK. Come on people, open your wallet and send some money to the Alliance. The Alliance ship is sinking. Do you want Sammy to win with his strategy? I hope not. -Sammy is Winning-

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Comment 8/16/11: True that the actual employer would pick up any unemployment benefits for those being employed by them and this certainly applies for IBM contractor companies and those employed by them if they are eligible for UI. The contracting company is not ordering the furlough. IBM is. So why should the contracting company shoulder any cost for any unemployment benefits rather than IBM? The contracting company doesn't want to order a furlough since that hurts them as well. How legal is it if IBM asks a contractor that they need to take the five days off without pay? There are questions and not alot of right answers here. -furloughed-

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Comment 8/16/11: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/16/ehrenreich.jobs.unions/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
..." Even the most isolated and "invisible" workers -- nannies and maids -- are organizing themselves into a National Domestic Workers Alliance. As anyone in these groups could you tell: We don't just need more jobs, we need more jobs that treat employees like humans and pay what you could actually live on. " -'nuf said-

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Comment 8/16/11: @anonymous, as far as I know, most "contractors" are at IBM through staffing firms that take a cut of the employee's pay and deliver few or no benefits, so if they are without pay, they are still associated with an employer that provides a W-2 and should therefore be eligible for unemployment compensation. -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 8/15/11: So what is it going to take to unionize? How many more people? How long? Are we talking 10 years or 10 months? -UnionJack-
Alliance reply: At the rate we are going, it will be years. Why? Because very few IBMers are signing up with the Alliance and are willing to do the hard work of talking to their co-workers and signing them up.
We have around 200 dues paying members and 4500 supporters. Not all still work at IBM.
We need strong organizing committees in every division. We don't have that.
We need workers to get over their fears. That hasn't happened yet.
We need a massive growth in membership and dues in order to finance organizing drives. We don't have that either.
We can continue as advocates for employees, as a source for information, as a limited organizing campaign and membership organization, but that too, requires funds.
We have been saying, for some time, that we need membership growth (dues) in order to survive.
If we disappear there will be NO one working on the employees behalf.
Join or contribute today.
Thank you
Lee Conrad
N ational Coordinator

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Comment 8/15/11: "Look at whose is selling out his share of IBM: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=ibm
You can bet there is another RA in the works..and coming soon."
Doesn't the stock usually rise when a RA is announced? -Plat lpus-

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Comment 8/15/11: @furloughed- IBM is not technically responsible to pay for unemployment benefits for contractors. Contractors are independent and do not have the same benefits as regular employees. I don't see the connection between the 5 day furlough and IBM not having to pay unemployment benefits. Am I missing something here? -anonymous-

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Comment 8/14/11: Please see our notice on the immediate need for funds and membership growth on main page. Thank you for your support! -Alliance-

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Comment 8/13/11: BRIC, this is/was documented here:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article2351429.ece?homepage=true -Think-

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Comment 8/13/11: Try this...When the manager tells you to reduce overtime, you tell him that you will eliminate it completely. And then do exactly that. Watch for his response -gadfly-

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Comment 8/13/11: IBM is laying off 1000 in India. Supposedly from GTS division which lost out on projects!
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article2351429.ece?homepage=true -IBM_India_Layoff-

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Comment 8/12/11: Word is around that contractors in IBM India will soon be in the line of fire. Non performing regulars are also expected to be nailed. No facts or figures are known yet. -BRIC IBMer-

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Comment 8/11/11: Many American corporations are watching record profits come in and are sitting on tremendous amounts of cash reserves. They are not hiring. They are not increasing worker pay. In fact, they are reducing the number of employees each quarter and the only ones receiving a cut of the take are the looters at the top of the corporate food chain. IBM is certainly among them. I have no idea what sort of atrocities it would take for American citizens to realize what is being done to them. -Spamwich-

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Comment 8/11/11: In order to get unemployment benefits for a furlough you generally have to be out of work for 5 consecutive days in (five unpaid days, also known as the "waiting week") or make less than the maximum unemployment rate for the week for the state you work in in order to be able to file a UI claim. IBM knows this. That is why it is only a 5 day furlough for contractors. It would be interesting to see if a contractor is denied a request to take 5 consecutive days furlough ("work week") so there is no chance any UI claim can be filed. If we had a union we can stop atrocities like this. -furloughed-

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Comment 8/10/11: If you are in ITD Div 7, and your manager's PBC has a "reduce cost" item in it, then an RA is coming to your area. They only have one way to meet this commitment. There was an RA last Nov, then Feb, then May, so most likely one in Aug. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/10/11: I know this is off subject; but please honor and show solidarity for the Verizon land line workers strike. If you are wireless and have Verizon put off any purchases of cell phone services and the like. We are all in this US corporate labor mess together. -we're red-
Alliance Reply: We do honor and show solidarity to our union brothers & sisters, in CWA. We have also posted a notice on our web page front, with our commitment to Stand with Verizon workers.
We encourage everyone to visit www.cwa-union.org and keep updated on our fight. Thank you for notifying IBMers of what it means to fight together.
In Unity and Solidarity
CWA Local 1701
Alliance@IBM
www.allianceibm.org

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Comment 8/10/11: Can the contractors who are furloughed for 5 days get unemployment? -curious-

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Comment 8/10/11: "It's official - Div 7 ITD - OT for non-exempt employees now capped at 2 hours per week max. Contractors also being furloughed for 5 days. -Black N Blue-"
Wow, and Sammy Boy just got a cool 83 million for the sale of his IBM options in August. What is wrong with you people? Do something about this injustice. Stand up and fight for some fairness! -WakeUpandSmelltheS***-

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Comment 8/10/11: Just received word that we may only work 2 hours OT per week, through Sept. 23rd. This comes after record profits, and that 15% pay cut we took awhile back. Div 7 - ITD. -So Done-

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Comment 8/09/11: It's official - Div 7 ITD - OT for non-exempt employees now capped at 2 hours per week max. Contractors also being furloughed for 5 days. -Black N Blue-

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Comment 8/08/11: This is relevant to IBMers, for one reason: It presents the reality of the magnitude of control that Corporate funded politicians have over this country; and what is the only possible solution. In the name of God, people, Fight back! http://www.truth-out.org/wisconsin-solution/1312815074 -WisconsinRecall-

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Comment 8/08/11: Today we were notified that personnel in my division must be at 112% utilization and we must give up our vacation if we are to make that goal. Those who miss 112% utilization (even if this is caused by vacation) will receive a flat, nonnegotiable "3" on their annual evaluation. This is a speedup. -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/08/11: Re: -SammyChopoYourJobo- If there is an RA coming, its most likely Aug. 25th, so they have get people off the books by end of the quarter. re: Greed Sammy Selling stock had nothing to do with RAs, Sammy probably had inside info in the upcoming downgrade of US Debt, and knew the market would tank. Thats how it works at the highest level. -qtr_century-

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Comment 8/08/11: Alliance. They just do not get it. Today's IBMer does not understand that every time an RA happens they have less people to organize and less leverage if a strike is needed. Every day that goes by IBM is bringing up offshore sites and the need for, and therefore the leverage that IBM US workers have, dwindles. If the last remaining IBM US worker votes to organize then he or she will have 100 percent of the union vote; but when that one person strikes IBM says, "so what". Less workers means less impact and less leverage in negotiations. What are you waiting for?? -Exodus2007-
Alliance Reply: We will not give up. We must continue to make it clear that there is no other option. Thanks for your support as always, Exodus2007. We appreciate your comments, too.

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Comment 8/08/11: The same pay reduction (can't sugarcoat this furlough) just came down through CDI. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/08/11: Heard from a fairly good source that the next RA is scheduled for either the end of September or the second week of October. Sorry, could not get any information on percentage of employees affected or divisions/locations. The source did emanate from SWG. -SammyChopoYourJobo-

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Comment 8/08/11: Word passed down today to contractors in my part of IGS:
1) NO overtime allowed except for a few pre-approved special cases.
2) Must take 5-days off (UNpaid of course) between now and end of Sept. Naturally there can be no impact to the customers.
Huh??? How's that work again??? -anonymous-

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Comment 8/08/11: "Look at whose is selling out his share of IBM: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=ibm
You can bet there is another RA in the works..and coming soon."
I just added up Sammy's stock sale for August 1, 2011. It comes to a whopping $83,573,000! It makes me sick that Sammy is taking so much from the IBM company. GREED GREED GREED. Folks, this is the problem with America today. Greedy CEO's like Sammy. -Greedy Sammy-
Alliance Reply: So what are YOU going to DO that can change YOUR'S and your co-workers situation? One thing is to stop worrying about how GREEDY Sammy and randy and the rest of the meglomanics are, and start fighting back. Organize. It's your only real option. Fight for your jobs, people!

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Comment 8/08/11: I just read Mac Randy's testimony about how IBM is leading the industry in flexible work arrangements, such as work from home. I wonder if anyone told Randy about Software Groups "Back to the Labs" initiative, where IBM is forcing employees to come into work everyday if they live within 50 miles of their assigned lab. -JustRandy-
Alliance Reply: So you expect Randy to tell the truth and say and do things in the employees interests? Fight for a contract and organize, and stop 'wondering' what Randy or Sammy or any of the Executives are being informed about what is going on, or doing. THEY are the ones that initiate these kinds of 'initiatives". They all know what they are doing. Join the union and fight for a contract. Right now our brothers and sisters in the CWA and IBEW are fighting Verizon. They already have contracts; but the company is trying to take away the things that the contracts protect. The union is out there fighting together. That's what IBMers need to do. Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701 is 100% in solidarity with the Verizon workers.

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Comment 8/07/11: @Rrrrrrrr....Care to elaborate what you've heard? I do feel there are gearing up to sell off the GTS RSD division. -tired-

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Comment 8/07/11: I am not staying here another 4 years for $1k. That is about 1 weekend of overtime. -gadfly-

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Comment 8/06/11: Look at whose is selling out his share of IBM: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=ibm
You can bet there is another RA in the works..and coming soon. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/06/11: -NotStupid-: Some countries don't allow stock grants or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) so it's not all inclusive to all IBM employees. Most IBMers in the USA are just hanging around for the paycheck and whatever else IBM decides to give them. They don't want to do ANYTHING to help themselves. If IBM didn't think $1,000 in stock would keep a bunch of USA IBMers around for a few more years then why did IBM do it in the first place? Let's see how many USA IBMers are going to be around to collect that $1,000 stock grant. It will be thousands less than those mow going through the motions thinking they will be around to collect it. -going-going-and soon gone-
Alliance Reply: This debate between @NotStupid and you is really a moot point. Whatever IBM does, it's never in favor of the employees. Period. IBM always has an ulterior motive, in their interests. Why waste time trying to figure out a "checkers" move, when you can use that energy and time to figure out a "Chess" move. The Stock Grant, FHA, Cash Balance Pension, etc. have all been part of a larger mission, to corral IBMers in the US, to go down the path that IBM wants them to take; irrespective of what IBMers want. "Don't think twice, it's alright".
You both would be better off fighting for the bigger picture, together: A Contract. That is the fight that Alliance@IBM is stepping up to; provided IBMers like yourselves want to join and fight with us. Want to join? Join The Alliance! | Join The Alliance! (cc)

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Comment 8/06/11: @going, I don't think US workers are that stupid and foolish to hang around for a measly 1,000 dollars worth of stock grant. I think it was geared more towards foreign countries where 1,000 bucks is a month's salary or more, and to help curb turnover, esp. in India, where it is several 100%, annually. -NotStupid-

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Comment 8/05/11: Hello y'all i heard some rumblings out of IBM NY. There up to there old tricks. Techs now have to work on laptops. No training and get those numbers up -- Yeah boys, you do that -- just ask your fellow workers that went to Qualxserv (oh yea that's right they went out of business)where getting the numbers up got them ! the unemployment lines. Its the past repeating itself ! Be fore warned, your time is limited! -Rrrrrrrr-

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Comment 8/05/11: Regarding people filling engineering jobs who have no degree -- I did that, and I got there by working my way up from the bottom. Some learn engineering in four years at college, while others learn it in 10 or 15 via OJT. -Abraham Lincoln-

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Comment 8/04/11: Was resource action-ed today being told there are many others from same State account. At least they gave me one days notice this time. Last time I worked 3 more days till a manager finally realized I was RAd -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/04/11: Something must be getting ready to pop. On Aug, Slimy Sam exercised options for 300,000 shares at $97.59 and turned around and sold them for $179 - $184. A gain of $25. Kinda makes ya sick!! -Anon-

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Comment 8/04/11: The strike in Argentina will have widespread implications with customers in the USA as much of the domestic work that was outsourced to IBM from other US companies was matrixed out and sent there. Argentina is considered a higher quality operation over India so more critical customer specific tasks are sent there. It also has the advantage of being on USA time. I should imagine that what staff that is left in the US will have to bear the brunt of the work stoppage. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/03/11: I think by 2014 IBM will largely abandon the USA. It's a reason why USA employees got the paltry stock grant and was to just dangle a carrot so IBM can string along as much of it's USA workforce as possible so IBM can follow it's purge of USA workers without any exodus of critical workers leaving before IBM wants them to. IBM plays you USA employees as fools. Look at IBM Chile and Argentina? The USA IBMer who is not an Alliance member has no backbone. -going-going-and soon gone-

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Comment 8/03/11: Big IBM walk-in job fair - in India. Of course. Barb, Sam and Lou will slowly move all IT and professional positions to India,China,Latin America and Brazil. Eventually, there will no longer be IT,RD,or professional positions in the USA. Join the union to stop this USA job loss. -ANA-

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Comment 8/02/11: Re: Software Division, Tivoli -- No cuts YET Exact same thing happened to me. Our product is successful, makes tons of money, I've been supervising a global team, no back-stabbing complaints from any peers, only praise, I'm not insubordinate, I'm doing massive amounts of overtime, etc. They so *wanted* to put me in the middle (liars), but just had to drop me to the top of the bottom group. And I'm there with all the global employees who are so much cheaper but don't care a whit about the customers, so insulting. What a joke this despicable company is. The moron manager who has no clue what is going on, will never leave. Why should she? Cushiest job ever for her. They're crucifying themselves. Unfortunately, in this town, there are few to no other choices for employment. They laid off 52 or 54 from the hardware group in May, trying to keep the software folks scared "straight" (the timing was odd, as per usual). -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/02/11: When the debt ceiling gets raised in the states, the canadian employees are going to look pretty darn expensive as the us dollar goes further south. Anyways, why dont N.A. employees organize a strike day? The countries some of you lost your jobs to seemed to have figured it out already... -XHire-

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Comment 8/02/11: IBM, IBM's Lenovo and their consultants knowingly displace top performing American workers with less qualified, less experienced, lower performing foregn workers in science, technology, engineering, mathematic and analytic roles. Many IBM and IBM-Lenovo employees filling engineering jobs have no engineering degree, no professional engineering qualification and no engineering credential. -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/02/11: Here is a link to an article with a discussion thread where someone is claiming that the online Microsoft job application site is just for show: that they almost always just hire from vendors who present them with H-1B candidates. Does IBM do this too? This might be a major discrimination case:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-j-skorton/immigration-reform-the-ec_b_914973.html. If the comments disappear, I have the page archived.-Barb-

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Comment 8/01/11: Officially informed by my manager today that other than sev 1's, there will be NO overtime for nonexempts and contractors for the rest of the quarter and also likely to be extended to 4Q. Please folks, we HAVE TO STOP THE INSULTS! -Anon-

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Comment 8/01/11: Did they strike in Argentina on July 28? -Curious-
Alliance Reply: Yes they did, for 1 day. See our top front page, Spotlight

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Comment 8/01/11: hello alliance, do you have any status on what happened in Argentina? Did they go on strike on the 28th? -curious-

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Comment 7/31/11: Several contractors were let go in AIX support. I do not know the numbers. Might be as high as 20% and located across multiple sites. Also told some regular headcount is included in the cut. -Contractos let go-

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Comment 7/31/11: Big IBM walk-in job fair - in India. Of course.
Walkin Aug'2011: IBM Contract-to-Hire -Multiple Skill-Across India via Monsterindia.com Jobs on 7/31/11
Company: Gss Infosoft Private Limited
Experience: 2 to 4
location: Bangalore, Hyderabad
Ref: 10134005
Summary: Walkin Aug'2011: IBM Contract-to-Hire -Multiple Skill-Across IndiaFORE MANY SUCH IBM REQUIREMENTS FOLLOW US ON: http://gssinfosoft.blogspot.com/-Barb-

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Comment 7/30/11: @cannedbyblue, "Why can't IBM just offer these positions to the permanent employees." that is an interesting question, I am assuming it has to do with being sued. -Former-Technical-

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Comment 7/30/11: More IBM mischief afoot: http://blogs.computerworld.com/18703/ibm_tries_offshoring_yet_more_jobs -Barb-

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Comment 7/30/11: Comments after a recent IBM Services question and answer session.

Question:
Maxim I. Novikov
21 Jul 2011 at 04:04 AM EDT
Hello Victoria. Carrying out of such conferences is very useful and I always like IBM for this openness in working background, when we have feedback with higher management, staying in touch with future plans, growth and opportunities. Nevertheless I want to support Vishal here, because I have same situation. I had 2/2+/2+ during my working years with IBM, and my salary grown on 1%. I am not kidding, exactly on 1%))). I heard same stories from my colleagues, from all over the world, because I am working in Global Services and they all have the same problem, even worse for some. Like it was told by manager in
Quest1 : "We always moving to high value...". This is not bad actually, in our capitalist world may be the only way. But why not make value for employees? We(employees) also having our values in this challenging world, we have to plan our future and think about future generation and aging generation. Does price for stocks making more sense? Sometimes I really do not understand why people, who making all job done by their hands and minds, are staying always somewhere behind... When I started to work at IBM, my colleague gave me a book of Buck Rogers : "The IBM way", and I was really impressed of its content and how highly he rated IBM capital - our People - he wrote, I and started to believe that many things will change in my life from that moment, but after 3 years of successful job I am getting more and more confusion.
Regards, Maxim Novikov. -Soon2BxIBMer-

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Comment 7/30/11: Folks, Posters here were right.
Liquid Portal is going to allow IBM to get rid of all Java and Lotus Notes programmers inside the company. You failed to unionize, so you're gone!

HIRING! Freelance! IBM Liquid Challenge
Stefanini TechTeam is engaging Software Professionals to participate in the Liquid Player Program with IBM.

In the Liquid Challenge Program, IBM project managers outsource design and programming components to freelancers aka IBM Liquid Players. The design and programming components are part of a larger technical application (solution) that IBM is building. IBM will be the one to select the Liquid Players who will design or program a particular component. Once a Liquid Player has successfully designed and/or programmed the specified component, IBM will notify the player that the submittal was successful and accepted. Payment will be issued by Stefanini TechTeam within 15-20 days of successful completion, and range anywhere from $60-840 USD, minus applicable taxes and program fees, and depending on the component that was completed. The payment for the component will be seen by the Player in the Liquid Portal. A component is payable only when approved and accepted by IBM.

Project description:
• 100% work from home opportunity.
• You choose the programming components you want to develop!
• Addresses really small units of work, usually partitioned from a larger unit of work, that can be defined and accomplished within ½ to 7 days
• Players are paid on successful programming events, meaning that earning potential is unlimited!
• The more successful you are as a Player, the more IBM will request you to work on programming events!

Key Programming Languages Include:
• JAVA/J2EE
• Lotus Notes

Key Platforms Include:
• Windows
• UNIX (Solaris, AIX, Linux)
• DB2
• Websphere

If interested in joining the IBM Liquid Challenge program, please forward your updated Resume to cristina.zarici@stefanini-usa.com -IBM Java/Notes Programmers are History-

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Comment 7/29/11: Why I am not surprise. It seem like IBM is positioning itself to select skilled people for another resource action (as always), and not be limited to storage management organization soon. I have been getting many emails from recruiters for remote contracting position in IBM. Why can't IBM just offer these positions to the permanent employees. Well I think executives want a big bonus this years while destroy people's life. No contract ! Here is one of it I want to share and IBM need to 10 people to fill it. Here is partial extracted Job description for DBQ SANDISK Subject Matter Expert for Dubuque, Iowa (DBQ GDF service center) This candidate will perform an essential leadership role which includes training, work assignments and task management for entry level staff. Mentor a Group of 5+ Entry Level Admins Monitor workload and ensure trainees are challenged. I hope the best for permanent IBMers, If anyone adversely affected storage management area, take a look at TAA Decision 75087 or others from department of labor. -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 7/29/11: @Repurposed, yes, exact same thing happened to me, read my post below. -Former-Technical-

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Comment 7/29/11: So y'all talking about getting a lawyer to stand up for you and try and get your 13 weeks back? Why don't you work on organizing instead? It would be cheaper and more beneficial to everyone. -Left in '07-

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Comment 7/28/11: @none - A lawyer? You want to talk to a lawyer about cuts in severance? Hahahahahaha. IBM can offer no severance at all and there's nothing illegal about that. There is only ONE thing that could keep IBM from doing this kind of crap and that's a union contract. Have you joined the union? I did. -anon-

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Comment 7/28/11: @Teched - you are mostly correct, except for the pay. I am in a band 7 pay level, performing work at a band 8 pay level and getting paid at a band 6 pay level. So, no, the pay does not commensurate with the work being performed. I am actively seeking other employment. Yes, I am completely aware of the OT lawsuit, I took part in it, I moved out of the tech role 3 months prior to the IBM rape of tech workers. Thanks for the support. -Former-Technical-

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Comment 7/27/11: 2% US, 5% worldwide for an RA? I think you might have switched the figures, eh? -anonymous-

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Comment 7/27/11: -May- I find it hard to believe that thousands of folks though it was "no big deal I got a -15% pay "adjustment" since "I make it up and maybe then some in OT". You think IBM did the 15% pay remix thing to comply with their understanding of the FLSA with the intention of being fair and not cutting salary costs? If you believe IBM was really fair about this, and MacDonald was not all behind it, then I want to talk to you about some oceanfront property in Kansas you can get for free from me. Honest. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/27/11: Funding for my postion in SWG support was shifted out of my brand to another brand earlier this year. Consequently, I was told I would need to find another position in IBM and my name was placed on some list of employees available for other positions within IBM. I ended up accepting a position is technical sales for System z. It seemed great at first as I was told I would the training I needed etc etc but at this point, I feel like I have been thrown into the ocean and it's sink or swim so to speak. Has anyone had a similar experience or does anyone know what the purpose of this shuffling around really is? -Repurposed-

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Comment 7/27/11: You <censored> <censored> misbegotten <censored>! THIRTEEN weeks max after we've put in the -Time- & *Earned* the Twenty Six!!?? You 're <censored> kidding me right? Veiled age discrimination is what it is! Sit there & tell me it isn't. Don't tell me "IBM can change the rules anytime they want", <censored>! Bait & switch! One thing to say "after this date this is the new rule" but to "auger" those that did as specified.... How many of the offshore headcount will even hang around 5 or 6 years? New contracts are written where band 6 is the highest you can go. Any *attorneys* out there with the right type of cajones want to joust with this windmill? -none-

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Comment 7/27/11: The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and round. Employees get thrown under the bus all year round. And execs get richer! Sorry. Just singing the IBM song that never ends. For -May- It seems IBM is building their performance by cutting employees salary? Where have you been the past 15 years or so? They also cut pensions and benefits for the same reason, in case you didn't notice. Every year you do not get a raise or you get less raise then the cost of living you have lost ground. Period. Every year, IBM keeps your salaries flat and raises your healthcare costs and stops paying for high speed internet for home workers etc etc; yet gives execs ever larger bonus' and pay raises, is another year YOU pay for IBMs performance gains and fund Sammy's bonus with YOUR family doing without. Wake up and smell the contract people. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/27/11: Software Division, Tivoli -- No cuts YET, but we're having mid-year PBC meetings. Their new divide-and-conquer tactic is to divide up everyone into three equals groups -- high, medium and low. They acknowledge that there is a strict quota and that the group has to be divided evenly into thirds. My last rating was 2+, and I have always been 2 or 2+, but I was put into the lower group. My managers claim they wanted to put me in the middle but due to the rule of thirds, I was one of the unlucky ones who got bumped down. I am a 55-year-old female software engineer with 30 years experience, two Ivy League degrees, and always excellent ratings. My father worked for IBM and I went to college on a Thomas Watson Scholarship. Naturally I know why they're doing this and I've intensified my job search..... -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/26/11: -Former-Technical- At least you are now not on-call 24x7 for IBM(?) Senior Technical positions in IBM pay basically crap, even for those that are good. These are the folks that if IBM considered them so valuable they would be forced into management. But since they either don't want management or can't fill management ranks IBM treats them like crap (only if there is not a big technical "all hands on deck" problem that they need them to solve and fix do they get treated with a bit of respect). PM still generally pays better than Senior Technical (PM's are all exempt some Senior Technical are non-exempt) and as a PM you can take the credit when all is good and blame your Senior Technical folks for all the customer delivery problems! Yes, just milk this as long as you can. That is all you can do without a union behind you. -Teched Off-

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Comment 7/26/11: All IBM nonexempt employees in GTS organization get salary cuts of 7.5% effective immediately. Here is the story. a couple of years ago, many IBM exempt employees were forced to become nonexempt employees, also were forced to cut 15% of their base salary, as an exchange, nonexempt employees were allowed 5 hours of over time pay per week. Today, IBM just announced that the Maximum overtime pay per week is reduced to 2 hours, to all nonexempt employees , this means 7.5% cut of their previous base salary. This is sad, seems IBM is building their performance by cutting employee's salary. -May-

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Comment 7/25/11: Hearing talk of October RA. 2% US, 5% worldwide. 13week max severance for US, goodbye 26 weeks. Is anyone surprised. -moDaSame-

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Comment 7/24/11: I read Randy's testamony and I am saddeded by how corrupt the private business sector in the US has become. Randy truely believes that the US should be a country of haves and have nots. Randy does not see a problem with his and Sammys greed, taking millions from the IBM coffers for themselves, yes he wants our government to support letting companies like IBM hire people for peanuts. I'm sure Randy has a nice contract which guarantees his big fat salary and bonuses with plenty of job security. What is wrong with the US? The so called "business leaders" like Randy and Sammy. They are no good for IBM. They are no good for our country. They are no good period. THEY are the reason the unemployment rate is so high. -Randy no good-

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Comment 7/24/11: @ -Former-Technical- : Just go through the motions and milk the PM position, never mind if you can do it or not. I was a senior tech turned PMP certified PM in IBM. Most all the PMs I worked with were nontechnical and lame at PM as well. Seek another job, and just bide your time in IBM until you can move on to another company that actually matches people and skills. -I fired IBM-

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Comment 7/24/11: -Current IBMer- The ILC statement is to protect IBM from contractors suing IBM to become an employee I believe. Obviously this new statement is because IBM messed up with labor reporting, the differentiating between IBM employee and contractor (who is not an IBM employee) that can and often does the same exact work. It also signals that more and more contractors are now working for IBM. IBM is replacing employees with more contractors. Part of their"workforce rebalancing". IBM has always played fast and loose and often treats it's contractors as low paid and benefitless employees. Particularly those that they routinely renew year after year. It blurs whatever difference between IBM employee and IBM contractor. Since IBM holds the employment and labor cards and advises our government (think Sam and Evil HR director MacDonald) they get away with it. And this ILC statement only helps protect IBM more and lessens their labor law liabilities. -LaborLarry-

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Comment 7/23/11: IBM talking to foreign press about company direction. Economic Times - IBM article -Barb-

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Comment 7/22/11: I am in a position where it is one of those profound ironies of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was an IT Specialist but my work load has decreased over the past few months. I was honest enough to report this to my manager and they decided to give me more work. The work load that was introduced is in the project management arena of which I have no training whatsoever. Now, I am being forced to either learn to like project management or the alternative, because there are no other options available. I am tempted to ask the manager for a release date so I can pursue another technical position, but on the same token thinking about whatever happened to retraining the workers nowadays. Damn, a Union contract could help here. Anyone out there experience anything similar? -Former-Technical-

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Comment 7/22/11: New ILC app displays this on logon page:
" ILC is a tool used by International Business Machines Corporation and its subsidiaries (collectively "IBM") to facilitate proper accounting of time spent on IBM projects by IBM employees and other resources providing services to IBM. Access to and use of ILC by any individual in no way creates and should not be interpreted as demonstrating under any circumstances the existence of an employment relationship between that individual and IBM which otherwise does not exist in IBM's official records. ILC may be used to associate your time to a project that is owned by the IBM company that you are assigned to by your employer, or based on a procurement contract, respectively, for providing services to IBM. Time charged to such IBM company's project will not create, or be considered to be a triggering element of, a possible employment relationship with that IBM company." -Current IBMer-

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Comment 7/21/11: -RA's_a_coming-: Workforce REBALANCING? Where was the workforce balance in the first place needed to now do continuous REbalance acts? What a joke. Whatever happened to IBM job RETRAINING and REDEPLOYMENT? Now that would not be a joke but a good thing that would make a lot of sense to keep IBM strong for the next 100 years. -soBlue-

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Comment 7/21/11: I'm wondering if those that volunteered to go to Chile did so to try to stave off the RAs that will happen here in the USA. If you are in Chile then chances on you would be off the RA list, or at least for as long as your in Chile working for Big Bleu. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/21/11: IBM and Wipro wipe out another internal IT dept.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218552/State_Street_cuts_IT_staffers_shifts_work_to_IBM_Wipro -Barb-

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Comment 7/20/11: Sadly no one needs a friend in HR or a crystal ball to know RA's are coming. They come every year. Multiple times a year as more offshore sites come online. If anyone still is surprised when an RA happens shame on them. If they are only surprised that it happened to them then double shame on them. Reading this forum and archives should tell even the staunchest anti union IBMer that ratings and past glory count for nothing. One performers who exceeded quota and have multiple awards and are in the golden circle have been RA'd in the very year they accomplished these lofty goals.The only thing that will give anyone peace of mind and job security is a legally binding contract like all the Executives have. They even get bonuses for poor performance. Gotta pay em, Its in their contract! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/20/11: ..Rumor has it GTS ESD is pulling back some RSD folks.....Looks like things are not going well.... -tired-

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Comment 7/20/11:
IBM beats peers, gives 30% hike to best staff
By Meghna Maiti Jul 20 2011 , Mumbai

As IBM celebrates hundred years of its existence, the IT giant is giving its top performers in India wage hikes of 25-30 per cent. India is the largest centre for IBM in terms of employee strength outside of the US.
The tech major is giving its standard performers 15-20 per cent hike. For IBM, the salary hike is effective from July 1, according to two senior company officials.
When contacted, IBM India spokes­person said, “As a global policy we do not comment or share information on salary or related data.”
IBM's wage hikes appear higher than the average salary hikes doled out by peers such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro. For example, Wipro's annual cycle of wage revision effective June 1 saw offshore salary increases by 12-15 per cent and onsite increases at around 3-4 per cent. Similarly, TCS said in April that the Tata Group firm would give hikes to the tune of 12-14 per cent to its employees in the country.
Infosys gave wage hikes, effective April 1, to the extent of 10-12 per cent for offshore employees while onsite hikes were in the order of 2-3 per cent. Industry analysts peg the strength of the company’s India-based workforce at 1,28,000. IBM has four lakh employees globally. According to E Balaji, MD & CEO, Ma Foi Randstad, IBM has over 1 lakh employees. Naturally, the 15-20 per cent hike for standard performers at IBM has surprised many including HR heads of rivals. "Typically, the September quarter is a high attrition rate period because many are dissatisfied
with appraisals and alternative opportunities also become available. It will interesting to see if IBM can maintain this pace," said the HR head of a rival. Analysts such as Amneet Singh, vice-president (global sourcing), Everest group, also agree that the hike is on the higher side"Companies such as TCS, Infosys have given 14-15 per cent hike to its standard performers in their last appraisal in April. IBM is taking this step to retain talent and make some market correction since its last hike was below industry average," said Singh.
In a year when TCS, Infosys and Wipro are preparing to fight the talent war, IBM’s latest move is expected to force others to rethink their strategy. K Sudarshan, managing partner, India at EMA Partners, said, “IBM wants to keep their salary level slightly above the market to retain talent. The industry average for standard performers is 6-8 per cent.” Nearly one lakh IBM India staff got a $1,000 stock bonus before June 16 to mark Big Blue’s hundred years. IBM staff globally, except those at the executive level, who have joined the company before December 31, 2010, and willing to continue for five years, were eligible for the stock options. -Anon-

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Comment 7/19/11: I agree with 'thywillbedone' – the Chileans proved that if you’ve got guts and go for it, you can win. So get out of blab-o-sphere and go for it! Randy Mac can get all the laws passed he wants, but what scares him the most is if his employees have a legally binding contract. So if the new FLSA says paying overtime is not required, but the employees’ contract says overtime is to be paid then too bad, Randy – pay up, because the contract is supreme. So why cast your fate to the wind, IBMers and leave it to corporate politicians who don’t represent your interests? Don’t agonize - organize, and get it in a contract! -GetItDone-

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Comment 7/19/11: this sunday night had dinner with a senior hr partner friend....... He confided to me that he has to work the whole month of september because there's a plan of another resources action. don't think that last may's RA was the the only one or the last one for 2011. -Gotta spill the beans for STG-

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Comment 7/19/11: To -ANA- of course, Randy was a childhood friend of LouG and he was instantly hired when LouG took in charge of IBM. -Was here when LouG became IBM boss-

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Comment 7/19/11: IBM has another glowing quarterly report. Wonder why they always pull this off?:
Loughridge reported that the company's spending on "workforce rebalancing," or job cuts, was up by $160 million, mostly in Europe. Analysts questioned the expense. David Grossman of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. asked, "Can you help us better understand the need to take another rebalancing action in Europe after a similar action taken in the first quarter?" Loughridge replied, "Our business is a business of resources and capability, and we're constantly refining that mix of capability through workforce rebalancing. That's simply a part of our business model in the ongoing equation, and that will continue through all businesses in all years, I think." So there you go. -RA's_a_coming-

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Comment 7/18/11: To -ANA- who worked in HR: I was in HR for 12 years and always a very good performer. I had several jobs before that in IBM as well. Interestingly enough, when I hit my 25th year anniversary, my job had suddenly gone away--or was a least cut in half. What amazed me over the years was the change in HR from people who were typically employee advocates to a bunch of little cowards who bent over every time one of the execs told him or her to do so. I have no regrets about getting RA'd even though it took me a while to retrain and start a new career. Happily, now I am already 5 years into another retirement--which will be much better than the one from IBM as it is with a union that still believes in decent monthly pensions, not just 401K. What also amazed me during the time I was going through the '30 day' period of trying to find another job (yeah, right), that so many wonderful, employee advocate HR people who were very close friends turned their backs on me. I guess they were scared and also cowardly. I used to bristle at Randy McDonald's name when I first left--can't believe at one time when he was sick that I volunteered to give blood for him!!! I guess that at the time I didn't realize that he'd turn out to be such a greedy louse. Hang in there--you will find something better. My advice is to avoid corporate America for the time being unless it is with a really good company that respects its employees and values them. Otherwise, take civil service tests, or retrain to teach--if you worked at IBM you probably have a wealth of skills and knowledge. I'm making less money now but have a 15-minute commute, much better health and dental benefits, and a future that will include the same kind of retirement IBM told all of their employees they would receive years ago. Forget about Randy. What goes around, comes around... I think that one day when he realizes how many people suffered with his and Sam's great need to offshore in order to stuff their own pockets, he'll be sorry. Very sorry. -anon-

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Comment 7/18/11: A bunch of contractors in canada have been asked to take 2 weeks off unpaid between now and September. -Whatever-

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Comment 7/18/11: Did you notice on the testimony witness list, that Randy represents Corporate America? And he offered to help write the law revisions? And there is no major labor - employee union - group represented? The only bright light I saw was the video on Rep. Kucinich asking the witnesses a simple question on what the minimum wage should be. Remember the bumbling and lying witnesses on tobacco harm or on the use of steroids by baseball players? -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: The Alliance was contacted by a member of the committee and we submitted information.

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Comment 7/18/11: I worked in H/R for IBM and was recently RAed. Randy McDonald has no degree in H/R and is not SPHR certified. HE is only in that position because of political reasons. He should be not talking about unemployment insurance. Without his political connections and IBM management favortisim, he too, would be in the unemployement line or working a min wage job. IBM needs a union to stop all this BS. -ANA-

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Comment 7/17/11: "The latest from IBM HR - Senior VP of HR Randy McDonald testified before congress Thurs. that we should do away with min. wage and overtime laws because they are a "job killer" and gives “U.S. employers another reason to invest elsewhere.”
Really, folks, if you can't see where this is headed and join the union NOW, where do you think you'll be in another 5 years? "Do you want fries with that server?"-Anon-"
Wow, I really don't know who is worse for IBM, Sammy or Randy. They are the ones killing jobs. They are the ones screwing loyal IBMers by laying them off in search of cheap labor overseas. They are the ones killing jobs in America. What a joke with Randy trying to pin the problem on the minimum wage law. I'm sure Randy has a nice big fat salary and is living the high life. What a no good for nothing slime ball. -No Like Randy-

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Comment 7/17/11: http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/blog/2011/07/minimum-wage-overtime-protecti.shtml
Actually, Mr. MacDonald, the real “job killer” is the out-of-control compensation that you and other executive managers are receiving. For example, during 2011 alone, based on publically available SEC filings, you exercised IBM stock options on 17 Feb 2011 and sold this stock on the same day realizing a net profit of around $2.5M. Six days before that on 11 Feb 2011, you exercised options on 53,620 shares of IBM stock, again selling these shares the same day, which resulted in proceeds of around $8.8M. The granting of these excessive and exorbitant stock options dilutes shareholder value, and necessitates stock buybacks using money that should be spent on developing and acquiring new technologies, and “organically” growing IBM’s business, not providing further undeserved compensation for the minimal value you are returning to IBM.

http://biz.yahoo.com/t/36/4114.html

Moreover, you provide compelling arguments as to why workers in other countries need the same protections as U.S. workers. Obviously, “U.S. employers [have] another reason to invest elsewhere” only because workers in many other countries have no safety, fair-labor, or environmental protections whatsoever, and sadly, in some countries are de facto “slave labor”. U.S. workers are among the most productive in the entire world. We can compete head-to-head with workers anywhere provided we have a “level playing field” – and the way to level that playing field is to provide reasonable and necessary protections for workers in other countries, not eliminate hard-won, long-held protections for U.S. workers.
Lastly, you really should consider your own job security when making such uninformed statements. There are plenty of fat, ignorant, bald-headed HR Directors with delusions-of-grandeur in BRIC countries who would gladly do your job for a minute fraction of your present compensation, and who could undoubtedly perform at a level that is far superior to the appallingly poor performance you have turned in during your tenure at IBM. --Anonymous--

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Comment 7/17/11: -Anon-: Here is older testimony of Ramdy just before he left GTE for IBM:
http://archives.republicans.edlabor.house.gov/archive/hearings/106th/wp/flsastockop3200/macdonald.htm
The man is still the same back in 2000 that he is now. When will IBMers realize he is out to screw all human resources? -anonymoose-

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Comment 7/17/11: It used to be the "war for talent" was IBM HR mantra. Now it is the"war to stay competitive" (i.e. the race to labor bottom). IBM cares little about hiring the best employees. The best employees for IBM are the ones that are the cheapest. -labored-

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Comment 7/17/11: Yep, Thats our boy Randy ( so whats wrong with slave labor) Mcdonald. Another one cut from the mold of 3 finger Lou, Slimey Sammy and If I want loyalty I'll buy a dog Moffit. How low does your buying power and standard of living have to slip before you step up to stop these users and abusers? -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/16/11: The latest from IBM HR - Senior VP of HR Randy McDonald testified before congress Thurs. that we should do away with min. wage and overtime laws because they are a "job killer" and gives “U.S. employers another reason to invest elsewhere.” Really, folks, if you can't see where this is headed and join the union NOW, where do you think you'll be in another 5 years? "Do you want fries with that server?" -Anon-

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Comment 7/16/11: Are there any details on what Chilean workers ended up with. What did they ask for and what did they get? -whatsthedeal-
Alliance Reply: Alliance will release the details as soon they become available.

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Comment 7/16/11: This is probably more of a philosophy issue, but here it is. I think that for a lot of us, not even a union can fix what is wrong at IBM.
High level executives have departed so far from the path that a union is required just to protect what I consider basic working conditions. You will find people choosing to leave instead of "fight" by joining a union. Even if everybody joins a union and some of the fear is removed, you are still working for an executive team that has lost its way. I'd rather be somewhere where I trust the upper management a little bit more. The union can restore some sanity. But it can't change a corporate culture that has disintegrated in so many ways. -anon-
Alliance Reply: Unions are not inherently formed to "fix" any company's business practices, OTHER THAN in the interests of the company's employees. Companies' high level executives' paths are always changing in terms of finding the direction to huge profits. All companies operate that way. The IBM Chilean union workers have shown, distinctly, that regardless of IBM's "path"; that the workers can still affect the course of their own careers, by standing together. Even if you see IBM as losing its way, IBM will do everything in its power to make money on that "dark path". It's been done before, many many times. That's because no moral compasses are used in the board room. The point is, that there is NO WHERE to work, that high level executive management can be "trusted" all the time, in all situations. That's fantasy and Disney ideology. Corporate Global culture is no longer pro-employee or conscious caring of community morals or growth. The welfare capitalism of the 20th century is dead. Corporate capitalism is a totally different and conscience absent entity; that we all need to recognize for what it is, and we need to deal with that together, not as individuals; because individuals in the end, will never equal that force, in my view.
Rick White
Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701
Treasurer, IT Admin, Organizer, and
Health & Safety Representative
www.allianceibm.org

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Comment 7/16/11: US IBMers have worked in fear, hopes dashed, distraction, belittlement, criticism, and attack; yet their fellow Chilean worker bees decided that they would end that abuse, in their workplace. They risked their jobs, their reputations, and maybe even their lives, and kept fighting until they won. It can be done! Join the Alliance and organize here in the US. IBM caved and now the Chilean IBMers have a contract. This is what you can have too, if you're willing to fight for it. I'd say the time has come for less talk about PBC's, raises, FHA, promotions, respect, bands, and mean, stupid IBM executives and managers and how they sleep. Now is the time to take some REAL action. You have a real chance to fight back and win. Yes, I said WIN. Just Do It. -thywillbedone-

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Comment 7/15/11: -connundrum- No mention or communication of the settlement with IBM Chile from IBM management. But they sure made mention and communicated and make mention they need USA resources to the rescue. Typical Big Blew.
PS: I'm just a bit jealous. IBM considers IBM Chile's 23 points (maybe not all of them but obviously enough of them) and USA IBMers don't say BAH to getting their contract. Maybe I should transfer to IBM Chile since working for IBM in the USA $uck$.
So who is up for going to Argentina now that IBM Chile settled? You folks who volunteer; there is a name for you: scab. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/15/11: Congratulations on a job well done to the Union Members in Chile. See? Collective bargaining does work. IBM didn't go out of business. The world didn't end but workers in Chile know exactly what they are entitled to under their contract. They can now say they are as smart as IBM executives because they have a contract also. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/15/11: "Insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.-Albert Einstein"
@Anonymous - you are not alone in your thinking. It would be very effective to have someone who can convince employees to join the Union. I have personally spoken to people to consider joining, but they seem to have a negative political opinion or they are just plain scared. I think a lot of people are scared and they don't want to talk about the ten thousand pound pink gorilla sitting in the corner of the room. Everything is all beautiful through their rose colored glasses. I guess I don't qualify for a leader because I did not successfully lead anyone here that I know of. Now I am sure I will get pissed on here, because that is what people seem to do here rather try building momentum on someone’s voice or concern, they have to make some negative comment on what you are identifying as a gap with this organizing effort. Yes, I am an Alliance member by the way. The one-up-man-ship mentality is a loss for everyone as a whole because the “Real” problem of the lack of organizing is not addressed.
Another thing I see is that the age difference matters. The older generation cries about the pension plan, but this does not affect the youngest generation and they just think they are whiners. Obviously, this particular topic is not going to unite the older with the younger. There has to a common issue that will unite all of the employees and yes, there needs to be a leader to point this out and be able to speak on this. Frankly, I do not think this will happen because there is still a carrot on the stick for the donkey to follow. Thus, IBM uses this carrot on the so called "high performers", making them think they are separate from the rest of us. I am one that occasionally receives that carrot, but I can see the stick is in the mud and I have to crawl through the mud for my reward. By personal conviction, I have joined because I was pissed off. Using this method of convincing others to join, because the people I have talked to seem to be convinced that IBM is not that bad to do something about the way things are going. Some people are just plain naïve about how their jobs could improve with a contract. I believe that the Chili employees were just fed up with the abuse that convinced them to stand together and it will take the same here in the US before anything changes. Unfortunately, many will lose their jobs waiting for that knight on a white horse. Don't take this personal Alliance, you do a great job. We are simply identifying what is lacking within our selves. -A. Einstein-
Alliance reply: Thanks for your insightful comment. We all wrestle with the issue of what motivates employees to join the Alliance.
Is it self interest, is it anger, is it a desire to build an organization that actually helps employees?
The Alliance has on the main page a flyer called "work in progress" near the join section. It lists the many things the Alliance works on.
We are sure that those that aren't members , young and old, can find 1 point that interests them and would encourage them to join.
Remember we are a union organizing campaign and an advocate for employees. There is much we can do even without a union contract,if we have the numbers

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Comment 7/15/11: "Junior consultants" messed the payroll system. Guess they should be recommended to implement the IBM employee payroll system :) http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/235738/sapibm_payroll_system_woes_fouled_up_nurses_pay.html -payroll_mess-

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Comment 7/14/11: Ok, everyone. Please follow my lead. I just joined the Alliance as a voting member. Let's organize and get what we need/deserve from our employer. It's time to stand up for what we believe! -Dave-

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Comment 7/14/11: Update on Chile. Apparently IBM have settled with the union in Chile.
Do not know if they caved to all union demands or not. Anyone with more info? -connundrum-
Alliance reply: Yes, the Union and IBM Chile have a contract. More information on the Alliance web site front page.

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Comment 7/14/11: -Anonymous- Ahhhh, yes, the "what's in it for me" question. The real question is "what do you want, and how hard are you willing to fight to attain that?" The prize is not just a union it's having collective bargaining rights, and that is something that is ONLY available to members of an NLRB certified union. If one takes the time to browse various union websites, they often list the gains from collective bargaining contract negotiations. You can find things like limitations on layoffs, improvements in pay, retirement, medical coverage, better separation packages, etc. If IBM'ers organize and fight back, it's quite possible they can win improvement in their situation too. OTOH, if they continue to keep their heads in the sand and don't organize, there's no way they'll ever win anything at all. And the Alliance is right, UNION begins with U. -Dave-
Alliance reply: Thank you, Dave. Well said. We appreciate your comment. It can't be said any better.

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Comment 7/13/11: This is so true in the US: http://blog.timesunion.com/derosier/files/2011/07/0713_derosier100.jpg -Think-

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Comment 7/13/11: Look, I don't intend this to sound defeatist but the fact is that US workers will not "join the strike" in any demonstrative manner. The collective culture of current and former IBM'ers just do not see the value of a union contract or joining the union. If they did, the momentum would be much more visible. Someone needs to step up and LEAD the union and gather momentum. This is not an easy task and requires a significant amount of relationship building and commitment. This leader needs a team across the USA. I hope things change for the better but for all intents and purposes people are simply trying to survive and have a small window of maybe 6-18 months. If a value proposition answering the question, "What is in it for me if I join now?" cannot be answered, nothing will change. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: As we have always said it is the workers that build the union. The small staff give support, guidance, resources etc.
Our officers, who are current employees have done organizing, handed out flyers, media work and much more. And they have done it out in the open.
But they need help from you. Workers at IBM sites, and those who work from home need to become more active in organizing.
And you need to join the Alliance so we can afford to step up the organizing.

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Comment 7/13/11: New lawsuit filed by workers concerning replacement by H-1Bs:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218349/Fired_IT_workers_file_lawsuit_claiming_H_1B_workers_replaced_them?taxonomyId=72&pageNumber=1 -Barb-

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Comment 7/13/11: @-resource-, nothing is new or cooking, it is that same strategy that IBM started in 2001. You can bet your bottom dollar there will be at least a 10% RA this quarter. It sounds like the target numbers were low for the 2nd quarter due to extra belt tightening and it is being focused on in the all hands calls. Damn, when I get my RA, maybe I can get a job doing predictions. -Same-old-stuff-new-Qtr-

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Comment 7/13/11: PBC question. Previously got 3's in consecutive years. Was placed on probation and got a 2. Do have to get a 2 every year from now on? Is a 3 automatic dismissal? Any help? -STG-

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Comment 7/13/11:
"Fired IT workers file lawsuit claiming H-1B workers replaced them Workers file suit against Molina Healthcare and its outsourcer, Cognizant" http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218349/Fired_IT_workers_file_lawsuit_claiming_H_1B_workers_replaced_them
Computerworld - Eighteen IT workers in California have filed a lawsuit against their former employer claiming they were replaced by H-1B workers from India and then laid off in violation of the state's anti-discrimination laws. In the lawsuit, the 18 workers say that IT managers at Molina Healthcare Inc. increasingly catered to the Indian workers while leaving U.S. workers, mostly security analysts and programmers who earned at least $75,000 a year, feeling excluded prior getting laid off last year. The lawsuit, filed in April in Los Angeles Superior Court against Molina, its CIO at the time, and Molina's outsourcer, Cognizant Technology Solutions, contends that over a period of several years the U.S. workers were marginalized as the IT department became dominated by Indian nationals. -Anon-

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Comment 7/12/11: When is IBM US going to "join the strike?" A better question is when is IBM US going to join its own union? I see people once again saying they work 40 hours and no more etc etc. Yet when unions do this they are chided with lazy union bums etc etc. I do not see the difference other then the union folks stand together and dont backstab one anothers efforts by doing someone elses work to suck up to the boss. If your going to play the game you should learn to play it right. As a team. Many voices saying the same thing. Join the Union. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/12/11: @IBM_lifer, we were told that some job families in some divisions got no base adjustment, only top contributor awards. In my job family (hardware engineer) in STG, that is not the case (slightly over 2% base adjustment on a "2" PBC). -STG'er-

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Comment 7/12/11: Did anyone receive email about "GMU Technical Virtual Job Fair?". They are looking for volunteers to go to Growth Markets. They sent to only selected candidates. Something is cooking here. -resource-

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Comment 7/12/11: Manager One-on-One's going on this week. We were told no pay raise unless you rec'd a 1 or 2+ on your PBC. -IBM_lifer-

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Comment 7/12/11: @-nonexempt- it is actually the manager's responsibility to see that the work is completed. It is only "Your" responsibility to report it to management. -Plumbers-Theory-

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Comment 7/11/11: I believe in my project. Managers (upper level.... HIGH LEVEL) want the information that my project provides. But apparently it's not SO IMPORTANT that they pay me what I deserve so that they get this info on time. We had two sev 1's today and the info won't be delivered on time. Since I'm not allowed to work OT to DO MY JOB, then I guess they'll just have to wait. Sad thing is, if we miss a deliverable, it's MY FAULT that I didn't train a GR to do my job because I wasn't allowed to do my job due to the OT restriction. -nonexempt-

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Comment 7/11/11: I am also one that only does my obligatory 40 hours/week and nothing more if I can help it. I'd prefer to make a bigger contribution but not here, not given the way IBM treats it's employees today. You reap what you sow. My main focus these days is propping up GDF employees that are in over their heads in complex customer situations. Not sure how long this gig will last since it's not an "official" SME position. Honestly, I'm just waiting for my final screwing in one of the future RA's. What a nice thought to have while heading in to work every day. -Gray_Hair-

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Comment 7/11/11: -Alfred E. Neuman- I love it! Might I suggest also "THINK - But don't get any ideas" and "Ask not what you can do for your company, but what your company can do for you" -Agree-
Alliance Reply: It would be better to avoid asking your 'company' for anything. They won't respond. It's better to join Alliance@IBM and ask your co-workers to join and grow your voice in the workplace. IBM will give you nothing. You and your co-workers must fight for it. Those are ideas that you SHOULD 'get'.

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Comment 7/11/11: When is US IBM going to join the strike? It will definitely send a strong signal to IBM Management that enough is enough. Maybe IBM will have to ask for volunteers from offshored IBMers to cover US workers... See how well that goes. Wouldn't that be nice to see one of these days. Hopefully IBM will see and learn that US employees are an asset and not a resource. US IBMers unite and join fellow offshore IBMers in their efforts taking advantage of the unlimited sick days IBM has to offer. -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 7/11/11: @-Alfred E. Neuman - Mad Magazine-, totally agree. I do not work beyond 40 hours myself. I was in a similar situation, but I was lucky to move in time to miss the pay cut, so I am still exempt, but I only put in a forty hour week because there are no incentives to work more. I let management worry about the un-completed work. -Straight-Forty-Guy-

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Comment 7/10/11: When is IBM Brazil going to join the strike brigade?! -anonymouse-

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Comment 7/10/11: For those volunteering or thinking of going to save IBM's a$$ in Chile here is something else you might have thought about: you are also giving up your summer. It is winter there. If you are thinking of volunteering I would ask IBM management if they will give you a summer vacation when you return. See the look on their faces! I bet they either don't answer or even make anything near a commitment. -winter_blue-

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Comment 7/10/11: -nonexempt- Oh I know how that goes as I too was bit the same way. These days I arrive at work on time and leave exactly on time. I have a file that I document every little thing that I do. Trip for coffee in the cafeteria (leave / return) times; phone calls (time start, end contents) you get the idea. I don't offer suggestions; ideas; observations or anything else. I've observed blatant security issues where management should be involved and I say nothing. It's a management problem and I'm no longer a professional nor a cop. I leave my laptop at work, because IBM doesn't pay for my Internet / phone I refuse to use it for work. I have an IBM supplied cell phone and when I go home I take it but turn the ringer down such that it can't be beard. Why take the the cell phone home? Consider this, should I be killed while in possesion of the IBM supplied phone, the insurance is doubled (technically by being required to carry the phone at all times, I'm on business and I've checked w/my legal counsel and they would scream very loudly in public and there appears to be some precident supporting this position.) When they leave VM on my home phone, it's deleted, (they know I'm not home when I'm not at work). And when I'm asked to work overtime, I've already got plans and must decline which causes our superstars (management pets that are also hourly to take up the slack.) What's really funny is these superstars don't claim what they work nor do they work what they record in claim / etotals. Hmmm... can someone say "Tax Evasion?" Eventually, this will get the superstars as well as most of a management chain in boiling water if not tarred and feathered! So, document, document, document everything and keep copies (need I say off-site)! Y'a, see what a 15% pay cut, elimination of premium pay, reducing professionals to the rank of common labor and no raises has produced? Ain't it grand? -Alfred E. Neuman - Mad Magazine-

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Comment 7/09/11: To all who responded to my dilemma - my feelings are with the Chile techies and certainly not with management who were absolutely devious and never honest about anything. Anyway, I went back to management in a non-committal way and posed about 20 questions, including the safety issue. Well, that did it. While they initially responded to my volunteering in a heartbeat asking me to go in a couple of days, there has been no response to my written questions. It has crossed my mind that were I to have gone down there, I would have tried whatever legal and ethical means possible to advance to cause the cause of the striking workers - infinitesimal cog in the IBM gargantuan that I am. -conundrum-
Alliance Reply: Their silence is telling. Are you an Alliance member? If not, you may want to consider it, for a number of reasons. Also, it would be a good idea if you would document the conversations (email and verbal) you've already had with management. Now that it's official that IBM Argentina union workers WILL strike; there will be more attention to US IBMers, especially any that are training Argentinean replacements. Food for thought. Join Alliance@IBM

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Comment 7/09/11: So IBM management is asking employees to go to Chile. Now we hear about Argentina. No wonder IBM didn't ask IBM Argentina workers first to volunteer to go Chile. Now is possible those going to Chile might have to be redeployed to Argentina or do "double duty"? Maybe this was IBM's intention all along. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/09/11: For those IBMers going to Chile: While I don't condone you volunteering for IBM management's whims I do wish you safety. I think IBM Chile employees will be quite civil. If they approach you and want to talk I would advise you to listen to them. You might find you actually have a lot in common in working for IBM despite country borders and if you have the courage to join whatever action they might or do take then I salut you! -anonymous-

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Comment 7/08/11: To -anonymous- - The I,Crigely article mentioned 150,000 employees would be let go due to the "LEAN" initiative. It never mentioned a time frame. -dun-4-

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Comment 7/08/11: "I was in the meeting in 2008 when Randy McDonald told us that reinstatement to exempt would include full adjustment of the salary"
Yeah, and he said they "built in" 15% pay to exempt salaries which was the reason for the "remix". It was a LIE and still is. I can prove it: When I went from non-exempt to an exempt it was a pay cut. The raise I got was less than the OT I made. No 15% built in there. But when was an IBM Sr. VP of HR being fair and telling the truth? His predecessor "Socks" Bouchard was much the same. Both of them saying the most important resource in IBM is the employee is another LIE. If it was true the employee would be treated as important investments which means instead of a 15% remix it should be a remix to stay ahead of inflation: something called a true raise to reward the most important asset. When IBM doesn't admit to RAs as a way of paring down the domestic workforce for cheap offshoring that is another continuing LIE. -Pravada-

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Comment 7/08/11: IBMers are saying NO to going to Chile so when are they going to say YES to joining the Alliance so they can attempt to negotiate a contract to try to protect their interests like IBM Chile is doing? -boggles_me_mind-

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Comment 7/08/11: If you have lost your IBM job in the past 2 years due to work being offshored, please contact Alliance national coordinator Lee Conrad at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 7/08/11: I would be cautious about putting yourself in danger of crossing a picket line. Human's have a tendency to be defensive when you take away their lively hood, thus their job. You will not have the security in Chile that you have in the USA, so watch your back scabs. -Stand-With-Chile-
Alliance Reply: No strike or picket line has been officially called. IBM is still in negotiations with the IBM Chilean union workers. No one condones violence. The best choice for US IBM workers, in Alliance@IBM's view is to NOT go to Chile. It is the best way to support and be in solidarity with your IBM Chilean co-workers...and if you haven't joined Alliance&IBM, do that too.

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Comment 7/07/11: IBMers Say no to IBM in reference to going to IBM Chile. Only scabs break pickett lines. Join the Alliance union. -ANA-

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Comment 7/07/11: I'm one of those that was a victim of the "pay remix"/non-exempt thing back in 2008 (along with the 15% pay cut). I was told in mid-June to work NO overtime for the rest of the month (I had been approved for up to 10 hrs/week and occasionally had to claim more than that). There were a few situations on my project that had to be covered by exempt IBM'ers during that time.... if it's appropriate for them to do it, then why am I still non-exempt! Anyway, now they are telling me to only work 5 hrs OT/week max, and there will likely be another freeze at the end of 3Q2011. Upon asking my manager if I could be reinstated to exempt, I was told that HR would not reinstate my salary to its old level. I was in the meeting in 2008 when Randy McDonald told us that reinstatement to exempt would include full adjustment of the salary... well, "no pay cut my @SS". Yeah, no contract, they can pull whatever crap they want to on us. So now I'm between a rock and a hard place. I'm the only team lead on this project that's a nonexempt but can't afford to go exempt as I will no longer get ANY overtime pay. (i.e. going to exempt would mean ANOTHER pay cut!!!) If I stay nonexempt, I am not approved to work the occasional long days that my position requires. And, I will NOT lie on my timecard in order to get my job done. BTW I am a full dues-paying member. -nonexempt-

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Comment 7/07/11: This is fascinating! The recommendations to resist being a 'scab' or 'lackey' for IBM management are amazing and refreshing. It is also intriguing to think over the pros and cons of actually volunteering, as if you were an Alliance member or at the very least, a sympathizer to the IBM Chilean union members. What would IBM do if many of their "volunteers" went down to "help" IBM and, instead, joined in solidarity, any actions that the Chilean IBM union workers took? Hmmmm.. I'm sure Alliance will not recommend putting oneself in harm's way for any reason; but it would be interesting to see IBM's reaction to US IBMer's "support to the other side", wouldn't it? VERY interesting, in my view. -Instructive-

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Comment 7/07/11: Dear US IBM friend. Do not go to Chile to break their strike In Chile, a service technician receives 16,800 U.S. dollars a year. Which are 1400 dollars a month. It's ridiculous. We're just asking for dignity in our salaries. Dignity for ourselves and our families. We want to be part of the enormous profits of this company. Greetings from Chile -ChileFriend-
Alliance reply: We are doing all we can to stop IBM US workers from going to Chile to help management fight your union.
Your fight is our fight. Salud!

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Comment 7/07/11: Re: -dun-4- Yeah, but I believe that article didn't say " in 4 years". I believe it was within the current year. Point being, if you wait long enough, nearly any statement will be true. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/07/11: -conundrum- It is unprecedented so I doubt there is a " safe" way to refuse once you have volunteered. Any refusal to go will mark you as a non team player etc etc. Maybe now is a good time to join the Alliance and come out publicly as a union person stating you will not cross another unions picket lines if they ask you not to. It may offer a little protection for a little while as, if they target you then, they will be targeting a union organizer. The Alliance can probably advise you best on how to be one. I suspect your screwed either way so go out with your boots on as they used to say. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/07/11: For those who do go to Chile ( and I hope you don't)do all you can to muck up the works. Call in sick. Say it was the water. Work to rule, slow down. Do not do anything to help Sam bust the Chile union. -say no to Sam-

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Comment 7/07/11: @conundrum - There are a number of things that work - family emergency, health issue (had your annual physical yet?) make your doc appt. and have a "health issue" with upcoming appt. Family veto...with dire consequences, etc. IBM has not kept its promises to you. You shouldn't worry about keeping your promises to them. Also, please let any of your co-workers who volunteered know what's going on so they can have emergencies of their own. -AnonEMice-

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Comment 7/07/11: Please remember to Activate Your $1000 Stock Based Grant Benefit Access Account via Morgan Stanley Smith Barney link before July 31 or you lose it, email sent back on June 30, along with another email sent on June 23 re IBM Special Equity Grant… -Use_it_or_lose_it-

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Comment 7/07/11: Other than making up a reason, you could go with the truth, and that IBM has no way to guarantee your safety nor does is plan to take any such precautions. Since IBM isn't being even slightly honest, I don't see why you owe the millionaires who run the company a perfectly honest reason why you can't go, have taken ill, etc. -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/06/11: If you are asked or approached by IBM management if you want to volunteer to go to Chile ask IBM management at least these questions. If you can get it in writing all the more better:
1) Why do I have to physically travel to Chile?
2) Am I performing or covering for IBMers in Chile and why is that?
3) If this is not a labor situation (like a job action and strike), why do I need to volunteer ASAP?
4) What safety precautions do I need to take since I am traveling abroad on IBM business?
5) When will I be informed, and by whom, when I can return?
6) Do I get time to travel home during this assignment?
7) Is IBM management also volunteering? If so, how many and for how long?
8) Why can't IBM just hire Chilean contractors to cover?
9) Will IBM pay for my passport (if a new or renewed passport is needed)?
10) How will I be compensated and is all expenses paid (paycheck, expense account, etc.)
11) Do I have the right to not cross a picket line if I choose not to and will IBM management allow me to return to my home and job assignment?
12) Once my assignment in Chile is over what are you going to do for me to show your appreciation? -Questions-

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Comment 7/06/11: -conundrum- You bought the IBM management wordspeak for helping out with a *situation* in IBM Chile and IBM needs your skills there ASAP. IBM management knows the average IBMer doesn't ask the right questions to inform themselves so the IBMer doesn't get the real answer(s) to make informed decisions for themselves and thus can't effectively THINK TWICE for themselves. IBM management has now and will continue to prey on IBM employee's human weaknesses and insecurities. Please don't take it personally: it is not worth it at this point. Your human. At least you now know what you are volunteering for, albeit late. Suggestions? Lose your passport or say it is expired. Then how can you go? -Stand_with_IBM_Chile_Union-

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Comment 7/06/11: To: >>> conundrum >>Tell IBM management that you can't go, because of family issues. Your family may hate you if you become a scab. In case you didn't realize it, you are already screwed at IBM. -NO_KY-

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Comment 7/06/11: Hi Conundrum, you asked about any suggestions on how to get out of going to Chile? Yes, just tell them they were not up front and truthful about the potentially volatile labor situation you could walk into. Ask them what steps are being taken to protect you. Tell them being a scab is against your morales(of course they wouldn't understand that). Tell them you are worried there will be no job available in the US when you get back which is very likely. -SinkinShip-
Alliance reply: IBM is purposely withholding information from US workers being sent to Chile.
The IBM Chile union is in negotiations and does not wish a strike. Does IBM management?
The Alliance is trying to get more information on the situation in Chile and will report it as we get it.
In the meantime, IBM workers being asked to go to Chile should just say NO!

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Comment 7/06/11: To Conundrum: I can think of two options.
1) Tell them you didn't know the trip to Chile was to alleviate a strike and you are VERY concerned for your safety, and will not take the risk.
2) Develop a long term medical condition that would prevent you from traveling. Oops, did you fall and sprain your ankle?
Do you have mono? Plantar fasciitis? I'm sure the internet can help you find something.
Or, someone in your family could be suddenly ill and need you now and for the next month or so. -Chile_Isn't_Safe-

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Comment 7/06/11: You can bet IBM management has gotten more than enough volunteers so far to be scabs in Chile than the need for coverage IBM management wants for Chilean IBMers if they strike. Sad that an IBMer will volunteer and not be in solidarity with their fellow global IBMers. It is not a smarter planet. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/06/11: Remember the story back in 2007 from I, Cringely regarding IBM laying of 150,000? Doesn't seem so outlandish 4 years later. -dun-4-

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Comment 7/06/11: Am in a dilemna - I volunteered for Chile and at the time did not know about the strikebreaking angle.
Now I'm being asked to go - by this Sunday. Any suggestions on how to get out without screwing myself up bad? -conundrum-

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Comment 7/06/11: Let's see if I have this right..... 4 pension ripoffs since 1991, retirement medical pretty much gone, workers thrown under the bus so their jobs can be offshored, they don't organize and fight back, and now the Alliance has to tell them they shouldn't volunteer for scab duty in Chile? As an active organizer for 10 years before I retired, this is way beyond my ability to comprehend. WTF is going on with these folks? -Dave-
Alliance reply: Thank you for your comment. You share our frustration. To be fair, we do have supporters and organizers doing their best to unify US IBM workers in a common cause for a fair contract. On the other hand, IBM has been playing all levels of games to rid the company of some of its best talent, by sending their jobs offshore since 1999 or before. Fear, trepidation and misinformation are IBM's weapons against people that just want to earn fair pay for the best productivity in the world. Corporations (especially media corps) have learned well how to manipulate laws, Congress, the Supreme Court, the President ; and most of all the American workers into believing that Corporations know what's best for America and the working people of this country. We are NOT giving up and will continue to have alternatives to the abuse that the IBM Corporation continues to perpetrate on the IBM US workers. Please continue to visit this site. We welcome your insight.

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Comment 7/05/11: For those that volunteer for IBM Chile strikebreaking: IBM does not care about you safety. When was the last time a manager or an IBM executive did any strikebreaking? Do you think they will help you when you want to return to the USA? You are just a resource..and a disposable one at that. Once you do your strikebreaking assignment you might very well have no job to return to. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/05/11: @Anon, sure performance can work if it is a fair system. A system that is biased towards cheating people out of a fairly earned raise does not work. People are receiving unfair performance ratings all of the time, this type of rating can be abused and it is abused. Example: the managers are given the exact number of 1's, 2+'s, 2's and 3's they are allowed to dole out. Anything below a 2+ does not receive a raise, DUH!!. Don't be a sheeple, stand up and Unionize. -Do-the-math-people-

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Comment 7/04/11: -Johnson- GTS's SARM 'Security and Risk Management' organization for auditing controls of outsourced to IBM and IBM customer accounts was decimated last year with an RA. They have been desperately trying to back fill with RA'd contract auditors. IBM has been loosing customers due to the situation you describe and more resulting in layoffs. Contractors are laid off not RA'd. Fewer people are handling more accounts resulting in issues not being addressed such as GR personnel having access to data and administering accounts that they are contractually and in some cases legally precluded from. -AuditNoMore-

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Comment 7/03/11: Interestingly, several ibmers were replaced with brazillian workers on a bank account (GBS). They failed so hard on their tasks as id admin agents & system admins that the customer actually pulled the work back inhouse. Shortly thereafter I heard of talks about a brazillian or argentina union. This morning I logged in & went through my sametime history, looking for those offshore folks & they were all gone. Wonder what happened? -Johnson-

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Comment 7/03/11: -Not-One-To-Teach-My-Replacement- I ditto your actions, thank you for your efforts. I develop and test a products. All the official work I do is NOT put into the official data base. It is in MY personal database to allow me to get by. Once I'm gone (and it will be soon) my official work will disappear as well. This leaves ibm with a larger expense to recreate all the official deleted work. Many others in my area do this as well. -Vapor_Work-

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Comment 7/02/11: Questions and Questions.....market based wage increases change year to year based on HRs mood...they are not only based on geo location, but also on division and job code...it's really anything they want it to be - and forget about asking HR to provide information on their so-called salary studies...not gonna happen.. -Justgettingby-

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Comment 7/02/11: Was sent an e-mail which implied a large mining company had a strike and needed IBM US help. Was skeptical and surprise, surprise - it's the IBM Chile union that's threatening a strike. I politely declined. -Not going to Chile-

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Comment 7/02/11: IBM doesn’t like to admit this, but you should get a pay increase equal to inflation if your performance meets objectives. (I’m retired, so I don’t know what number that would be nowadays.) If your performance exceeds objectives, then you should get an increase that exceeds inflation. Here in the US we are told that inflation is low or zero. If that is true, then IBM could reasonably not give an increase if you merely meet objectives. If you exceed your objectives and still get no raise, then IBM must either think there are no outside opportunities for you; or it thinks someone else would/could do your job for your current level of pay. Considering that the unemployment rate is high, this may be the driving rationale. -Gray Hair-

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Comment 7/02/11: For those of you who are complaining about your raise or lack of a raise: Maybe IBM will do another pay remix on you all and give you a negative raise. IBM will say it is just a competitive adjustment and will call you a naive fool if you say it is a pay cut. If you don't join the Alliance what is stopping IBM from doing this? -reRaised-

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Comment 7/02/11: Big Blue is playing this pyschological game with us by telling us we're lucky to get a 2% raise, and that the economy really sucks....year in and year out of hearing this can wear a person down....everyone needs to think about how subjective the PBCs are and that there really is no objective, quantitative goals/objectives that you can pin on them for a higher PBC.....your performance is compared to everyone else in the same division and same band grade and even others outside of your immediate area - it's all a bunch of bunk and doublespeak. So we all need to realize 5% will get 1s, 5% will get 2+ and everyone else will get 2s and 3s and 4s, without raises... Lemme also ask you this - is it really worth it to bust ass in hopes of getting a 2+ for a measley 2% raise? C'mon people... -Dealing-

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Comment 7/02/11: I have heard USA IBM regulars are volunteering to go to Chile. Not in solidarity to help their IBM Chile workers in this crisis and time of need, but to do their jobs if they have to strike since IBM will not at least agree to work on ONE of their 23 collective bargaining points. Why not join the Alliance instead of going to Chile to be a scab? That would show more courage and solidarity rather than no b@lls and being a gutless IBM management suck up. -Stand_with_IBM_Chile_Union-

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Comment 7/02/11: To -Soontogo- I applaud your actions! While I've not been RA'd yet, nor am I training any replacements (yet) I have been taking some pro-active steps to make things as difficult as possible for any replacement. Considering IBM has basically ended the long practice of code reviews, the code I've been writing for about the past 6 years has become excessively complex so any replacement will be forced to . While subroutine names are obviously static, variable names are not. In fact all the long term variables used continually change names dynamically from subroutine to subroutine and are determined programaticaly on the fly. Even when the subroutine is called numerous times from the same location the variable names change so it's more than difficult to figure out. -Not-One-To-Teach-My-Replacement-

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Comment 7/02/11: Do-the-math-people: raises and progression through the bands needs to be based on merit. Collective bargaining might be useful to put things on a more even keel again, but we should never give up on trying to link pay with performance. -Anon-
Alliance reply: There are union contracts with merit pay as part of the agreement.

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Comment 7/02/11: Folks raise amounts are relevant. If everyone gets say a 90 dollar a month raise, to some its a 1 percent, to some its a 3 percent etc. In general you find everyone doing your job for your boss gets the same dollar amount unless they are the Bosses perceived superstar. Its just easier to divide x amount of raise money by y amount of reports to's. Most managers are not energetic enough to give it any thought. Oh, Some do just flat out exclude people they don't like from the y part of the division and give them 0 percent. Wouldn't a contract with defined raises and bonus be easier to manage your household budget with? Look at it this way. The way you can tell you are important to IBM is you are still employed. If they could get along without you they certainly would, just as fast as HR could draw up an RA. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 7/02/11: I am clueless as to how these pay hikes are calculated. Even if one is a consistent 2 for years, they should get hikes which correspond to Market based wages. Don't market based wages increase every year ? Legally speaking, shouldn't there be hikes every year ? Who calculates these market based wages? -Questions_and_questions-

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Comment 7/01/11: I applaud Chile for their courage, this is a good example of change for the better of all working people. -We-need-the-same-courage-in-the-USA-

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Comment 7/01/11: 1% 2% 3% 4%, this is a bunch of crap when you talk about raises because of the lack of relevancy. You have a pay scale or BAND if you will, and you start at the bottom and you are supposed to move up on your band level. With a UNION contract with IBM this would not be such a confusing subject, like "am I getting a fair wage" for the work I perform. If a person is at the mid pay of their band, don't expect much of a raise. To the people below the mid point; this is the reason we need a contract in order to receive a raise that matches inflation at least.
@-Gone_in_07-, sorry for you Job loss, I hope you are doing well. I think more people need to start complaining because it is the exact passive mentality that has allowed IBM to get to this point. Yes, it is time to Unionize and tell IBM, I am sick of this maltreatment and I am mad as hell. -Do-the math-people-

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Comment 7/01/11: "After five years working remote now have to come into office which negates the raise."
I worked in the office last year but since being RAed I work from home 24x7 trying to find a job. And you are complaining your raise is negated having to come to the office now???? -officebound3%-

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Comment 7/01/11: -unHappy- Well what R U doing about it? -- nothappyButAllianceMember

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Comment 7/01/11: To -Unhappy-: You have a job where you worked from home, are getting a raise in this economy, and are complaining because you have to drive to the office now? Seriously? Are you an Alliance dues paying member? If not, then we'll see how you complain when you get RA'd. You had it easy for 5 years working from home. You want that back? Organize and help Unionize. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 7/01/11: 3% raise for 2+?? Wow, impressive...mine was 1.2% for the same. 3% was probably one of the top raises. -Salary stagnation-

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Comment 7/01/11: unHappy - try 1% increase for a 2+ after 5 years of no increases.. IBM Sucks! -Canadian-

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Comment 6/30/11: Question: does IBM do job cut RAs in Brazil, India, Argentina, China, et. al.? Or is it just a USA, Canada, European, and Australian phenomena? -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: IBM continually churns its workforce, worldwide. Job cuts are part of that churn process. IBM will not stop, on its own. Where there are unions, within IBM, there is resistance to these policies and IBM employees are fighting back. We need to continue to do the same in the USA. US IBMers needs to increase their efforts to organize and fight back. The IBM Global Union Alliance was formed to help increase these efforts wherever IBM is located, in the world.

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Comment 6/30/11: Salary Raise time. Every one please behave like nice kids in the classroom. Oh never mind, you will be disappointed. Guaranteed. -Oh_My_God-

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Comment 6/30/11: 3 percent raise for a 2+. Wonder if the anniversary "Quotes from Chairman Sam" book was part of my benefits? After five years working remote now have to come into office which negates the raise. -unHappy-
Alliance Reply: Organize and fight back. You are not the only IBMer affected by this IBM policy change.

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Comment 6/29/11: I know this might be slightly off topic but I find most IBMers have absolutely no clue about the FHA (Future Health Account). of course they are not totally to blame since IBM buries the info provisions of this plan since it's inception in 1999 (along with the great pension heist). If you are RAed and are not 55 years old at the time of departure you probably get NO IBM retirement medical benefits! Don't believe me? Ok, THINK TWICE then. Check with IBM HR. -FutureHellAccount-
Alliance Reply: This is a topic that has been covered previously in this and other comment sections. No more comments regarding this topic will be posted. Please refer to the archived comments and search for FHA, there.

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Comment 6/29/11: By my calculations from IBM annual reports and then scattered news reports+alliance reports, IBM has gone from 152,000 U.S. employees in 2002 to roughly 84,000 now. About a 45% reduction in 9 years. If that rate continues, it should be around 76,000 before Sam retires. So he can retire happy knowing he reduced the U.S. work force by half and (if things continue) there was no large increase in union membership on his watch. -4merBmer-

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Comment 6/29/11: Folks, here is a link with some interesting reading about IBM. Not sure if you all know about it: http://www.ibmemployee.com/
I was mistreated by IBM as many of you were. I spent nearly half my life working for a company I loved and doing the work I love only to have a jackass manager who had no business being in management RA me in revenge after I told him what I thought about his management skills. Interesting that Sammy is making such a big deal about the 100th anniversary. He doesn't believe in anything the founder Tom Watson believed in, the number one thing being RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL. Sammy and Lou Gerstner has changed all that with RESPECT FOR THE CEO, Check out all the corporate perks with the use of IBM jets Lou still gets in the link. And Lou has been gone for nearly 10 years! Wow, what a scam. It wasn't enough that Lou retired with nearly $700 million of IBM's money. Talk about ENTITLEMENT programs. If Watson SR and JR could only see what Lou and Sammy have done to the company they would be sick to their stomach. -The Grim Reaper-

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Comment 6/28/11: Wasn't there a rumor back in 2008 or so (posted on this website) that IBM was planning to layoff the entire US workforce, or close to it? I would say at the rate they are going, it looks very much like this is exactly what the powers that be are planning to do. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Browse the archives: http://tinyurl.com/63jltg3 or http://tinyurl.com/6kq2whq
Actually, since 1999, Alliance@IBM has been proposing the possibility that, IBM would decimate its US workforce to a bare minimum, based on internal information that "trickled" in to us; and/or by IBM's obvious transfer of intellecual property to India, China, etc.
Rumor is a weak description, at this point.

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Comment 6/28/11:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/four-common-misconceptions-about-employee-rights/3207?tag=nl.e124 -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/28/11: -Active Measures Guy- It's more than 65K as it stands now. I would say below 90K. But of course any further RAs can easily drive down the number. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/27/11: It is interesting that they are sending USA employees back to the office - what would your manager say if you try this on them
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-06-23/news/29694753_1_work-life-work-life-balance-ibm-india-
-Who can and Who cannot WFH-
Alliance Reply: If IBM makes the rules, they can break their own rules. IBM employees in the USA are "At Will Employees". There is no reason to "try this" on your manager. It won't make any difference. You won't win any argument or convince them that you are in the right.
However, IF you had a union contract, this discussion would not even take place, because the specific clauses in the contract that IBM and the union employees agree on, will be in force and protect IBM union employees from IBM's games of playing by their own rules. A contract is an agreement of rules that BOTH employee and employer (IBM) agree to play by. FYI.....

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Comment 6/27/11: Thanks to the person who posted the URL to the Washington Post story about businesses, including IBM, who don't want to compare worker to CEO pay. My congressional representative was quoted - and she supports keeping this information secret. Another benefit of a union and this website is getting out information regarding anti-labor politicians. -Alliance Member-

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Comment 6/27/11: -Active Measures Guy-: Go to Somers (NY) they closed building 3 the end of May. That's 1/4 of the site - A headquarters location. Look at your parking lots, look at your cafeterias see how empty they are. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/27/11: I guess the reason they are forcing all employees back to the office is that they don't have enough left in the US to show up at IBM sites! It looks bad to have row after row of empty desks and offices. Sam needs to keep up the appearances until he shoots some more! I hear estimates of the US population are about 65K by year end in the US out of 427K worldwide. Anyone have any other estimates? -Active Measures Guy-

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Comment 6/25/11: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/business-group-public-companies-shouldnt-have-to-compare-ceo-and-worker-pay/2011/06/23/AGGMcFjH_story.html -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/23/11: -Alliance Member-####- I hope folks that are RAed don't say they are an Alliance member if they are not just to boil blood in IBM management. If they are an Alliance member or subscriber fine but, if not, then don't say they are a member if they are not. It is a slap in the face to those that are Alliance members who got RAed. The Alliance members who got RAed fought to stop RAs and "fought the good fight". -RAedAlliance_Member-

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Comment 6/23/11: @Active Measures Guy, "make sure your management team know as you go out the door that you were an alliance member. They cringe when they hear that from RA'ed personnel."
As for your comment, I would think they would be applauding by chipping away at the only ones with balls to stand up to them. The more they get rid of organizers, the weaker we become. I would be interested in why you think this. -Alliance-Member-####-
Alliance Reply: An interesting perspective. I can't speak for -Active Measures Guy-. Obviously, Alliance encourages members to go 'public'; but we don't insist on it and we highly respect and keep confidential, members who wish to remain secret/private. IBM does not know who within IBM is an Alliance member, as long as privacy is the member's choice. We sure don't tell them. IBM RA's a great number of people, on a continuing basis. Alliance members have been caught up in those RA's in the past. That's why we constantly tell IBMers to organize and grow the numbers of members. The mission is still the same: get a union contract for IBM employees, in the USA. If someone wants to tell management they are an Alliance member, as they are being RA'd; that's a victory, not an admittance of failure and weakness. If it were me, I'd have already let them know that I was a member and that "there's more Alliance members joining than being RA'ed, because we won't give up until we get a contract".....but that's just me :-)

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Comment 6/22/11: -Soontogo-, Kudos! I'm still employed but who knows for how long. I've been kicked off a rather big internal project earlier in the year. I've been off the project since Feb, but still get contacted for knowledge transfer items. I've long had the same philosophy. There are little tid-bits that I learned (things I spent hours on or just plain hard challenging things that took a while to learn thru experience) that I will never transfer to them. They'll need to learn the same way I did, but experience shows many of these resources will not learn. They just are not experienced enough to know where to start. They want to be handheld and spoon fed information instead of learning it on their own. The project has suffered tremendously, I just sit here with a big grin on my face watching it happen. -big grin guy-

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Comment 6/22/11: IBM won't let its few remaining American employees work from home? But if you're Indian it's another matter: http://tinyurl.com/6ebs5t4 -Barb-

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Comment 6/22/11: -Soontogo-, Good work, my friend! Now read my list and make sure you take with you anything not tacked down as you get closer to the expected magic date. If these little tidbits of experience are transportable to another company, there you have the entree to your new job. Make sure your management team know as you go out the door that you were an alliance member. They cringe when they hear that from RA'ed personnel. There will be the cost of the loss of your skills and experience to Big Blew. However, it's more important that you parlay, if possible, those differentiators into an asset for your next job, probably with an IBM competitor or as an expensive IBM contractor!
The special equity grants mean that the executives are ready to unload stock as it goes down in value. The last time HR and management pushed "options" and "stock grants" for non-executives was just before the stock hit its peak. Crashing stock prices plus layoffs meant few, if any, of the employees got anything of value. In the late 90's, managers were given the option to offer employees options instead of a salary increase. The old sage guys and gals immediately opted for salary. That increased their pension (for those lucky enough to have it) and their 401(k) contributions. Most of those who took options never vested due to RAs or the stock went down below levels where they had to pay to get their options issued! A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, in IBM it's more like 3 or 4! Always look for the story behind the management line. Then act on your best interests solely! -Active Measues Guy-

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Comment 6/22/11: All visitors here should read this article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/06/why-it-workers-should-unionize/240810/ -member-longterm-

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Comment 6/22/11: My time is close, I've been training my GR replacement. Actually the third person as the two previous GR ones left with no notice. I am amusing myself teaching them what to do, leaving out critical details that I have learned through experience. I consider this to be MY intellectual property, learned over 20 years of hard work and overtime, not as part of IBM training. The cost to IBM will be greater in the short and long term because the knowledge and experience has been lost. -Soontogo-

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Comment 6/22/11: Anonymous - your comment on GBS AMS, is this based on information you have or speculation? -over20-

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Comment 6/22/11: to member-regarding lou-his benefits package is very similiar to jack welch's. back around 02, a stink hit when it was made public that jack welch was getting benefits in retirement worth abt $2 million a year....front row seats at Knick games, private jet, etc Lou's is worth abt the same, I think he only has to work 1 month a year, gets the free jet, financial planning, etc....jack ultimately decided to pay for them due to the criticism he was getting, i do not believe lou decided to.... -Johnny-

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Comment 6/22/11: I received my IBM special equity grant. What a joke and insult. I doubt many will be around in 2015 to even collect this. The carrot and stick is not very effective if you have a rotten carrot. To top it off, the value of this is laughable for the time it takes to vest and I doubt the capital stock will worth much in 2015. -Seriously-Flawed-

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Comment 6/21/11: IBM Account employees in GBS AMS: Prepare yourselves for either an RA or a travel initiative. Better hope for the RA since if you get the travel initiative and refuse to accept a travel job, you will be assumed to be quitting, and there will be no severance for you. Prepare yourselves. Why should Americans work on the IBM Account when the majority of IBMers are no longer Americans? The IBM Account will move overseas and will be managed by GRs and Liquid Portal competitions. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/21/11: Gerstner still getting bennies while IBM workers get RA'd.
By the way: HE HAS A CONTRACT!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303936704576395941598202546.html -member-

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Comment 6/21/11: Thanks a lot Sam. I Just got your note about the "IBM Special Equity Grant". I'm nearly 60 with 30 years do you actually expect me to be kept (allowed to be) around for when it vests in December 2015? This is the magnanimous $1,000 stock option grant that was much ballyhooed a few months ago. It equates to 7 shares. -HaH-

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Comment 6/21/11: NiSource Account. 2 Tech PMs (of 3) and 6 IT Engineers (of 10) released form contract. -Anno-

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Comment 6/21/11: RAd here. Trying to maintain positive outlook and attitude. However, it's very difficult for me to have to be the one to inform team members, managers and executives, including long time friends, I support that I am leaving. When I hear their words of consolation and empathy and tell some I cannot assist them due to the chaos of unplanned work to do educating and transferring my functions to others, I just break down and feel terrible. It's tough to work under these conditions. Why don't those that own these changes make the announcements to the affected co-workers. Very inappropriate of them and shows lack of accountability. -me-

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Comment 6/20/11: I know of at least one group in AMS in GBS (I/T support for internal IBM account) that told remaining US employees that they were immediately being placed on the bench and have to find themselves a job on a commercial account. Evidently they don't want any US workers supporting the IBM account. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/20/11: @booked - let me know where I can send you my anniversary book. You probably did not get one because you are near term RA listed. I have no desire to waste my time reading this book. -Content-Not-Impressive-

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Comment 6/19/11: "With executive pay, rich pull away from rest of America" <Link>-Anonymous-

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Comment 6/18/11: Fidelity is staffing up for you guessed it, another round of layoffs. Primarily in the US. This is not a rumor this is confirmed. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/18/11: @not celebrating.... Our little celebration is happening next week, catered, speakers, etc...the works...I have yet to find one employee who will actually be attending, unless you're a major suckup or 'because you're expected to'. what a joke... -Skippingout -

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Comment 6/18/11: After seeing the title of the centennial book along with Sam's name at the bottom, I tossed the thing into the recycling bin.-Anonymous-

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Comment 6/17/11: Yes, anonymous-6/16/11, SWG executives are fattening their own bonuses by forcing former work-from-home staff to drive long distances to fill empty offices. And remember, those offices were emptied out by RAs -Gorya-

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Comment 6/17/11: They laid off the Resource Deployment Managers and they are being replaced with managers in Costa Rica. MY RDM is now going to be in Costa Rica. This is beyond stupid. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/16/11: "All those co-workers going to the celebrations and singing the praises of IBM. Do you think Sam cares? It is all public relations. THINK of that when you get your RA pack in a few months."
Sam does not care. Here in Burlington, VT, IBM selected Fellow John Cohn, aka as Mr Wizard, as the employee to represent IBM for the 100 year article in Monday's Burlington Free Press. He looks like a 100 yr old dope. The IBM company under Sam's leadership has really gone downhill. I've been actively looking for a new job outside of IBM. I see no future in this company. I'm not going to hang around and let them abuse me with an RA. -Had it with IBM-

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Comment 6/16/11: Louis Gerstner, a former executive with American Express and RJR Nabisco, had little knowledge of technology or IBM culture How does a cookie man from Keebler become the CEO of IBM. He was the start of the downfall and RA of IBM US workers. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 6/16/11: All those co-workers going to the celebrations and singing the praises of IBM. Do you think Sam cares? It is all public relations. THINK of that when you get your RA pack in a few months. -not celebrating-

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Comment 6/16/11: to ouch...ibm will not release that number anymore...estimates are...over 120K in india...and somewhere between 90 - 100k in the us...i have never heard how many ibm'ers they have in russia, china, etc. ibm has abt 427k emmployees worldwide -answering ouch-

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Comment 6/16/11: To those being moved back into offices. From an IBM executive position it makes perfect sense even though office costs are higher than work at home. IBM charges the cost of an office/cubicle to the department. Empty offices get charged to IBM real estate which comes under corporate. This drags down their performance and bonuses. The only way for them to fix it is to fill the empty space with people so they can get the charges moved out of corporate. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/16/11: "IBM turns 100 on Thursday without much fanfare" Think & Think? Current RA'ed folks should recycle the centennial book and make a sign"FIRED @ 100th anniversary" on site celebration event. At least you are greener than the company. Rant on PR article if you like ... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/For-a-pioneer-of-technology-apf-2822008137.html?x=0 -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 6/15/11: -had it with Sam- Not much black and blue I saw. Maybe next time most IBMers should wear yellow if you get my drift. It suits them better. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/15/11: I worked almost 30 years before getting RAed. I'm a Quarter Century Club member. Isn't that worth IBM giving me the anniversary book? Don't I count? I can't stand now how arbitrary IBM is now to the people that contributed to their 100 year history. -booked-

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Comment 6/15/11: Does anyone have the numbers on how many IBMers still work in the U.S.verus the numbers in other countries? I think the US has less than 25 percent worker left but hopefully I'm wrong. -Ouch*it*Hurts-

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Comment 6/15/11: I received my centennial book, as well. It's a very sad tale of what IBM was and now what it has become. It was a great American company, and it is now a global corporation with no loyalty to any country and certainly no loyalty to employees. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/15/11: Check this out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/15walmart.html
Quote on page 2 of article:
'OUR Walmart has been inspired by a handful of groups that unions formed when they recognized it would be too difficult to unionize a company. The foremost model is the Alliance at I.B.M., a group with several hundred dues-paying members and some 5,000 supporters that has backed several shareholder actions and has often spoken out to the news media on workplace safety issues and the outsourcing of high-tech jobs. The Alliance once mounted a protest that helped persuade I.B.M. to revise a pension overhaul that had hurt many older workers. "It's very difficult to win a union election in the United States, especially at sophisticated companies like I.B.M. and Wal-Mart," said Lee Conrad, the Alliance's national coordinator. "But these groups show you can raise issues that help workers." '-alliance advocate-

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Comment 6/14/11:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/intel-microsoft-may-benefit-from-bill-for-more-skilled-worker-green-cards.html
Intel, IBM May Benefit From Green-Card Bill for Skilled Workers
Intel Corp. (INTC) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) may have help in their multiyear effort to bring more high-skill workers from overseas into the U.S. under a bill Representative Zoe Lofgren introduced today. -anon-

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Comment 6/14/11: Hi anon: I received my IBM centennial book yesterday entitled "Making the World Work Better - The Ideas that Shaped A Century and A Company" with forward by Sam. It was delivered to me by the office services team in the office. It comes in a white envelope with my name and org. code on it. Tomorrow is the big day, June 16. Many of us are going to the celebration event hosted by IBM. Think about it. What are the chances we will get to attend the next one? LOL -Jaggua-

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Comment 6/14/11: I got to come in to my office starting next month. I worked at home since joining IBM. Now I have to report to an office an hour away from home. This stinks. Well at least I still haven't been transferred to another office in another city far away so I got to consider myself somewhat fortunate. -balanced-

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Comment 6/14/11: To -contractor-: How is it ok that IBM now has you fixed to no OT if you want and need to make more $$$'s? The sentiment of grabbing as much when the getting was good is a concession that you don't mind the lean times coming now. Is it ok with you if IBM now cuts your hours? -anonymous-

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Comment 6/14/11:
"300+ cuts coming to the GDFs by end of June"
Dubuque will bear less of the cuts:
1) it's a new GDF
2) they resources there cost less to IBM.
Also, don't be surprised if some of the cuts are masked as job transfers to the new GDF in Columbia MS from existing, established positions in the other more costlier GDFs. -da_facts-

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Comment 6/14/11: Many thanks for those that had the courage and solidarity to wear black and blue today. Those that didn't wear the colors THINK again when you get RAed and what little you wouldn't do to subtlety tell IBM management how you feel. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/14/11: My husband received his book through USPS. He is not "favored". As a matter of fact, he received the book about 14 days after he was told he was being RA'D in September. Guess Big Blew does not want him bad mouthing the company! LOL too late -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/13/11: 300+ cuts coming to the GDFs by end of June. No word on how spread out with sites. Probably a bit, to keep things quiet. -finger_on_the_pulse-

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Comment 6/13/11: Hello Anonymous, Software Group headquarters had an all managers conference call about 3 weeks ago. They were told to tell employees if they have a cube, they need to be in 5 days a week. Some areas took this seriously and implemented it immediately. Others are telling employees, do what you want. Many affected employees are managers that have been working at home for a long time. So, at my location it's been implemented unevenly. The steam and tension between areas and groups is building. IBM talks about being "green" but they sure aren't practicing it. My view this is yet another attempt to irritate more US employees into quiting. It appears to be succeeding. -Green? Where?-

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Comment 6/13/11: All OT for contractors has been cancelled. That's ok. I grabbed as much as i could while the getting was good.... -contractor-

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Comment 6/13/11: "IBM 100th year anniversary book Made/Printed in China? or India? Crazy IBM... -Book Made In-"
Probably made in China to cut costs like everything else. I got RA'ed in 2008 but I would still like the book. Can someone tell me how to get a copy? The first 80 years of IBM were great. Something I am very proud of. Gerstner and Sammy have really screwed up the company. At least 80% of Big Blue's history was good. Sad but true. -RA'ed in 2008-

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Comment 6/13/11: Regarding Silicon Valley W@H programs being cancelled, is this specific to SVL (i.e., SWG division only)? Please elaborate - we have not heard this in other SF Bay Area divisions. -Anonymous2-

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Comment 6/13/11: IBM has cancelled all work from home programs in Silicon Valley effective June 2011. All IBM workers, both employee and contract/vendor are now required to come to the office each workday. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/12/11: IBM 100th year anniversary book Made/Printed in China? or India? Crazy IBM... -Book Made In-

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Comment 6/12/11: The articles on IBM's 100th anniversary are a bit misleading. It is almost like IBM exclusively supplied the verbiage for the articles. One article says Gerstner changed the old IBM dress code. This is incorrect since casual dress code in IBM started a bit before him. Also, they got a comment from a 23 year old IBM woman who says the reason she is glad to work for IBM is for "the security". This has got to be incorrect or will prove incorrect the closer she gets to her 5 year IBM service anniversary where the RA target gets quite large. Happy Birthday Big Blew. How many more you will have is a point of conjecture as long as RAs continue with the race to labor bottom. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/12/11: For those of you that got a book. How did you get it? Internal mail slot, handed out by manager, sent to home mail address? This is my 10 year anniversary with IBM, and I'm still employed, but have yet to see a book. Didn't even know there was one. Not very interested in getting it, but I would like to know how you got it. Maybe it's only for the managers' pets. Just saying... Oh yeah, I'll be wearing black and blue on Tuesday! -anon-

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Comment 6/12/11: GFG planning meetings in Somers this week. This can only mean more cuts. -Still Working - Waiting for the next ax-

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Comment 6/12/11: So all you beamers that have come here for years about the latest rumor; will you be wearing black and blue Tuesday to show your disgust with Sam? -had it with Sam-

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Comment 6/12/11: "More than half of present IBMers have less than 5 years of employment in IBM. They get the anniversary book. IBMers RAed after 10-15-20-25-30 years of former employment or retired (some forced retired) don't get one? Did retirees get a book? Now what does this say about how IBM values former employees who significantly helped over many years of loyal, dedicated employment service to get IBM to their century anniversary?"
Wow, good point. I had 20 years with IBM and retired. I wasn't even aware of the 100th year anniversary book. You would think they could have sent out a mailing to all retirees and at least offered to let us buy one. I am proud of my contributions to the IBM company. The fact that they didn't even bother to notify me, makes me mad. It tells you a lot about the management there now. -Sammy Sucks-

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Comment 6/12/11: IBM celebrates its centenial this week. Let all of us contribute to this celebration by writing reviews in glassdoor.com, commenting on online articles, etc. If many of us speak with one voice and tell their stories this might get some public attention that IBM fears so much. -HillBilly-
Alliance reply: Be sure to go the the main page of this web site for news and flyers on the Day of Action. IBM is hoping that the 'positive' image comments in the Press, regarding their 100th, will convince the world to be happy for IBM and celebrate. If you want to adjust that image to reality, we're all for it. Any press articles or internet articles that 'spin' the celebration ALL positive; are your invitation too set the record straight, if they offer a comment section. Just 'keep it real'.

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Comment 6/12/11: I got my book too and I'm equally offended that they could spend money on their propaganda but not their people. I'm trading mine in at amazon for $6 and some change. -Sellyourbookandlaugh-

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Comment 6/11/11: Hey -NoThanks-, you can have my stinkin book, it's not even good for toilet paper. -crappaper-

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Comment 6/11/11: More than half of present IBMers have less than 5 years of employment in IBM. They get the anniversary book. IBMers RAed after 10-15-20-25-30 years of former employment or retired (some forced retired) don't get one? Did retirees get a book? Now what does this say about how IBM values former employees who significantly helped over many years of loyal, dedicated employment service to get IBM to their century anniversary? -NoThanks-

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Comment 6/10/11: "I received my IBM 100th year anniversary book today"
IBM has money to produce this but cannot afford to give raises on time in June. So no wonder we have to wait until July to find out about raises and further RAs -anonymous-

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Comment 6/09/11: Two weeks ago, 60 hard working people for Rogers account got fired at GDF Toronto Canada. US IBM auditors think we are pricey and want to move more jobs to India. Today, the customer CEO suddenly announced to replace CIO, and new CIO will bring IT back in-house 100%. What a shock to the big blue. Rogers-IBM had a 7-year-deal signed in 2009. Just less two years, Rogers decided to walk away. IBM let experienced FTEs go and is hiring fresh contractors in Toronto and India. The services delivered to the customer are so bad that GDF is the worst disaster IT place we ever worked. TD bank and Sunlife started to bring IT back in-house already. -LOL-

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Comment 6/09/11: I received my IBM 100th year anniversary book today. My house garbage was too good for it. It made a great addition to my fire pit. -Still Working - Waiting for the next ax-

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Comment 6/08/11: To "-Stop Offshoring Our Jobs-"...don't count on Obama to stop offshoring...he was partying with Palmisano last nite at a State dinner... http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/07/expected-attendees-tonights-state-dinner find 'palmisano' -Marbles-

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Comment 6/08/11: -Active Measures Guy- Well put!!! Every beamer should put your list on their office wall. -Former Wellie Guy-

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Comment 6/08/11: "IBMers in China will also get the shaft" True, once IBM sets up shop in the middle of the African continent where labor is sure to be as close to slave cheap as possible. China has been very attractive to IBM due to communist corporate kickbacks as well as their currency manipulation to keep their exports going stronger than the rest of the free world IMHO. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/07/11: As long as our government has policies that make it easy for companies to offshore our jobs then jerks like Sammy Palmisano will continue to do it. Write your congressmen and tell them how you feel. Obama needs to put a stop to all this offshoring. No wonder the unemployement rate is so high. Duh... -Stop Offshoring Our Jobs-
Alliance Reply: There is nothing wrong with writing your Representatives and the President to tell them how you feel. The fact remains that if the employees continue to sit on their hands and not organize, the offshoring will continue; No matter what party is in office. You are the union, if you choose to be. We've been giving this advice and offering our help to IBMers, for a long time. Still, somehow, it doesn't get through often enough. Unions, once they have a contract and rules to work by in writing, can be around for several decades and remain a strong force for the employer to reckon and bargain with. There's no better hope for American workers, than a union contract. But first you have to stand up and fight for it.

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Comment 6/07/11: Re: "All the teams I interface with from Argentina are being/have been replaced with teams from China. Is Argentina getting the shaft like the US now? -anonymous-".
Many of the folks in Argentina and Brazil have quit IBM for better paying jobs. One team I work with; half of them left in December. The remaining ones had a huge backlog of work for a few months. Eventually by April that mission was moved to China. You can look at this as Argentina getting the shaft, but it's a result of Argentina folks giving IBM the shaft, too. I've been told that companies in South America love hiring IBMers due to the training IBM gives them. I say good for those workers that they are looking out for themselves! -CJ-Roc-

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Comment 6/07/11: Re: Jobs in Columbia, MO. On the contrary, I think a vast majority of the US GDF staff are US citizens. The downside is they're primarily staffed with young pups with little to no experience so IBM can pay them low wages. If they can read a script and spell "IBM" they are a candidate for hire. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/07/11: Soon, IBMers in China will also get the shaft as IBM attempts to replace a large number of full time employees with freelancers and contractors via Liquid Portal. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/07/11: Re: work from AR to CH. ok - so didn't AR relatively recently have a union? So....this talk of unions saving jobs? -anonymous-
Alliance reply: It depends on what is in the contract language. You can bet they will address it soon.

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Comment 6/07/11: All the teams I interface with from Argentina are being/have been replaced with teams from China. Is Argentina getting the shaft like the US now? -anonymous-
Alliance reply: Yes.

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Comment 6/06/11: While IBM is canning y'all, I just got this email from CareerBuilder. Think they'll hire a 58 year old Windows person? Are they trying to justify bringing in H-1Bs? See what you think.

"At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an industry-leader, as well as a great place to work. The recognition we receive reinforces our ongoing efforts to make the right decisions on behalf of our employees, our clients and the communities we serve around the world.

Build your career at IBM.

IBM ITD's mission is to leverage IBM's global scale and advanced technology to deliver standardized solutions that are more automated, repeatable and globally integrated.

IBM has opened a new technology service delivery center in Columbia, MO, creating up to 2,000 jobs. The new technical services deliver center will support U.S. strategic outsourcing clients, providing server systems operations, security services and end user services, including maintenance and monitoring of computer hardware and software systems.We are currently seeking talented Technical Support Specialist for client Level 1 (Rhythm), Level 2 (Blues) and Level 3 (Jazz) issues.

To search and apply for Jobs in Columbia, MO : Click Here" -Barb-

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Comment 6/06/11: About 20 years ago Akio Morita the founder of Sony Corp already critized the evil ways of Americian Corporations' management style. Watch his 3 part interview with ABC News here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGcf_u3QCeg-Good Luck-

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Comment 6/04/11: Hey Alliance, in reference to: "If you are over 40 yrs old and/or close to retirement,and were RA'd, you may want to contact McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney & Toker, P.A. 1-(800)482-0958", do you have this on your IBM Legal/Law info Link? -Alliance-Member-Number-####-
Alliance reply: Yes. Link: http://www.endicottalliance.org/ibmlawsuitsandlegal.htm You can access it from the menu on the front page.

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Comment 6/04/11: I was RA'd in 2009 after 16 years of service to Lotus. After a couple job changes after that I found heaven at one of the top software companies who compete with IBM. I've never been happier. I take daily pride when an account of mine stops buying IBM software and buys my solution. I see it all the time because IBM has rid itself of all the top Lotus people. The IBMers left in those roles are way too inexperienced and are clueless. It's lovely watching IBM lose market share in the collaboration market and all because they lost the best people in RA's. -ExLotusGuy-

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Comment 6/03/11: For Sitting Ducks:
Anyone still working in the company should be doing the following:

a. Join the Alliance. It's your only hope if you want to stay in IBM.

b. Think You first, then IBM. That means your health comes first, your family, then your skills and then last your PBC rating and IBM job. You must become tactical in thinking and totally mercenary. Keep asking yourself every day and specially every time a manger asks you to do something: "What's in it for me? Why should I do this? Should I take my sweet time? What contacts and opportunities outside IBM does this task expose me to? What's the value of this if I was RA'ed tomorrow?".

c. Take any skills training and education you can find at any time. It's hard to find anything, but external certifications are of value. Don't forget to network, and network some more with folks outside of IBM. Don't let IBM isolate you and then make you an exposed target. Network with Alliance folks and you'll know when and where the problems are.

d. Take home or safe keep anything not bolted down that could help you in finding a new job, legally. For example, books, courses, code examples, customer/colleague contacts, etc.

e. Start interviewing or fostering new contract outside work WHILE IN IBM. You can always say no if the offer isn't good or if it comes before you want or are told to leave.

f. If anyone in IBM asks you to do things that are unethical or illegal, document and do the right thing.

Use IBM, don't let IBM use you.

I recently was interviewing candidates for a job I had open and found that each and every IBMer I talked to (these were Band 8-10 programmer types) had paid projects on the side and was actively looking for the opportunity they wanted. Those are the IBMers I want. The ones ready to meet the marketplace if an RA is forced on them and those willing to support the Alliance. -Active Measures Guy-

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Comment 6/03/11: I was in a meeting a year and a half ago where an IBM exec intimated to a customer that IBM paid $1000 a month for Indian techs. -Trouble O7-

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Comment 6/03/11: I got the boot 2 weeks ago. last day in 2 days. I got hired in Nov '10 and here you go they are firing me now. What a shame. This is best thing that happened to me. IBM stock is going to stink...watch my words. Long term credibility with customers is GONE. -Sitting Duck in Rochester STG-

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Comment 6/03/11: Sammy is only interested in himself and his family. RAs will continue, and jobs willl be sent to India China,and Brazil. IBM needs a union. Respect for the individual is no longer IBM. It is all about greed Join the union. -Ana-

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Comment 6/03/11: Would like to understand the scope of the RA's. It's been mentioned 45+ crowd but what about job type (Arch, P/M, I/T Spec) Div/Dept. and PBC rating. Also, did any have stock options or other incentives given long ago to stay with IBM? Thx -Joel-

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Comment 6/02/11: If you are over 40 yrs old and/or close to retirement,and were RA'd, you may want to contact McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney & Toker, P.A. 1-(800)482-0958 -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/02/11: The Indians are starting to not be enamored by IBM. They are starting to realize IBM is also working them to death. To make fat Sammy and his AMERICAN posse rich as hell. Hate to say it but IBM is much like the British Empire was to them now. I bet they are wondering why no native Indian is on the IBM Board of Directors by now. Surely the head of Tata should be at least considered on the IBM BODs by now. Hasn't made it to the stockholder proxy yet. IBM says they are INTERNATIONAL Business Machines but they aren't proving it by their corporate actions. -Beastie-

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Comment 6/01/11: @anon....RAs don't need to happen in India...the turnover rate over there is like 200% per year. To Indians, the more times you job hop, the better it looks. It seems whenever you get someone trained offshore they leave... -Jumpship-

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Comment 6/01/11: Yes, I still do IT work. I now do Cobol programming in support of an HR ERP application. I just started applying for any IT job I was remotely qualified for, even a job installing Windows and Linux workstations. The fact of the matter is, I was the right candidate at the right time. Most of the rejection letters I got were along the lines of "while your background is impressive, we are looking for someone that more closely matches this position".
The reason I got my current job was because this group didn't want to screw around endlessly interviewing dozens of candidates, and wanted to fill the position quickly. The only exit strategy is to start applying elsewhere. This group asked me why I was leaving IBM and listened very closely to my answer, which can be summed up as "I still have a job inside IBM, but I need to work another 15 years. Will IBM be there for me? I don't know. I just know that I don't like the management decisions I see inside the company". So, having a job while your applying for a job is a big, big plus. -NowinHealthcare-

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Comment 6/01/11: "The article on IBM India on the main page says there are 120,000 IBM India employees. It is obvious the RA's are only happening here and IBM is now larger in India than the USA. Can't say we didn't see that coming. We need a contract for IBM US employees to protect our jobs."
I am certain that it is all about getting cheap labor to cut costs. As part of my "RA package" I was required to train my Indian replacement. Don't blame the Indians. Blame Sammy the Slime Ball. -Not an Indian and got the boot-

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Comment 6/01/11: NowInHealthCare>> What kind of work do you do? Is it still IT? I am looking for ideas. I would like to leave IBM more than ever before in my 21 years here. I don't think there's a future in IGS in the USA. Constant offshoring and now Liquid Portal accompanied with now quarterly RAs make that quite clear. You are so right - it is an incredibly dismal, depressing, and stressful place to work, and management wants it this way. I believe they are trying to bump up attrition rates. It's been several years of uncertainty and anxiety in IGS, RA after RA, endless offshoring, and now Liquid Portal. It is not going to improve. It is only worsening. I'm sick and tired of watching colleagues lose their jobs while waiting for my turn. I'm looking for an exit strategy. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/01/11: The article on IBM India on the main page says there are 120,000 IBM India employees. It is obvious the RA's are only happening here and IBM is now larger in India than the USA. Can't say we didn't see that coming. We need a contract for IBM US employees to protect our jobs. -anon-

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Comment 6/01/11: -LeavingSoon- I beg to differ with you. If we "Take down" big corporations who will employ us?? We need to organize big corporations. Forming labor unions is the only counterbalance to big corp and big government crushing all of us. We want corporations that are succesful in America so they can employ American workers. Thats why American workers need to form labor unions within whatever company they work for. Or whatever bank, Or whatever hospital etc etc. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/31/11: There are many TAA certified petitions against IBM that has not expired yet. The last one (TAA Decision 75087) was certified in 01/28/11 for people in ITD performing Storage management work before the program expired on 2/12/11 for IT service workers. If you are in the group, you may be eligible. The TAA program offers a variety of benefits and services to eligible workers, including job training, income support, job search and relocation allowances, a tax credit to help pay the costs of health insurance, and a wage subsidy to workers 50 years of age and older. Hope this info help some RA'ed folks. Good Luck. -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 5/31/11: To Anonymous>>"We can't blame the Indians, Chinese, Brazilians, etc...." I agreed with you up until you said it is up to the US Gov. to figure out how to temper the greed. Do you really think this will happen? Big Corp. is in bed with Big Gov., so I highly doubt anything in this country will change if we sit and wait for big gov. to jump in. The people of this country need to step in and take down Big Corp. Strike, Protest, Sit-ins. Only when we, the people, step up to the plate will anything change. -LeavingSoon-

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Comment 5/30/11: to those of you recently RA'ed. If you know or suspect your job was offshored, please keep in mind the Trade Act Assistance funds that may be available to you. You may be entitled to substantial retraining or job search assistance from the Fed govt.
Here's the link: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/
You can get additional assistance from the local unemployment office. Always, always ask about this and submit forms seeing if you qualify. It takes very little time up front and you may benefit a great deal. If you have ?'s post here, bc others who monitor boards are familiar with this program. -RA'ed 2010-

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Comment 5/30/11: Those of you that are cut and if you do not need that severance pay... put a high % into TDSP to avoid taxes. Of course this will depend of the individual home finances. I made a mistake on this when I left and started a new job within 2 weeks. You have to do this before they cut that last check to avoid the taxes.-Loopholes-

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Comment 5/30/11: It hurts me to see these "I used to work for IBM and now I work in another company and it is much better..."
These type of comments never go away and always come back during an RA announcement. It's almost like these sentiments are saying to IBMers: 'just leave now; IBM is a lost cause'. It's a pacifistic sentiment and almost smacks of unionbusting. Is this supposed to make IBMers and those RAed, and those who haven't found a better job than IBM feel better about their present plight? Why are these folks saying it's better to have left than to stay? I would rather hear this: "I don't have to leave or work for another company since IBM is a great company thanks to the efforts of my union to make it so again"
-fight_over_flight-
Alliance Reply: We share your sentiment. In the past, we have sometimes withheld posts of this type because of complaints about them and because the comments are not really pertinent to Job Cuts Reports; however, we also get complaints when we don't post them, too. We're here to fight for a union contract and a seat at the bargaining table with IBM. As I said, we agree with your sentiment regarding 'fight' rather than 'flight'; but others may not. This comments section is open to the public; however, our members pay for it to be here, and they expect that its content will reflect their will to fight for a contract.

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Comment 5/30/11: The IBM CEO job isn't going away and Palmisano doesn't have to go with it at 60..Gerstner said it is not a law that an IBM CEO steps down at 60 in IBM. And Gerstner is worshiped like a god in this IBM (I can't see why) so it will be. The IBM CEO's before Gerstner, some good some not so good, had something called a conscious. They also had something called integrity. They also had in various degrees something called morality. Sam and Lou have NONE ot these three qualities. Most of the Sr. VP's in IBM now: ditto. It's more than an even bet Sam stays on past 60. He will do whatever he has to do to get the IBM stock to at least $200@share and EPS of god only knows ever higher. He has got more unfinished business to do: further scuttling of IBM.. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/30/11: TO>>-bridge?->> I didn't need the bridge, but my office mate did. You must initiate the request with HR and do it before you are out the door. If you still have access to the IBM INTRANET, simply search it for IBM SEPARATION BRIDGE or CALL IBM/HR and ask for the documents on the available bridges and ask if you qualify for one; there are more than one. If told no, send a letter and ask why not.; must be written. Info is in the SPC documents. -NO_KY-

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Comment 5/30/11: Was RA"d in March of last year, there is life after ibm, sooner or later...they will loose all their accounts and will be RA's too. -Pat-

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Comment 5/29/11: "3% of those got RAed" Gee, didn't I hear this before? Didn't the Alliance publish the McDonald "Managed Out" manifesto years ago? Where have all you non- supporter been? What R U doin' now? Happy Memorial Day. Time to begin the memorial of IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/29/11: -n0_ky- You got the bridge."I can't find the bridge. Where's that confounded bridge" (Page/Plante of Led Zep "The Crunge") Lot better than I got. No FHA ( I was 54 year old 4 months with 29.years of service at the time of my RA). I wish I had something to jump of off. IBM can take their 100 year anniversary and !%$#@ it. -bridge?-

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Comment 5/29/11: Wouldn't it be nice to see Sam on "Undercover Boss" on TV? Maybe he could see how the real IBM works and lives... Let's see if he can handle a help desk ticket, reboot a server,. (re)install Windows OS, create a silicon wafer in the fab, etc. Oh, I forgot the man is too proud for this work. Maybe if he tried to do the work would his manager RA him when they find he can't and doesn't cut it? -anonymous-

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Comment 5/29/11: I left IBM in February for another job in the health care industry. I can tell you I am much happier even if I make less $$. I can also tell you I had 26 years service and didn't believe for a minute that IBM would let me get to 30 for the pension bump. I am glad I am not sweating out the latest RA's and I wish those people I left behind didn't have to work weekends to "compete" with others. What a silly company this has become. I threw out all my plaques and awards when I left. -NowInHealthCare-

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Comment 5/29/11: -Sitting duck-: IBM is still doing a bridge. That may be management discretion, the bridge I know of was for 3 months. -Dungeon dweller-

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Comment 5/29/11: -MemorialRAs- Why would IBM care about spoiling a Holiday weekend for people they just RA'd?? They don't care if the people RA'd starve, their wives/ husbands or children starve. If they become homeless as a result of the RA. So why would spoiling a weekend matter to them when for all intents and purposes they destroy LIVES with the RA's. Why should IBM care?Sadly the people they target do not care enough to try and protect themselves with a contract. The Executives have one because they want the protection it offers. Why do the workers not want one? The executives can only assume the at will employees are quite happy with things as they are as they are not trying to make things better for themselves. The Board of Directors , HR and all else who run IBM believe you like being RA'd. After all you just quietly clean out your desks and leave. No one goes on strike. No one forces collective bargaining on them so it must be just fine to keep doing them. When a boxer gets punched in the face repeatedly and makes no effort to block the incoming punches you can only assume either they do not hurt or the boxer is already brain damaged. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/29/11: Isn't this the year that SAMMY PALMISANO's job is SUPPORSED TO GO AWAY; EXECs are supposed to be GONE at 60 ! Only problem is that GINNY is probably gonna be worse and is the next in line! -NO_KY-

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Comment 5/28/11: Lost my job in GDS -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/28/11: TO>>>-Anonymous- LAID the HELL off. 29 years and 6 months>>
At least you can request the 6 month bridge and get to full retirement benefits !!!! -n0_ky-

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Comment 5/28/11: To Anonymous dated 5/27/11---you said you had 29 yrs and 6 months....did IBM offer you a bridge? was curious because I feel like a sitting duck waiting for my turn which is inevitable and I was curious as to whether IBM still does bridges to those 1 yr away from retirement....
-Sitting duck-

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Comment 5/28/11: Way to go IBM. You Celebrate 100 years and do a "drive by" and RA a 100 or so.. and close to Memorial Day. I guess IBM doesn't care if they spoil the weekend plans of those hit by the RA. -MemorialRAs-

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Comment 5/28/11: In my area and in asking about other sites, the people hired are in the US, but not native. There must be some loophole benefit to hiring those people. I don't get it, they are less skilled than the people they are RAing. Plus they just allowed the foreign college students to be hired for so many months ... and the hiring company does not have to pay SS for them. Yet our students are graduating and there are no jobs. -loopholes-

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Comment 5/27/11: If Watson Jr and Sr could see what a mess Sammy Boy has made of the company they would be shocked. At one time I was proud to wear my IBM badge and call myself an IBMer. I'm old enough to have received the engraved silver spoon when my kids were born. I remember the family days and the Christmas shows bringing the wife and kids. Now, Sammy Boy gave me the boot so that he can hire an Indian for half the cost. Sammy Boy doesn't give a rats ass about me or the rest of the employees anymore. It's all about the bottom line. The easy no brainer thing for Sammy Boy to do is to fire employees to cut cost. Sorry folks, but this IBM company is a real mess. Best of luck to all getting the boot. -gone from big blue-

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Comment 5/27/11: Any word on SWG cuts? -Fred-

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Comment 5/27/11: We can't blame the Indians, Chinese, Brazilians, etc., on the fact that our American Corporations have no loyalty to Americans. It will eventually be their downfall. I don't know why they think they can keep the head of the snake in the US while the body is laying across the world. They think there are no gifted executives and CEOs outside of America? They will not hang on. They can make money, but they have no creativity. In the end, the smart geek will win - that is where the innovation is. The American Corporation is capitalism on steroids these days. It will be up to the American Government to figure out how to temper the greed and protect the American people while still allowing growth. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/27/11: Take off your blinders! This latest round of employee firings began two and a half years ago in January 2009. If you have not banded together with others here, why the &++& not? If you are acting surprised by the treatment of people at the hands of IBM's corporate policies, you, sir, are a moron. This is nothing new. Expecting IBM to fall over and die is ridiculous, as they have been making record profits since 2008. Will they stop? HA! If you want to do something, DO SOMETHING! Join up, band together, show some guts! Yeah, they may lose a bit of money when they move your job overseas, but they will make a whole lot more. Your timorous nature is your downfall. -Spork-

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Comment 5/27/11: IBM Career Day in E.Fishkill in June. Ya think those RAed can participate? -fishfooled-

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Comment 5/27/11: Anonymous: Have you previously joined the Alliance to deal with the Big Blue Wiennee? I was RAed myself but at least before I was RAed I joined the Alliance. And I am still an Alliance member. I am doing my best to fight the Big Blue Weenee. I can empathize with your frustration but PLS. don't take it out on the Indians. They are getting shafted too, maybe not RAed, but their long sweatshop hours and salaries are starting to stink up where they are iIndia also. The Indians have not taken your job, the fat pig Sam Palmisano, the hatchet woman called Collins-Smee, and the evil HR director (inspired by Dogbert of Dilbert infamy) MacDonald did. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/27/11: May 26, 60 laid-off at GDF Toronto, Rogers account -Max-

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Comment 5/27/11: Big Blue Wiennee stuck it to the devoted again. I work from home in GTS and got my emotionless call Tuesday also. RA'ed LAID the HELL off. 29 years and 6 months. Over 50, and I have analized the list and 82% are over the age of 40. Same deal don't look for a job, Some Indian, Not Native American, will be getting it, that can barely speak English. Last day June 23. Old man Watson would roll over in his grave if he knew what this bunch of Money Grubing Ass holes have done to this company. Smart Planet my ass. That bunch in India cant grab their butt with bothhands and dont have the skills to precreate. And dont get me started on the GDF initiative. Beth Purdue is a lunatic, she has no idea they are laying off the experienced Real IBMers for dip sticks and call that creating jobs, Ha. I am bridgeing and saying the Hell with ya , your Merit Raises, havent seen one of those since 2003, your dictated PBC crap and excessive work schedule og 60+ hours and get me a job at Wallmart as a Greater. I figure with the hours I put in, the pay is about the same. IBM and your Blackberries, you are going down. Apple is gonna kick your Butt. American Born, American Raised and Damn proud of it. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/26/11: Today. fired # unknown. Location: GDF Toronto, Canada. Postions are offshore to India, but many contactors are hired yesterday. More contactors working here than FEs -Max-

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Comment 5/26/11: CA WARN Act is a joke. Do you think anything is ever enacted without a loophole. You need a certain number of people affected per site. Any idiot can figure out the loophole on this one. Just layoff a few people at a time, and BINGO!! 60 days does not apply! My wife
experienced this one with Oracle....Just so you are aware, IBM is not the only company doing this to it's employees. In many respects, Oracle is worse than IBM. But that is a different topic for another forum. -StillAnIBMerButLookingForAnotherCompany-

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Comment 5/26/11: Where do these erroneous Centennial e-mails originate? Foreign or domestic? -AGNC-

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Comment 5/26/11: IBM is very skilled in doing surgical cuts in each geographic location so it is under the WARN radar. Also in age selection to prevent against age discrimination. Imagine the $$$$$ $aving if IBM does not have to pay RA'd persons plus benifits for the extra 30 days. It is designs to SAVE money so executive can get a hug bonus. If someone is getting 60 days, either it is a business needs or there is a greater number of persons RA'd in Cali. It smells like a business needs other than anything else. -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 5/26/11: Here's some info I posted: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/ibmemployeeissues/message/14956 -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 5/26/11: Cut from Div 07 - GTS - Band 9 PM with Jun 23 as last day, just turned 50. QUESTIONS - 1) if California gets 60 days notice, why not others? - doesn't seem fair.2) Does TAA still exist? 3) Should I keep documentation that shows my job being transferred to named people in foreign countries in last month? 4) Are there gov't programs for older people layed off? -me2-

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Comment 5/26/11: @enough, your gesture to boycott will not make a difference. Who do you think would care? -Wishing-doesn't-help-
Alliance Reply: You may be right; but remember that IBM employees in other countries, especially those countries that DO have union representation are very vocal and very actively involved in building an alternative message and view of how IBM really treats their employees, worldwide. From our view, a boycott of the 'celebration' would bring a lot of attention to IBM for reasons IBM wishes would be silent and invisible.

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Comment 5/26/11: Can you see it? IBM has to terminate skilled workers to finance the IBM Centennial celebration for the executives. Also to minimize to ZER000 on the restrictive stock unit (RSU) payout on 2015. -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 5/25/11: not sure how many, its called a GTS MTS Service Delivery Planning Resource Aciton (GMSP) -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: If this is how Sam is going to treat us then maybe we should boycott all IBM 100 year anniversary celebrations, worldwide! -Had Enough-

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Comment 5/25/11: it may depend on the division, or even the reason for the RA, I was not spreading FUD. Our second-line (at the time) actually apologized for yanking our candidate out from under us, telling us he had not initially been aware they weren't allowed to hire back anyone on the list. Best of luck to those who wish to look internally - and I hope you're all union members already. -MA_SWG-

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Comment 5/25/11: Just got the second correction for the IBM Centennial (online) celebration. Gosh guys...if you didn't get rid of all the folks that know what to do, what do you expect? -anymouse-

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Comment 5/25/11: I'm within the STG division, (division 7T). My department is based in Austin, TX, but I'm working remotely out of Syracuse, NY. I don't know exactly how many jobs are being cut Austin, TX, but there are quite a few. I am not a member of this union or any union. I am just providing this info for statistic. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: I was RA'd in 2007, it was the first big cut that I'd remembered in years at that time I immediately started looking for another internal job.. I found a team that had an open req they'd been trying to fill and were eager to get me on board since I'd worked with half the team before but it was impossible, I came to find out that nothing short of Joanne Collins-Smee personally approving the move was going to save me and she had no intention. At that time anyways, getting off of the"list" was nearly impossible... at least within the same division. On the bright side, life's been much more rewarding on the other side, working for a company who's actually investing in you as an employee... I hadn't felt that way at ibm for awhile. -RAdforgood-

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Comment 5/25/11: Was RA'd yesterday STG in Poughkeepsie for SHD, not sure how many others were affected. Internal job postings on site were wiped except for co-op / intern positions. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: add me to the list of folks that got RAed and found a new job (twice now). Just want to dispel any FUD about blacklisting. -been there-

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Comment 5/25/11: A few years ago I was notified that I was included in an RA. There were VERY few posted jobs at the time, but I was actually able to find another position in IBM within about 10 days and transferred rather than leaving on the designated day. Just by chance a group needed someone right then with a somewhat uncommon skill that I happened to have. So while the odds of finding something might not be good, there is at least some chance. -RAed but stayed-

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Comment 5/25/11: Managers who say "don't bother looking for an internal job" are just being honest. Twice after a resource action the group I was in at the time tried to hire someone who had been on the list - interviews, verbal offers, etc. and then we're told we can't hire them. After 7 years at IBM I know of ONE person rehired after an RA. Don't waste your time looking internally. -MA_SWG-

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Comment 5/25/11: I'm in California and was only given 30 days notice on Tuesday instead of 60 which is customary in CA. I mentioned it to my manager and he said that he'll look into it. He's a real stand up guy, but if he can't do anything about it, what should I do next? IBM HR? CA EDD? Thanks in advance. -CA WARN Act-

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Comment 5/25/11: RAed from STG in Austin yesterday. Free at last . . . -Pericles-

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Comment 5/25/11: RA'd yesterday div 07 shared services. Job going to Brazil. After I was told I said "good luck with that" will be 22 years 6/19. My last day is 6/24. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: I'm very sorry to those who have been affected. But if you are affected, would you mind putting your division in, so others can be prepared for the axe? -anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: Please get the RA information to the Alliance so that total people, ages, and divisions are recorded. Without this, IBM succeeds in keeping things under the radar even more. -Spork-

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Comment 5/25/11:-exOdus- Do you get it? Do you really get it? Folks have not gotten it since 1999 when the organization efforts started. At least yearly folks post here that they lost their jobs and every year members offer condolences and tell them to organize to stop the madness and every year they largely ignore the warnings and do not join and do not help get others to join. And the cycle keeps repeating. Every six months or so now a days. A little here. A little there. And every time people are surprised that it could happen to them. Or so they claim. After all they were 1 performers and just won an award and so on. And every RA they come here and say someone ought to tell the press, And someone should call their Congressmen, And someone should sue because its age discrimination.
Then they ask about severance pay and cobra and unemployment. Then they talk about how to do little or nothing and still stay employed. Then they suggest the union have a Facebook page or a Twitter page or a MySpace page. Then after they find another job they come back and post about how wonderful it is to work elsewhere and tell people, still employed at IBM, to hang in there and there is life after IBM. Don't believe me. Go look back in the archives. That's what they are kept for.
I borrow a little 'Madison Avenue' humor from an online trading commercial and you get bent and call me a sarcastic pompous a$$ and yet you refer to yourself as "WE" like you're Royalty.You didn't say if you are a member? If you're not, then, you DO NOT GET IT. Are you as bent on organizing IBM as you are about my sarcasm? Were you this bent six months ago when people were let go. Or the year before. Or before that? I was. I am retired. I was not RA'd; but like all IBMers, I know people who were. Are you only bent this time because it affected you? Being huggy-feely-nice sure has not motivated people to stand up for themselves. Maybe a little tough love and sarcasm will. If it offended you enough to get you to work at organizing, then good.
I am pretty well out of sympathy for people who know all about this site, The Union effort and the need for it; and have chosen to not join, but come here just to say they were RA'd and ask for advice. Most will not endorse the union efforts even as they are escorted out the door. To them, I can only say thanks for the information and so sorry you didn't care enough to work at stopping it over the past 12 years. This does not have to continue year after year. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/25/11: Got RA'ed tuesday in STG Austin. Spend the last 5 months, training a person in India - should have smelled the rat... -=anonymous=-

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Comment 5/25/11: RA'd yesterday from STG in Poughkeepsie. No idea how many others in my area yet. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: Do not know how many were cut. Notified Tuesday, 5/25/11 GTS Services Delivery -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: yeah I was RA'd in RTP. I was told not to bother looking for a job as well. Also amazing, I also found out managers are not posting jobs but are just keeping them between managers so it would appear that there are not any. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/11: Resource Action, yesterday, IBM Poughkeepsie, STG (Server) Division, somewhere in the area of 3-5% per department, departments already understaffed due to lack of hiring and people quitting (partly due to off-shoring to India, Singapore, China). Package: +5 years tenure, year medical, # months salary depending on years with IBM. Effective in 1 month. High % older workers. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: We still have not received any RA packs. We need those to count the number and have documented proof for the media because IBM isn't talking. Send to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 5/25/11: -Exodus2007-We get it...people didn't organize. Don't be such a pompous a##....now isn't the time for your sarcasm as people are losing their jobs....not everyone is taking it as lightly as you are. -exOdus-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA'ed today, Band 6 mobile employee (formerly Poughkeepsie) from STG Cross Platform Software. Looks like 29 people in my org were affected. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA'd today, at least two in our division -Joe-

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Comment 5/24/11: Correction, it was 76 from my 4th line (Just over 3%) -none-

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Comment 5/24/11: Tucson STG labs, I know one cut on my team, not sure how many on the departments around us yet. Worse here, with most housing underwater financially, and little to no other high-tech in the area. -TucsonTech-

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Comment 5/24/11: I know of one girl RA-ed from my department today. (not sure if there are more) I am in middleware services under MSD. She lives in California, so the state rules allow her an extra 30 days to find new work. Her last day is at the end of July. -dun-4-

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Comment 5/24/11: 80 cut under my 4th line in my area (Poughkeepsie NY STG MVS software& and microcode development, may include Rochester and left coast labs too). Employees notified today, last day June 23. standard package (26 weeks, & 1 year medical) Another year, another layoff -none-

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Comment 5/24/11: To -RAd today- Short Version: IBM severance did not disqualify me for unemployment. Long version: see what state of California has to say about this: http://www.edd.ca.gov/uibdg/Total_and_Partial_Unemployment_TPU_46035.htm -outin2009-

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Comment 5/24/11: In California you can receive unemployment and severence. I was RA'd last year and filed online for employment day after my last official day with IBM. -TroubleO7-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA'd today. STG in Poughkeepsie. I joined the union a while back and will continue to support it. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: I was part of an RA a year ago in Rochester MN. It was the best thing that ever happened to me...
1. I don't have to go to work every day wondering if I will have a job at the end of the day.
2. IBM doesn't value any of their employees. BTW, I was a 1 or 2 plus all my years with IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA'd in Charlotte, NC, in Global Technology Services on 5/24. ~28 years service. Division 07, GTS Integrated competencies 1. Informed by telephone and told that final day is June 23. Manager said "don't bother to look for another job, there are not any". Looks as if there were about 70 layoffs in this division and mostly skewed towards age 45+. Missed retirement bridge by just 16 months. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: My friend is a computer engineer working for Intel, MASS. Her 2011 bonus was 38% of her annual salary. Some employees' bonus were closed to 50%. I am speechless. She is not worrying about outsourcing either. .... Every employees are upbeat in Intel. IBM. SHAME ON YOU. -letsworkforIntel-

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Comment 5/24/11: Folks, IBM likes to do RA's on Tuesday. This keeps happening over and over. What does it take for people to get it. We are dealing with a big corporation with high priced lawyers working everyday, day in and day out, to keep the RA's low profile, under the radar, out of the newspaper. The fact is they are taking away our jobs. Wake up and smell the Shi*. -Not Roses-

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Comment 5/24/11: I was RA'd in RTP NC today. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: RAed today, STG RTP -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA'd from Shared Services today -done-

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Comment 5/24/11: Received my RA notice today - GTS CMS/PM -okay-
Alliance reply: Sorry for the job loss of all those fired today. Please send us the RA pack so we can have it for our records and count the number"selected" for the job cut.

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Comment 5/24/11: Software Engineer with STG Cross Platform Software. Got the call this morning... -Eric-

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Comment 5/24/11: You mean RA's are happening again?.. Can you believe that just because no one organized and forced a contract negotiation IBM is going to shaft employees deep and hard over and over yet again! And even though some were safe this time its no gaurentee they will be safe in 6 months. This is my shocked face : { } -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/24/11: Unix SA, Band 7 location - work from home - account Wellpoint. I know of one other admin besides myself that was cut in our group. Not sure if anyone else was affected. I was expecting this for quite sometime. Question. Can someone tell me (or point me to a resource which tells me) when I can file for unemployment if I receive severance in California? Thanks in advance. -RAd today-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA in STG Rochester today. I was included, I dont know how big it is in Rochester. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA'd today, IBM US PM GTS -anon-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA today in STG in RTP.. know a few affected but don't know the extent. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: I think folks who expect a raise must have their heads in the sand. Open your eyes and look at what's happening here. There will be no raises until your IBM US salary reaches an equilibrium with IBM China and IBM India. As far as IBM is concerned, you are overpaid already. Furthermore, they'd prefer to get rid of the overhead that full time employees carry, hence the new competition from Liquid Portal. The only thing that is certain is that the RAs will continue. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: Job cuts - Resource Action - firings - happening today in STG in Poughkeepsie. Not a large number in my functional area. Also an article in Yahoo about IBM's stock and how great it is. Open for comments. More details as they arrive later today. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: RA day -anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/11: I just got the call this morning from my manager. I am safe but some 'infrastructure and back office support' people on our team are getting the boot. Not sure how many yet. GTS MTS -anonymous-

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Comment 5/23/11: Watch these videos and you'll clearly understand why IBM will not stop its 20-year project of moving jobs overseas and/or depressing your salaries to parity with China. It also describes why the government and politicians (Democrat, Republican or other) will not do anything to help you. http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=186707 -Fraudster Bankster-

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Comment 5/22/11: Writing to your Congressional rep. won't change anything. Their lobbyists are on big corp.'s payroll. IBM will continue its unlawful act by replacing experienced US citizens every year with inexperienced HI visa foreign nationals. Reason? Shortage of qualified US talent to fill in US job positions. To me is BS. IBM has a residence legal team on site 24/7 just to locate loopholes and to file forms with Labor Dept. In most cases, a slight disparity on salary between H1 visa and US workers. They receive same benefits as every US employees. Why IBM is letting go experienced US employees annually ? Only god knows their purpose. Anyone heard about "the power of social networking " and "social media" ? Blast off IBM via youtube, facebook, twitter and blogging? Preach a post or solicit a few heavy weight political bloggers to take on IBM and these big corp. They abuse tax breaks. Politicians are on big companies' payroll, do you think they care about us, the US citizens? Legal service is becoming the next outsourcing target. Can't wait to see that happen. -socialmediaispower-
Alliance Reply: Want to work with us on this? We have done some of it but we need volunteers. Are you an Alliance member? Here is our contact page: Contact Us

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Comment 5/22/11: Since the RAs are (temporarily) in a lull, has anyone learned of their pay raise? Idn't the raises, if there are any, effective June 1st? I reckon no raises = more RAs. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/21/11: IBM hires very few new employees in our country. IBM hires on more contractors and supplementals instead. A reason IBM will not release the number of employees they have is that the IBM workforce might not be down and might even has increased but the proportion of contractors vs. employees is much higher than it ever has been. -da_facts-

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Comment 5/21/11: don't they have to try to hire someone in the US first before they can grant a H1 Visa? I don't see any federal government actions to further restrict H!B visas. IBM has RAed tens of thousands of USA employees (ahem, IBM calls them resources). I can't guess how many of these folks have found new employment and how many are on unemployment or have exhausted unemployment benefits. It is a travesty our federal and state governments unfortunately are either afraid or are told to "look the other way when it comes to corporate actions". Corporations are exploiting the American people more and more as long as the government doesn't call them on employment fairness. A corporation is certainly allowed to reap a fair and decent profit since it is capitalism but the question is at what price to the rest of a society? What the federal government should do is limit the H1B visas based on the unemployment rate. If it goes higher allow less or no H1B visas. If it goes lower and it is clear their are less IT job applicants among USA citizens and companies just can't fill job openings with USA citizens then allow some H1B's. The government can easily find out how many IT jobs have been lost. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/20/11: I got RAed a few years ago from the Burlington VT plant. I made a good 6 figure salary and although I was a solid 2 performer and felt I was earning my keep I also felt let was let go to cut costs. I've seen in the local newspaper ads for my job. I don't bother to apply but don't they have to try to hire someone in the US first before they can grant a H1 Visa? It looks very fishy to me. I have a feeling they are bringing in foreign nationals and offering them half what I made to cut costs. That is not right. -gone from Blue-
Alliance reply: You should contact your congressional reps about this and demand action and investigation. Also contact the Vermont and US departments of Labor.

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Comment 5/20/11: Its amazing how elequently folks can discuss IBM business practices and yet how little they know of their own financial positions regarding their personal business relationship with IBM. No one can tell us what their next raise will be. No one can tell us what year they will get a raise in. No one can tell us what their out of pocket healthcare costs will be. No one can tell us if they will get severance pay if they get fired. No one can tell us how long they will be employed at IBM. No one can tell us if they will earn a bonus and what it will be. I would think these things they do not know would be far more important to them then whether any open source software will be used or supported. I remember a line from a song. " How do you sleep when your beds are burning? " What does it take to wake IBMers up. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/19/11: -qtr_century- Customers hate it when we use open source in our code. That is part of the reason you don't see excluded components listed in our LI docs anymore, you will only find mention of Open Source components in our NOTICES file now since they know most customers don't read that.. -longtimebeemer-

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Comment 5/19/11: This India based contracting firm is using Liquid Portal as a job shop for freelancers, and they scrape 9.7% off the top of any IBM payments for accepted Liquid project work. Now even the low wage countries are competing with amongst themselves in this race to the bottom. http://www.rishabhsoft.com/ibm-liquid-player-candidate-faq (RAed 2009) -I'm Done-

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Comment 5/17/11: All you folks in RSS, including sales, development, marketing, support, etc. You better get unionized quick before you get sold off. You might have 901-80 days then you are prime targets. -Old Retailer-

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Comment 5/16/11: "I think this type of approach will lead to a very low level of quality"
Hah, do you think they care? They certainly do not care, now. It's no longer about quality, just the bottom line. Wake up. -QualityLostDude-

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Comment 5/16/11: Software may require ongoing support, but you can bet it will not be done in the USA. The model will be to have the majority of work done on Liquid Portal with a skeleton team of GRs doing the support work. This is services. It's pretty clear that quality has not been a priority for years now, especially not a priority in IGS. The priority is to get contracts and money, and quality be damned. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/16/11: We already use open source in our products, this would not be that much different, including using open source copyrights. -qtr_century-

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Comment 5/16/11: @Anonymous, You are correct, even individual open source code requires on going support and IBM will not be able to achieve support with a one time payment. This whole idea was probably born by some executive trying get an increase in his bonus. I think this type of approach will lead to a very low level of quality. tsk tsk, as the tail wags the company. -Software-Requires-On-Going-Support-

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Comment 5/13/11: I'd like to believe that Liquid Portal is a threat to our jobs, I'll definitely treat it as such. But the vast majority of software vendors rely on real employees. Even in India or China, spending 2 months writing a piece of code is not going to be worth $800. Then who will support the code that comes from an essential stranger? And will that stranger write in S/390 Assembler, or the other internal languages? Will we teach them microcode and allow them to build security code and security exits? I think this is the brainchild (using that word in a comical sense) of a person who does not understand software development nor the long history of "tribal wisdom" that went into developing things like the mainframe operating system. Sure we could farm out webpage design. Wages are increasing 12%-15% a year in China. $800 as the maximum payment is not going to cut it. Not brainchild, I was looking for harebrained...that's it. -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: You've hit on an interesting aspect that seems profound to me. That is, that IBM has been consistently and purposely demeaning IT people into believing that they are not worth that much to IBM, ergo; unionizing IT professionals will only hurt themselves and not IBM. I observed that same behavior 25 years ago when the VM programmers were abused and tortured by IBM management with threats of dissolving whole organizations, unless the programmers did everything they asked; including ridiculous hours (70+) per week, plus weekend coverage as well as suspending vacations and making them work, while sick. I saw it with my own eyes, and had a lot of friends in Information Systems depts. (that's what it was called back then) that suffered from broken marriages, alcoholism , and general burn-out. The IS people were NOT paid OT, either. This occurred in the 1980's and early 1990's before PC's were totally integrated into MFG. and networked. At that same time, Engineering was not yet setup in the "work from home" situation, totally, either. There was CICS, MVS and other mainframe system support teams that were on call 24/7. I was sucked into that mess via MFG. line support engineering. I ended up being handed a system called CHARRMS; that was a MFG. mainframe circuit board Rework and Repair system that ran 24/7/365. The only good thing about it was, that we were paid time and a half for OT. Still, there was no respect from management through it all. That's why I became a believer in a union contract for IT workers.

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Comment 5/12/11: "...steals the content submitted to them, the word will get around and people will quit submitting. No lawsuits required, people just won't participate and the whole scheme will collapse..."
You will be surprised how many gullible IBMers will fall for this and participate in it. Just as many of these gullible folks who still haven't joined the Alliance either, will be the participants. It's sad; but it will be true. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/12/11: GBS in EFK has already made its RA decisions. Quite a few will be told by June 1st. The RA's will temper the lack of raises that will be coming to EFK . If you hear "...be lucky you still have a job..." will be management's remarks. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/10/11: I applaud the formation of the Global Union Alliance. Will this web site be posting any applicable charter information if any is recorded? Or maybe charter is not the correct word to use here. -Alliance-Member-
Alliance reply: We will post what is applicable on this web site, the IWIS/Global Union link, and in the members section.
By the way, Lee Conrad, our national coordinator has been appointed interim International Coordinator for the new IBM Global union Alliance.

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Comment 5/10/11: I see posts saying the union will get you justice. It will not. I see posts saying the union will get you fairness. It will not. In business, you get what you negotiate and an oral contract is not worth the paper its written on. This is taught in every business school worth its salt in the Capitalist world. It is the cornerstone of business deals the world around. What the union will do is give you the ability to negotiate from a position of power rather then have to accept what is offered as an individual. The union is how you get to negotiate what you want in an employment contract. How you want layoffs handled. How you want severance paid upon termination. The union gets these things in writing in an enforceable contract. The contract is where the fairness and justice come in. Because a court of law can enforce a written contract. It should be the cornerstone of your dealings with the business you choose to work for. Without a union you have no leverage in your dealings with your company. You are just an at will employee. You work there as long as the employer lets you or as long as you choose to stay. No contract. No obligation to each other. Expect nothing when you leave. You did not negotiate anything. Plain and simple. Stand up for yourselves. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/09/11: -MA_SWG- If IBM (or any other company) steals the content submitted to them, the word will get around and people will quit submitting. No lawsuits required, people just won't participate and the whole scheme will collapse. -Pragmatist-

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Comment 5/08/11: -Gonnabetrue- Max. IBM severance is 26 weeks. Let's hope for those unfortunate enough to get RAed with over 13 years IBM employment service it is not WAS. But with a union contract we can get better than 26 weeks max. for sure maybe even quell RAs.and get it in writing..and an enforceable promise. More than taking IBM at their current word of "we can change our minds and terms and conditions for needs of the business". -anonymous-

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Comment 5/08/11: Pragmatist - IBM is not making a mistake. Read the business conduct guidelines. They own any and all technical work you do, even on your own time, even on your own equipment, even if it is unrelated to IBM's businesses. I am sure this is similarly detailed in the terms and conditions of Liquid Portal. I have had a lawyer go over IBM's documents - the language is deliberately broad. Ultimately it may not be enforceable in court in all circumstances, but I can't afford to fight 30,000 lawyers. Can you? JOIN THE ALLIANCE - it is the only hope for any kind of justice from this place. -MA_SWG-

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Comment 5/08/11: -coonman-, number 3 on the list, GE, also says it's hiring 8320. Either a coincidence or a typo -anon1-
Alliance Reply: Maybe all these curiosities about what IBM or GE is doing are not worth discussing? Why not focus on organizing and fighting back? IBM and GE both, are corporate entities that don't care about their current employees, future employees or truth; as they have demonstrated time and time again. Yet, their controlled media exchanges get more attention than they really deserve. Employees that want to fight back could make the media, their message instead of IBM or GE's. Just a thought.

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Comment 5/07/11: @anon, not sure where you're getting the 6 months of severance from. Typical IBM severance is 1 week for every 6 months of service... -Gonnabetrue-

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Comment 5/07/11: "Developers in Liquid Portal have no protection from theft of their hard earned and developed work."
Liquid Portal will not survive if this is true. I doubt that IBM would make such a mistake. -Pragmatist-

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Comment 5/06/11: according to CNN IBM is hiring 8320 current openings If you look at the openings 98% of the positions are global. Very little hiring in the US. Support the union and stop off shoring jobs. -ANA-

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Comment 5/06/11: @ coonman, did you notice the number 8320 is exactly the same as the previous listing for GE? -Strange-

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Comment 5/06/11: according to CNN IBM is hiring 8320 current openings http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/fortune/1105/gallery.fortune500_most_hiring.fortune/4.html -coonman-

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Comment 5/05/11: Confirmed GBS operations firings happening in the next month. If you're in GBS and NOT a consultant /IT specialist/PM look to get a call from your first line by end of May with your exit date and package. I'm just hoping IBM stills gives 6 months severance -Anon-

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Comment 5/05/11: While government-sector job cuts rose to their highest level in 12 months, the pace of downsizing declined in March as employers announced plans to reduce payrolls by 41,528 jobs during the month, down 18 percent from 50,702 job cuts announced in February. http://www.ibmt40laptop.com/ -ibm laptops-

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Comment 5/04/11: LP is being piloted in SWG. -Anony2-responder-

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Comment 5/04/11: Without a union, you might as well meet your new employer... http://www.rishabhsoft.com/ibm-liquid-player-candidate-faq -nuf_said-

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Comment 5/04/11: Yes, anonymous, that is exactly IBM's intent with Liquid Portal. The core development team will define all aspects of the project by detailing the design of each component in a specification document. You developers who are becoming spec writers may think your job is secure, but it won't be for long. Soon enough, the Liquid Portal"players" competing for the work will also be given competitions to write the specs themselves. IBM is looking to establish ongoing relationships with cheap freelancers through Liquid Portal. The intent is to reduce the full time staff - cut costs. It is expensive to pay benefits and commit to employing people full time when you may just want them for short term projects. With Liquid Portal, there is no commitment. Liquid Portal freelancers will be cut loose when the project is complete. IBM is aggressively moving forward with Liquid Portal, and they don't care about negative impact to project schedules. It's probably because they want to get it well established before employees wake up and realize they are being displaced. BTW, it is foolish for IBM US employees to compete on Liquid Portal. You are essentially telling IBM that you don't have enough to do with your full time job, so you you might as well be RA'ed so you can participate as a freelancer, as well. However, if you do attempt to compete as an IBM US employee, keep in mind that your costs are higher than a China/India GR. When selecting Liquid Portal event participants, we are being told to favor the GR players because they are cheaper. Wake up, everyone - it is looking very bad for IBM US employees, particularly in IGS, although I am sure LP will spread to SWG soon enough. -Anony2-

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Comment 5/03/11: Hi Anonymous, It is refreshing to see someone with insight on what is going to happen in IBM. I agree with your pump-n-dump theory. Eventually, the off shoring will reach a tipping point but there are still thousands of US and Europe employess that will be terminated. My guess is there will be a lot more RA numbers and it will be accelerating for another couple of years. This will artificially pump the stock due to lower costs of doing business. Once they reach their peak in off shoring, the stock price will level off through attrition and zero growth will cause it to be dumped. The greed will accelerate the pace of RA's to the point of simply being stupid as many may be already shaking their heads wondering "WHY Did they lay off that person"? -Pump-N-Dump-Watch-

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Comment 5/03/11: Beware of the Liquid Portal. When you submit solutions, you lose all ownership to what you submitted. Legally, they can steal your entire design, your code and give it to another cheaper entrant of the portal to finish it up for less money. Developers in Liquid Portal have no protection from theft of their hard earned and developed work. Customer will also not know that the solution they just paid for is"tainted" intellectual property which exposes them legally. Watch it guys, don't let hunger and the promise of some food scraps wipe out all you have of value. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/02/11: Great news at last, and I think this what will wake up the world to what this entity called IBM, run by petty bean counters, has turned into -- bloodsucking beast. If stock prices get bombarded these jerk executives will disappear like bees attracted to (m)honey. Shameless and greedy of the worst kind. The show also shows the way to broadcast the reality about this company. Now please do not adopt this en masse, because then it will be screened and stopped. May be once in a month or so at different places and channels. Please watch this 5 minute video for about 30 secs starting @2m:10s. http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call-tonight/april-2011/market-call-tonight-april-27-2011/#clip457496-CanadianIBMer-

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Comment 5/02/11: -NO_KY- Yes, no one hears of an IBM customer account RE-SIGNING up for IBM anymore either. Anyone hear of a global contract signing for IBM from China, India, Brazil or anywhere else? The AstraZeneca account is toast and so soon will a few others. Most accounts will just disappear after their contract is up since customers are getting utterly disgusted with IBM services. Sam's plan is to pump before the dump takes place. Right now IBM is in the pump period. I think the dump period will start happening in 2013. But he may be retired before then as well as most as his close cohorts will be. They will all take the filthy rich stock options and bonuses and retired off into the sunset by then. And unless IBM USA unionizes by then tens of thousands will be dumped well before 2015. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/02/11: -Justwaiting- If your second line is ignoring you or now doesn't like you, then consider yourself an RA victim soon. Your immediate first line manager has hardly any say in who stays and who goes. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/30/11: Since IBM is going to award contracts to 'players' in Liquid Portal, we should recognize that it is a source of work. In my opinion a union should also be a place to find work, and IBM now says this is the/a way to find it. Until now, our assumed model has been one of employees working long term for the corporation. There are unions, however, whose members are hired by the day at a hiring hall. To me, this is what Liquid Portal looks like. We should be discussing what this is, how it works, and how to make use of it. Furthermore, it seems that there ought to be some project management, specification development, and quality control work within IBM if this is to succeed. Maybe you never did that kind of work before, but that's what they will need now. It's like we went out to pick apples, but only found peach trees. So let's pick peaches! -Pragmatist-

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Comment 4/30/11: qtr_centry you're correct. I think one of the reason HR does that is not to pay accured vacation for that last month. Employees need to work a full month to accrue that month's vacation ( the only state it's different is California ). Hey but look on the bright side, IBM will be celebrating it's 100 year anniversary! -Gone in June-

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Comment 4/28/11: to "will be gone in june": usually they are the last thursday of the month, so May 26th is the day. -qtr_centry-

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Comment 4/28/11: @wondering - and there is nothing you can do about it, so don't start coming in early or leaving late - more than likely individuals have already been selected. It just sucks not knowing yet having to go to work everyday -Justwaiting-

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Comment 4/28/11: To -Wondering- This was the article in COMPUTERWORLD, 4/19/2011. If we lose this account, expect the unemployed IBMer count to go up, up, up! --- http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=35B6100B-1A64-67EA-E44C096FD5661EB1 -NO_KY-

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Comment 4/27/11: To wondering: when resource actions are planned they usual have a lead time of about 2 months. I'm guessing the next batch of firings will be in June. With an exit date of June 30. This is for GBS. -Will be gone in June-

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Comment 4/26/11: What happened to the activity before Easter, all the "closed doors" and "fully booked conf rooms"??? Sounded like axes were falling but haven't heard peeps since, just bc people are on vacation?? And the liquid portal thing - can we say blow up more than offshoring? I mentioned this to an exec of another co; imagine buying software that has been developed like this! He was flabbergasted to say the least. Where is the quality control? Is that going to be offshored? Or are they keeping those people in US??? -Wondering-

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Comment 4/26/11: I have not seen any recent announcements of IBM gaining or retaining new contracts. There was a time where IBM would laud its signings and show off for investors. These days, all that I see are cost cutting measures and lost accounts (or those in trouble due to screw-ups). This does not bode well for the services division. -Spamwich-

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Comment 4/26/11: Job cuts: a national crisis. http://tinyurl.com/3bkahpk -Barb-

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Comment 4/26/11: All, Job Cuts. That's what this page is for. Not politics. You got job/RA info? Please post all the details. Debate on issues, politics, how much everyone hates the CEO... it should be somewhere else. I come here to find out about my job, and info related to keeping it. We all know the ceo is rich, has a boat, hangs with the president, etc. It's a given, he runs IBM. Good for him. Job - RA info is why most of us are hear, at least according to the page title. Thank you, -Tony-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for your comment. BTW.. are you a member? If not, why not? We're glad that you come here to "..find out about my job and info related to keeping it". The reason this web site is here, is because our members pay for it. We appreciate your comment about keeping the topic focused on Job Cuts. We agree. We also hope that visitors that are not members; but IBMers past and present, will help us keep this board available by joining; even for the small price of $5.00 a month as an associate member, or $10.00 a month as a full voting member, or make a donation, to keep this board available. We thank you for your support.

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Comment 4/26/11: I was at Big Blow long enough to be in the old retirement plan. When I challenged my 2nd level and told him he was doing a poor job he trumped me with an RA. It was his way of silencing some negative feedback about him. IBM is supposed to have a retailation policy to protect their employees from management when they speak out. That is a joke .It doesn't work. HR will rule in managements favor to keep the big machine going. I am now collecting my monthly IBM retirement check and working for a competitor. Even my coworkers who I thought I could trust and were friends turned against me when I got RAed. They don't speak to me anymore. What a joke of a company. -Gone from Big Blow-

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Comment 4/26/11: The corporate mindset of today would have applauded the group back in 1981 that developed the IBM PC for saving money by selecting an off the shelf OS for IBM's newest offering. All they would have seen are the dollars saved in development. No foresight into what would become Microsoft. Bravo IBM Corporate Management, your head is still up your ass. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/26/11: "...will mean the end of employment for all but a few core project members... "
I wonder who these people will be. I reckon mostly management and manager wannabe project managers? -anonymous-

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Comment 4/25/11: Our manager told us recently that Liquid Portal will mean the end of employment for all but a few core project members, and their jobs will be to write specs and integrate the disjointed mess of freelance produced components into a deploy-able deliverable. It's always nice when your manager essentially tells you they are looking to shrink the full time workforce, and more RAs are coming. Really motivating, isn't it? Geez, what a horribly depressing, oppressive, demoralizing working environment this has become! -Liquid_Portal_job_killing_machine-

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Comment 4/25/11: There is one state senator who is living in reality. Change will come at the state level as the federal Govt dumps more expense on the states and the states have no way to pay for it either. Thats why employees across America better organize to protect themselves because the government, federal, state and local is too broke to protect you. Until someone figures out a better way many will try to pull a Wisconsin to save money. Others may do far worse. Either way the ride to the center and cooperation will be a bumpy one at best. Thank you Alliance for allowing this discussion. Hopefully some new members will come from it. -Exodus2007-
Alliance Reply: Let's hope you're right about new members.

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Comment 4/25/11: -Exodus2007- I just saw this article re: a Tea-Party rally and a republican senator that spoke against Corporate money and abusive power in Washington. This is related to our discussion, to a degree: http://tinyurl.com/3hf7vyx Check it out, and comment here what you think. Ok? -Kochedup-
Alliance Reply: This board is for discussions about job cuts. The next posted comment on your topic will be the end of the discussion. Thank you for commenting. Please be aware that this board would not exist if it were not for members that pay for it. If you'd like to join, please see the links above for the options to join. We offer a 'Alliance Members Only Forum' to all dues paying members; if you wish to discuss this topic and other topics not related to Job Cuts in IBM.

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Comment 4/25/11: -Kochedup- First let me shock you. I support the TEA party and yet I am pro union. As more people in America realize that the Government cannot keep borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends and that the only true counterbalance to corporate greed is labor unions and no amount of government regulation can counterbalance what collective bargaining counterbalances then you will see more and more people meeting in the logical middle and problems actually being solved by the people with the skin in the game. States need to set up a public service commission loyal only to the taxpayers to bargain with municipal employee unions and all collective bargaining should then be returned to municipal employees in all states. This would take most of the politics out of the bargaining and make it more like a private sector negotiation. State Governors and Mayors et all should not be able to commit taxpayer resources beyond their elected terms. By that I mean a Governor in his last year should not be able to commit to a long term contract that exceeds his term in office. He should not be able to sign a lucrative 10 year contract and leave it up to whoever follows him to pay for it. There has to be an opposing side in a negotiation or its not a negotiation. If the wink wink nod nod I approve this deal for teachers as long as you endorse me in the election stuff ended people who don't work for the government would sure feel that the contracts are fair and be more willing to pony up to pay for them. One side just blindly grabbing from the other has to stop or nothing gets solved. That said I also support removing the cap on social security taxes. I believe now somewhere around 75 K income you stop paying in. If all things were equal I could understand that but all things are far from equal so by removing the cap a lot more monies will be paid into the system and it will return to solvency much faster and the minute amount taken per pay would hardly be missed. There also has to be no more " Borrowing" from Social Security to pay for other things. As a rule I believe that no deposit spending should be allowed in time of peace and in time of war only war expenses should be borrowed. This simple rule should be a constitutional amendment because it used to be just common sense to do this so no one thought to make it a law. As very little common sense rules in Washington DC anymore this needs to be an amendment. Why IBM has yet to organize I can only guess. I suspect it has more to do with most IBMers being Republicans and Unions being a dirty word to most Republicans then anything else. Like I said earlier as more people realize we truly are at the brink and something must be done differently NOW the union = bad label among Republicans should fade. I think when Republicans realize they can move all administration of pensions and healthcare off to the unions their employees belong to and save said companies a fortune in administrative costs they may very well begin to embrace the very changes we have worked for since 1999 in IBM. As long as IBMer feel they can do better on their own I hold little hope. Far too many realize as the door closes behind them and their grinning manager waves goodbye that they should have done something sooner. As far as elections go they all quickly degrade to name calling and insults and calling each other liars and few of them keep any promises they make anyway because if things could really be fixed as easy as a candidate trying to get your vote says they can then dontcha think the people in power would have already fixed it?? Only by questioning the status quo do we advance the cause of mankind. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/25/11: -Exodus2007- You are right about the billions of campaign $$$ being spent to convince voters who to vote for. You're right that the sanctity of the voting booth remains; as long as no one tells anyone who they voted for. However, I think you are assuming that all that campaign money is ineffective, because voters will do what they want anyway. I think that's a wrong assumption, because both of us could point to elections as far back as JFK to prove our point. When you add to that, a person's employer that pushes candidates on their employees, constantly and makes it clear that the employees need to be 'loyal' to their employer and do what they say; it is then that it becomes harassment. Something you can't escape from. (BTW..electioneering is not allowed so many feet from a polling station, by law) Anti-union companies constantly use these tactics to pressure people with fear. It works. If you know anything about unions; then you should know that "captive audience" meetings are used by companies to scare people into voting against unions. It happens all the time. There are a plethora of cases on the NLRB's list that indicate a vote reversal against unions, after a captive audience meeting was held and attendance was mandatory. This is exactly what the Koch brothers are doing. BTW.. they are extremely anti-union; which they also openly promote and have openly made clear to the Tea-Party groups that they fund. My point is that before 'Citizens United', most companies were not as flagrant about their political interests as they applied to their employees. Now that unlimited funds can be spent, an all out attack on unions and labor is being launched. I don't care how many union members are also Tea-Party members, if there are any. The Koch Brothers will stop at NOTHING to get their interests represented in Congress and the White House. Bet on it. And people will shift their opinion if they are bombarded with enough propaganda and fear...besides, this union would have had a contract with IBM by now, if your theory of attitude and decisiveness were really as prevalent as you'd like to believe. Don't you think? -Kochedup-

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Comment 4/25/11: -Kochedup- Every election, millions of dollars are spent trying to tell us how to vote. It is estimated that this Presidential election may top a billion. But as long as the voting booth is private, it does not matter what a company or a commercial tells you to do. You vote how you see fit and no one knows how you voted unless you blabbermouth when you leave the booth. Same as a union vote, if we are able to one day have one. As long as the sanctity of the voters booth remains, its all just hype and bullshit! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/23/11: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/business/23labor.html -anonymous-

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Comment 4/23/11: IBM has lost the Astrazenaca account. That is a fact. 12-15 months the account will have transitioned out. Over 1 billion dollar account. -Bye Bye Birdie-

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Comment 4/23/11: It would be nice if IBM would stop treating the rank-and-file employees like interchangeable bags of meat. It would be nice if the company would grow profits by increasing revenue, not by decreasing expenses to the point of no return. It would be nice if IBM would then get back to some form of profit sharing, which has been missing for a few years now. But these things are not going to happen any time soon. I gave up. After nearly 20 years I've decided to take my cash balance plan and my dignity and give somebody else the benefit of my experience. Internally IBM will get more and more stressed as veteran employees lose patience and move on. If the constant focus on expense cuts doesn't let up parts of IBM will start imploding. Development is extremely sensitive to this kind of pressure. I wish we didn't even have to think about needing a union. But here we are. I'd like to thank the Alliance for keeping us informed all of these years. -VotedWithMyFeet-

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Comment 4/23/11: @ dafacts - - agreed, though to some, it's almost a simultaneous RA with immediate hire with MP, just with a different twist put on it, because if one doesn't agree to go with MP, you're term'ed. -comesandgoes-

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Comment 4/23/11: Can you imagine if IBM starts to pressure stockholders and employees to vote for candidates that are corporate friendly? Koch Industries is doing just that: http://tinyurl.com/kochism For God's sake, people, fight back will you? -Kochedup-

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Comment 4/23/11: If I told you today that you will lose your IBM, at IBM what R U going to do about it now? Would you just ignore doing anything about it? Would you just wait till tomorrow and ponder about what has happened? What are you doing now?Think about it. THINK TWICE about it... now.
-IBMUnionYes-

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Comment 4/23/11: -irRational- All True! IBM doesn't valuate intellectual capital as a profit engine. IBM says their most important asset is their people. I think the only people in IBM they are referring to are those Band D and above now. These are the people that have the most to gain from a high stock price. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/23/11: -comesandgoes- I consider it a pre-termination. They are losing much of the benefits of full employment: Some of these employees will lose their FHA and will pay more for any medical insurance ManPower might offer.
They also lose their full IBM 401k match.
They lose any IBM group life insurance.
They lose IBM vacation time they earned.
They lose the status of permanent employment since they become term employees of a contracting entity.
The only thing they haven't lost is a paycheck (yet).
For those folks that are breathing a sigh of relief it is not them affected let me explain that IBM can do this to just about EVERYONE if they can. No USA IBM employee is safe. Those that think they are so valuable and safe are more than fooling themselves. By not joining the Alliance they are, in fact, fooling themselves right now. -da_facts-

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Comment 4/22/11: WELL SAID -dayahTHINK- Why do the masses not understand the executives love the silence of the lambs as they are led to slaughter. When they bleat it forces you to realize they are living things. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/21/11: Not really sure if ManPower will automatically terminate them after May 1 or not. Majority of jobs affected are call center positions that are needed to keep operations going. Benefits are being offered and employees are to keep their current salary for the next 12 months. But, you have to be able to read between the lines after 12 months. -comesandgoes-

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Comment 4/21/11: Will the sudden loss of a great number of highly knowledgable employees have a negative effect on the stock?
No. Only a sudden drop in profits will have a negative effect on the stock. Investors couldn't care less about what's "right" for IBM's employees, so long as they're making money on the stock. If you want to be treated better, the solutions are: 1) Go elsewhere, or 2) Form a union to get contracts that enforce the treatment you'll get. For years now, I've seen posts here that tell of increasingly foul treatment of employees by IBM. Why are people still surprised at this? Why do people expect the company to change their behavior? Why do people expect that "if only a light were shone on this behavior" (bad press), that the company would change their behavior? They won't change their behavior until forced to, either by a union, or by financial consequences of that behavior. And I'm seeing no evidence of the latter horse on the horizon. Stop bitching about it, people. Sign up, or quit. -irRational-

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Comment 4/20/11: Following copied from the Yahoo IBM stock message board. I did not know IBM ad a presense in Greenville, SC. I searched and apparently it does.
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_I/threadview?m=te&bn=9010&tid=501745&mid=501745&tof=1&frt=2#501745
On April 20, 2011, IBM's Greenville, SC annuity servicing division suddenly told over 120 employees that they would become contract employees effective May 1, 2011. Employees were given the option of accepting 'at will' employment with Manpower with no benefits at a 'rate similar to their current salary' or be terminated with no severance pay. Enraged and shocked employees have begun talking about filing a class action law suit against IBM, convinced that Manpower will immediately terminate them and leave them with no unemployment benefits and no severance packages. IBM's Greenville employees are almost all veteran employees of legacy companies that have serviced the accounts IBM now manages for many years. Will the sudden loss of a great number of highly knowledgable employees have a negative effect on the stock? -ruthlessINsc-

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Comment 4/20/11: There were a number of jobs cut at the software group 500 Bldg, in RTP on March 31st 2011. At least 50...could be much more. -Anonymous IBMer-

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Comment 4/20/11: Re: Employee vs IBM - This is an abomination. IBM messes with language in everything it does, and reading the link below, it shows me that IBM has an incentive plan, but states explicitly it is under no obligation to actually pay anything under it. Excuse me? Someone works under an incentive plan, but does not know if they will ever get it? They hold up their end of the "bargain" but IBM can, at will, decide who they pay and who they stiff? I was in development all my years, and under none of these plans, but if I'd read that as a part of my compensation plan, I'd never have taken that job. Considering IBM is offshoring so much of development, support etc, and the majority of US employees are now sales and consulting, jobs that would fall under such incentive pay "systems" it is unconscionable that you guys (and gals) don't stand up and force the issue that if there is a compensation plan, that IBM have to abide by their end of the bargain, and can't weasel out of paying you for earning money for them. This one item should be a massive wakeup call for you to GET A CONTRACT! (This was not anger on my part, but incredulity after I read this court ruling) -RAed Jan 09-
Alliance Reply: When IBM makes the rules, as in 'incentive plans', they can break those rules anytime they want. There is absolutely no legal obligation for them to adhere to those rules; since they are the ones that designed the incentive plan in the first place. You are absolutely correct: Organize and get a contract.

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Comment 4/19/11: "People are freaking out over mandatory meeting requests for tomorrow"
Sigh. Head shake. Hold the forehead with both hands. . Close the eyes. Silent scream. Say it ain't so joe. Without a union all IBM employees, paricularly those in the USA, are in a gulag and like on death row. You know either the noose, the 'chair, the firing squad, or the injection is going to come except you just can't say when. But it will be when some day soon. Some will find out tomorrow perhaps and others just are getting a temporary stay. Those that survive this round could be caught in an IBM -style drive by employment termination and individual job snipered out when not RAed.
If we can get a union then we no longer are on death row and also will no longer be in the IBM gulag.
Instead of freaking out about upcoming bad news how about making some good news by not freaking out and joining the Alliance? -dayahTHINK-

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Comment 4/19/11: I second the other Anon about GBS layoffs. I work in GBS and all of the R.A. signals are there: managers behind closed doors and completely unavailable, no conference rooms available, extreme pressure to get work to India, etc etc. People are freaking out over mandatory meeting requests for tomorrow. -ANON-

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Comment 4/19/11: Regarding employee vs IBM:
"In his complaint, Plaintiff alleged he worked for IBM from January 2000 until August 15, 2007, and IBM owed him $156,071.98 for commissions accrued in the month of June 2007 and recorded on IBM's web-based Field Management System. He also alleged IBM failed to pay him $35,831.60 in separation pay when he left his employment."
IBM should pay up. This guy worked hard to earn his pay. IBM is a scumbag for not paying this man what he worked for -IBM Sucks-
Alliance reply: IBM *should pay*, but they won't pay; because the court ruled in their favor, in this case. IBM has enough $$$$$ to fight individual employees sucessfully, time and time again. Here's the link to a new page we put up that has an additional case where IBM won and the individual lost: http://www.endicottalliance.org/ibmlawsuitsemployee.htm
This is why we keep repeating our message: ORGANIZE and fight for a contract. It's a better solution and a better choice. That's why they call it Collective Bargaining. We fight together...not separately.

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Comment 4/19/11: Now that IBM engineered another stellar quarter by offshoring to the cheapest labor after continued cost cuts bet on more USA RAs. Sam and his cronies want to be billionaires and you folks will do that for them by not unionizing. Enjoy you 0% raise. Be wary of losing your job to an RA. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/19/11: I sure wish Facebook had a dislike button .... http://www.facebook.com/BeLiquid -'nuf said-

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Comment 4/19/11: "Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice."---Robert F. Kennedy -rfksays-

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Comment 4/19/11: On the main page we have news of the formation of the IBM Global Union alliance. We also have an appeal for 100 new members. So far only 5 have joined. Please do your part today. Help build the American section of the global union! -staff-

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Comment 4/19/11: IBM may lose AstraZeneca outsource deal
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=35B6100B-1A64-67EA-E44C096FD5661EB1 -anon-

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Comment 4/19/11: employee vs IBM

http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=In%20FCO%2020110418059.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR -anon-

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Comment 4/19/11: From a worker in the UK. 'We were handed a sheet of paper with what the IBM employees receive, which is less than £200 a month, with a rice allowance and a laundry allowance' - An anonymous worker at Orange's Darlington office tells the Northern Echo that about 40 staff have been offered a 'generous' rice allowance to encourage them to relocate to Manila to work for service partner IBM. -anon-

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Comment 4/18/11: In the normal course of business I spoke with an IBM field service rep. today. He said that over the weekend the field service organization had been split into two separate groups (enterprise and"other") and that there was quite a lot of dust in the air ..... I don't think it will end well........ -Anon-

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Comment 4/18/11: GBS operations will likely see layoffs End of 2Q or beginning of 3Q. Don't know much more. -Anon-

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Comment 4/18/11: Wish I could say more. Randy Mcdonald's order no email no sametime and only phone discussion. RA in systems tech group is coming up! When more people know you'll hear more. -expect the expected-

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Comment 4/18/11: Sadly IBM has gone down the toilet. Greed has become the number driving force for American companies and the main reason why IBM has run amuck. Stockholder greed. I really see no hope for IBM and America. It is going to take decades to repair the damage and I'm not sure that is even possible. -given up-

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Comment 4/17/11: "ALL corporations are looking for the cheapest labor costs they can get. If a job can be done cheaper at the north pole thats where it will go if its cost effective. Period."
That is correct. Conversely, it is imperative that all labor protect itself on a global basis from the insane greed that has overcome IBM or else they will be come modern day slaves and disposable tools, damaged environmental outcasts for the new global business order. If unions are to succeed, they must cross boundaries and return to their old roots as protective guilds to craftsmanship. I applaud the move of unions to go global, but they should embrace the rising movement of individual craftsmanship and provide modern guild like services for the working class. One example is IBM's slave-like liquid portal. Do you think you have any rights to any residuals of your hard earned, forced lower priced labor? A good guild would provide legal advice to its members to protect them from liquid portal abuses. Let's get unions out of the 19th century mold and into the modern world of micro business and helping entrepreneurship! Now that would really scare IBM. - IBM is Greed Gone Insane-

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Comment 4/17/11: Anyone know if ZeroChaos is run by ex-IBM execs? They staff recruitment in the US. - Anon-

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Comment 4/17/11: ...and you folks think that liquid portal is just for IBMers? The plan is to decimate the entire US programming industry and to make programming a global commodity by forcing it always to the lowest bidder. - IBM is Greed Gone Insane-

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Comment 4/16/11: All this speculation as far as what IBM may or may not be trying to do is a real waste of time and energy. ALL corporations are looking for the cheapest labor costs they can get. If a job can be done cheaper at the north pole thats where it will go if its cost effective. Period. If people are stupid enough to work for next to nothing then corporations will encourage them to do so. There is a total and complete disconnect between WALL STREET and MAIN STREET. What is good for main street ( Good wages, benefits and secure long term employment ) is bad for wall street ( Higher cost of labor, Higher bottom line, less bonus pay for executives and less dividends for stock holders). The days when tax incentives to US companies would create US jobs is gone. Thats why stimulous spending is not working, Why tax breaks are not working and why American workers need to have employment contracts for their own protection. As long as a company sells its goods worldwide and maintains buyers for its goods worldwide it does not care if one country cannot afford its goods because others can. The only companies that care if you are employed are the companies that MUST have your business to stay in business. Do not fool yourselves that things will get better at IBM if customer service goes to hell. It will not. Nothing will improve if you do not force it to improve. This holds true for all companies playing in the global market . Every global alliance prints pinkslips for American Workers. By the way, The Government cannot stop it because it is not illegal. It is in fact encouraged by the government. They foolishly think a strong global economy will create American jobs. It will instead create a vacuum for cheap labor to drive up profits even more. Our government borrows money from China to give to unemployed Americans so they can continue to buy cheap goods made in China so China can afford to keep lending the US money. Its a death spiral for our economy. We need to Organize and get employment contracts across America to insure Americans have jobs then force the Government to stop spending money they do not have. If we do nothing the death spiral will continue and America will go they way of Rome. Unions are good for America. -Exodus2007 -

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Comment 4/15/11: regarding the Liquid Portal comment: "Payments are issued with 15-20 days of successful completion, and range anywhere from $60-840 USD, minus applicable taxes and program fees, and depending on the component that was completed."
Nice, not only do you get paid crap, but you have to pay a program fee to get paid crap! -Critical Mass -

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Comment 4/15/11: The guy who came up with the "Liquid Portal" concept as it pertains to IBM was layed off in 2009 along with me. He was on two tech team studies and had executive exposure.
Re: laptop. You should give them the power on password, but you should also scrub the disk so that its bare.
Re: executives getting layed off? It doesn't happen. It's a club. it takes 3 executives to sign off on you before you can become an executive. VP's listed in your RA sheet are for show. They either have a new position lined up a priori and will claim they found it in the 30 day period or they wanted to retire. - wow-

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Comment 4/15/11: USA Today: 2010 CEO pay chart, sorted by total. Editor's note: IBM CEO Sam Palmisano was the sixth highest paid CEO in the nation in 2010: Salary Bonus Stock & options Total Chg from '09 Stock return $1,800,000 $9,000,000 $13,319,450 $25,180,681 19.0% 14.3%
No raises, no increase in benefits, RAs continue, IBMers are being given the shaft, while Sam makes millions for himself and his family. Support the union. -Ana -

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Comment 4/14/11: "Is it possible that IBM is interviewing RAed folks for contracting jobs so they can purposely turn them down for positions of employment so they can further their case to get more H1B visa holders to take the USA based contracting and IBM USA employee job opportunities? It furthers IBM's offshoring mission. IF IBM is doing this behavior it is appalling."
You are spot on. After I got RAed I saw my position a few months later in the local newspaper. I applied to an address at Armock and never heard a word. It's as if I was on a do not hire list. Plus it looked like they were trying to justify an H1B visa based on the ad. They listed my position as an entry level job. I made a salary of around $80K. So the other post about the bottom line is spot on. This is wrong. IBM sucks. -RAed-

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Comment 4/14/11: Liquid Portal is definitely away to screw software engineers and programmers. From the Rishabh site (IBM partner) about compensation. It suppresses wages so much I would even be concerned if I worked in India or China.
"Once you have registered in the IBM Liquid Challenge Portal and have successfully designed and/or programmed the specified component, IBM will notify you that your submittal was successful and accepted. Once this is done, ZeroChaos will send payment. Payments are issued with 15-20 days of successful completion, and range anywhere from $60-840 USD, minus applicable taxes and program fees, and depending on the component that was completed. When accepting components in the Liquid Portal, you will see what the payment for the component will be. If your component is not successful, IBM may ask you to rework it and submit it. A component is payable only when approved and accepted by IBM. During the Enrollment Process, you will receive more instructions on how you will receive payment." -anonymous-

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Comment 4/14/11: IBM is developing an application called Liquid Portal, which is very much like the commercial TopCoder.com where freelance developers compete for one-time assignments that pay a nominal amount of cash. There is a huge push by executives, particularly in AMS to start running competitions on Liquid Portal. It's clear that VP/Director bonuses depend on it. Development teams are being required to parcel out their project requirements as competitions on Liquid Portal. They must create specifications and run competitions rather than do the work themselves. The core development are then left to try to integrate the disjointed deliverables and deal with the continuous training and inefficiency that comes with the lack of continuity. The ultimate plan will be to RA full time developers and allow them to return to compete for short-term assignments through Liquid Portal, which will eventually be an external application. IBM does not want full time employees. Who remembers IBM Executive Tim Ringo and how he spilled the beans on this last year, boasting of crowdsourcing and the plan to eventually cut 299K employees? Well, Liquid Portal will be the primary tool used to displace full time IBMers worldwide. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/14/11: to -Gone_in_07-, I have my doubts concerning your reasoning why people survive RA's. I am not a brown-noser and I am certainly not a favorite. In fact, I do not even know my job as well as the person they laid off that I replaced. My take is that the person whom they laid off made a better salary, thus I am at around $60K and He was at $80K. It is all about the bottom line. -Doubtful-

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Comment 4/14/11: to -qtr_century-, I agree that some people need to work 50 hours plus a week and I used to do this myself. I now work a straight forty if the work does not get done, big deal, that area is not my job but my manager's. But, I agree, some people have to work longer hours because they can't figure out how to do it otherwise. Of course, unionizing would help guide these types into a "Normal" work life balance. -Its-Not-How-Hard-You-Work-Its-how-Smart-You-Work-

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Comment 4/13/11: SWG is pushing the part time work option, clearly another attempt to save $. Although I've got to wonder, how you could possibly be anything but a 3 if working only part time. I don't think SWG was hit that hard last go around, if this is any indication... -qtr_century-

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Comment 4/13/11: Gone_in_07, I generally agree with your premise in regards to the butt kissers are the ones that stay. However, I must be an exception that I've never understood. I have never kissed butt, don't work particularly hard, generally have an attitude and am not all that smart. I have no idea why I am still here. Just pumping it until the well runs dry. -still_pumpin _after_all_these_years-

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Comment 4/13/11: Is it possible that IBM is interviewing RAed folks for contracting jobs so they can purposely turn them down for positions of employment so they can further their case to get more H1B visa holders to take the USA based contracting and IBM USA employee job opportunities? It furthers IBM's offshoring mission. IF IBM is doing this behavior it is appalling. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/12/11: There is a reason why certain people survive RA after RA, year after year. It's called favoritism. IBM has a policy against it. My manager was a serious abuser and when I pointed out how much favoritism he had towards certain people he moved me to a new group and manager. The butt kissers are the ones that stay, not usually the hard workers. The ONLY way to survive in a company like this and not be a victim of favoritism is to be part of a UNION. In IBM you must organize, band together and Unionize. There is no other way to survive in a jungle like this. Sit back and do nothing, and you'll soon see what I mean. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 4/12/11: I was RAd last year with my last day of 03-31-10. Yes, I have to admit I was somewhat devastated when it happened. I was fortunate that my manager bridged me till my birthday and so I met the (55/15 yrs). So, I took my 401K and ran as far as I could get from IBM. I am very happily employed at another company in which I will probably also retire and work another 10 years! I learned alot of good skills from IBM and am happy that I could take those skills to another job! The net is... there ARE OPTIONS! Who would want to go back to work as a contractor for a company that dumped them? Life is full of options - so take advantage of them! -life outside of IBM-

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Comment 4/12/11: "I was RAed on a hawked up PBC 3 and became a contr in less than 30 days. I know 4 others that were RAed as PBC 3 ... same story. It was almost like a "secret" agreement took place. Completely wrong to RA us and we lose our benefits, then work us as contr. What are our choices? Yeah! If some ex-mgr on here to explain that crap. Please have at it. -RAed PBC 3-"
You deciding to come back as a contractor enables and encourages IBM to do what it did to you. Did you join the Alliance yet? -I fired IBM -

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Comment 4/11/11: To Ex-IBMer now CIO: Nobody in the U.S. could legally meet your first demand ("30% of service personnel must be band 9+ and have over 40 years of age") because you're demanding age discrimination. If you instead demanded that 30% of personnel must be band 9+ and have a minimum of 10 years of experience in the IT industry (for example), that would be OK. -No Age Discrimination-

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Comment 4/11/11: Actually, it is possible for an IBM senior executive to be RAed, although it requires committing a felony. Of course I'm referring to Robert Moffat. But it took IBM way, way too long to act. -Minor Correction-

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Comment 4/11/11: It's Good to Be the King: CEO Pay Up Big 2010, Not So Much For the Average Worker
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/good-king-ceo-pay-big-2010-not-much-20110411-085325-820.html
Samuel Palmisano, IBM, $25.2 million Investing with the highest paid CEOs isn't necessarily the best for shareholders. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/11/11: Does this remind you of a ceo you know? http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=3162091 maybe the yahoo ibm stock page would appreciate the humor... -ripit-toons-

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Comment 4/11/11: TO>>-RAed PBC 3->>Use some common sense. Prepare your finances for survival and get a job with someone else. You don't HAVE TO work for IBM, unless you are unqualified to work for others. If you got 2 or more PBC 3's , you were well aware of your situation after the first PBC 3. You either ignored the facts or refused to accept them. Get educated, get financially prepared and work for someone you enjoy working for. Learn to separate WANTS, from NEEDS, from NECESSITIES and your life will become a better place. -NO_KY-

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Comment 4/10/11: Please understand if you are a contractor or subcontractor YOU ARE NOT AN IBM EMPLOYEE. Don't think coming back to IBM as one is the same as ab employee. Supplementals are by definition term IBM employees -da_facts-

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Comment 4/10/11: I was RAed on a hawked up PBC 3 and became a contr in less than 30 days. I know 4 others that were RAed as PBC 3 ... same story. It was almost like a "secret" agreement took place. Completely wrong to RA us and we lose our benefits, then work us as contr. What are our choices? Yeah! If some ex-mgr on here to explain that crap. Please have at it. -RAed PBC 3-

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Comment 4/10/11: I got along with my 1st leve managerl, my customers, and my peers just fine. Unfortunately my 2nd level manager hated me because I questioned some of his decisions. I worked for IBM for many years and was a solid 1 and 2 performer. I am now working for a competitor of IBM and doing just fine. I have a good attitude. But when I see things wrong with management as were issues with my 2nd level manager I am not afraid to speak out. This is the only way to improve the system. Unfortunately this paticular 2nd level IBM manager got even with me in his mind and RAed me. This stuff wouldn't happen wirh a Union. Support the Alliance. A Union would support on your side. I had no one to help me save my job at IBM. -gone from big blow-

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Comment 4/10/11: A moral tale about ceo's in America today, pass it on! http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/3152881?morbyid --

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Comment 4/10/11: to alliance: I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you . Your comments are pretty much on target. As a past manager I was an employee before and an employee after so I viewed it from both sides. I always remembered the old saying that "IBM liked wild ducks as long as they flew in a row". I've mentioned it before that 'butt kissing' usually helped but was not a guarantee. Then again if you were too assertive/confrontational it could be a career detractor. All I can say is watch your back.-wasa1stlinenowra'd-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for your candid comments. Your "...watch your back" comment is EXACTLY the reason that IBMers should form a union and fight for a contract. I agree with you, BTW. It's just a very simple concept to understand, in my opinion. If only more IBMers that visit this site would realize that what you say is spot-on, and what we advocate is the best solution; we'd be part of a group of skilled IT workers in IBM that finally could have some security and stability at their jobs; while we 'watch out for each other'. Thanks again.

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Comment 4/10/11: to alliance: As you would expect there is not a written document describing what a "safe" employee is. Managers look at the attitude as the key indicator to determine if someone could be brought back. Things like, are they bitter or bad mouthing coworkers or managers and if there are signs of threats or sabotage. You know when someone is pi$$ed and you don't want them on site. There isn't a check list that a manager runs through just general observations. As you can imagine it is subjective; so if you and your manager get along then if you are RA'd you stand a good chance of coming back as a S/C or something else.The basic safe employee is someone who does their job and doesn't make waves.That is the way of life in IBM. Look at it this way I was dumped but I hold no grudge. I don't know if there is a flag on my name but I suspect not. Regardless ,I don't plan on going back. -wasa1stlinenowra'd-
Alliance Reply: So basically, employees should never complain or object; because they would be labeled as trouble-makers? In the end your 'subjective' posture simply encourages 'butt kissing', keeping your head down and being quiet; which doesn't guarantee squat when it comes to keeping their job OR your job... That's basically the sub-definition of "At Will Employment"; which is the BESTreason for employees to organize and fight for a contract that protects them from management's 'subjective' evaluations and punishment. Management never actually values employee skills and abilities at all. I know you'll disagree; but that's what a labor dispute is all about. :-) Thanks for your input.

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Comment 4/09/11: . To -gone from big blow- : There is not a list per say but a notation on your file that was made by your manager who RA'd you. depending on why/how you were RA'd would either let you back as a S/C or a supplemental or not at all. If you got 1 or 2 PBC 3's then you would usually not be brought back as any type of employee. If you made a deal to get RA'd or if the manager felt you could be brought back then it was noted.Usually your attitude as perceived by the manager ends up as the last word on the exit papers. When you apply for a job your name is checked to see if you were an IBM'er and how/why you left.They only hire back safe people. -wasa1stlinenowra'd-
Alliance Reply: How about a definitive list of what determines or defines "safe" people? Really.....would you send us that? I'd love to see that whole management perspective, reduced to a list. It may even be worth posting here. Every manager that ever worked for IBM must know that list by heart. How about it?

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Comment 4/08/11: I can tell you first hand that there is definitely a NO HIRE list and you are on it once you are RAed from Big Blow. I applied to several positions after getting RAed. Once they find out you worked for Big Blow you are screwed. -gone from big blow-

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Comment 4/08/11: to -CDI_Drone-, You do know it is about the bottom line right? More profit? They can replace a US worker with 5 OffShore and STILL SAVE $$$$$ Seriously, you did know this right? -No-Pun-Intended-

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Comment 4/08/11: -Barb-, IBM can ask any question they want and find legal ways to discriminate in the hiring process. These questions are just an easy filter process to put prospective hires in hiring buckets so to speak. My guess is they want to know if you are a newbie to IBM. Sadly, folks that have worked for IBM In any capacity have been, should I say, somewhat jaded by the experience. One reason we have the Alliance in the first place. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/07/11: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703515504576142092863219826.html
- article on the dearth of qualified workers in India - why are we being RA'd, again? -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 4/07/11: Is this new? I just applied online for an IBM job (what the heck?), and they seem to be making an extraordinary effort to ferret out any prior relationship to IBM you may have had. Here are some of the questions:

Independent Contractor or a third-party relationship: If you were a former IBM regular employee, have you been performing continuous services on behalf of IBM as either an Independent Contractor or through a third-party relationship, since your last IBM regular employment?

Yes No

* Have you ever worked on IBM premises while working for another company?

Yes No

* Are you currently providing contract services to IBM through another company?

Yes No
-Barb-

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Comment 4/07/11: Great news on the main page about the IBM Global Union being formed. -member-

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Comment 4/07/11: -leavingsoon-: Here is a place to start for returning laptops before leaving.
IBM Corporate Instruction CIO104: Information Technology Security:
• IBM Corporate Instruction LEG116: Classification and Control of IBM Information -Tom Jefferson-
Alliance reply: This topic has been exhausted. Thank you for your comment. No more on this topic will be posted.

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Comment 4/07/11: I think most people get it, but there is a lot of people who put the blinders and beer goggles on when it comes to their jobs. IBM's records profits is "MOSTLY" being achieved by OffShoring to CHEAPER countries. The projected price per share is at $20 for the year 2015, that is only 4 years away. To get there they WILL be laying off 10% a year. Some get it and take action, others don't have the intelligence to work here anyway. I think there will be several more smaller strategic layoffs throughout the year(s) to remain below the radar. -Do-The-Math-

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Comment 4/07/11: It is certainly disgusting when the lack of morals and lack of ethics is exposed for executives and sam, but I don't see the positive out come of that changing their morals or ethics because they have none. You have to be human first to have these virtues. -Morals-Don't-Start-At-the-Top-

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Comment 4/07/11: I am not sure on the policy for re-imaging a hard drive. There is a software package called IBM Secure Data Disposal on the ISSI page. This is the approach I would use for cleaning my computer, let IBM do their own computer imaging. -Clean-Up-

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Comment 4/06/11: Only one airline doesn't outsource some of its maintenance...American...all others use Salvador or China. Thats right, China. There was a white paper on this subject published by one of the unions. -qtr_century-

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Comment 4/06/11: To workfoibm: The day before I retired, I removed the hard drive password in the BIOS and used Darik's Boot and Nuke to wipe the HDD clean to DOD specs. -outtathere30-

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Comment 4/06/11: This article mentions IBM, only as in comparison of revenues to the Koch Brothers industries. Pretty scary anyway.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/3120/ -nokochamerica-

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Comment 4/06/11: Tax department in Southbury getting the boot. Exit date is 7/31. I believe the operations is moving to Argentina. -Anon-

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Comment 4/06/11: Just heard on the radio yesterday that Southwest Airlines sends its aircraft to El Salvador for maintenance. We should protest this outsourcing by flying with some other carrier -Mule Skinner-

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Comment 4/06/11: -workfoibm-: Can you point me to the corporate instruction that dictates all PCs should be re-imaged at an employee's departure? I'll be leaving soon and want to do my manager a favor by clearing the passwords and re-imaging it for him ;-) --leavingsoon-

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Comment 4/04/11: Sam doesn't READ anything himself anymore. Sending a postcard is a waste. Don't waste your money and save your $.28 on a postcard and think about spending only about $0.16 a day to join the Alliance as an associate member. $0.33 a day as a full Alliance member. -IBMUnionYES-

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Comment 4/04/11: Sam's birthday is the end of July, so that's 'send Sammy a message' time. Don't forget postcards for Sammy, the end of july...
Suggestions: "Have a Happy Birthday with all the stolen pension money!"
or:
Sam the church you were raised in says: "The church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated" "(doesn't that cover those pensions you stole?)
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or..
Hey Sam, remember your Pope, ever listen to him?
" "The unforgiveable sins this earth must confront and overcome are Nationalism, capitalism, and hoarding. The idea of every nation should be forgot, price should be struck from the commons and princes should be seen for the devils they are. The sins include our church, secret societies and other religions which make of the spirit of God a divide."
The Holy Father's last rites declaration - 2nd April 2005
..........
or hey Sam, ever heard of the Bible?
"Lev.19
1. [13] Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning."
Jer.22
1. [13] Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
.....
Hey Sam, when you stole pensions, you missed something! "The labourer is worthy of his reward. Source: I Timothy"

http://www.contact-the-ceo.com/page2.html
Samuel J. Palmisano
665 Pequot Ave
Southport, CT 06890-1416 --sam-is-deaf-to-workers-but-can-he-read?--

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Comment 4/04/11: The IBM RA package does use the term layoff but they call it a "permanent layoff". -RAd in 2011-

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Comment 4/04/11: -Southbury Tax- I'm sorry to hear about this. When one sees about half of Southbury already closed (all of Bldg. A, over half of bldg C or did they close all of C finally?) up and the only thing keeping Southbury open is the data canter it was just a matter of time this would happen when most folks either just ignored the fliers and newsletters or threw them out that I was distributing for years in the Southbury cafeteria, snack machine, and common public areas. It's sad that unless other IBMers take up the fight in Southbury it is not far fetched to think IBM will start closing the B Bldg. and moving the data center especially if they don't get a sweetheart tax reduced deal from the town of Southbury and State of CT. Then the Stone family and the rest of Southbury can stare at a set of empty former IBM buildings. It has happened in other areas in the USA and it can happen sadly in Southbury too. -sby_willie-

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Comment 4/04/11: When will folks wake up. You are not being laid off. A layoff is done when there is a downturn and than you are brought back when work is available. What IBM is doing is FIRING and forcing you into retirement. These are not layoffs. They are actions to fire disguised with fancy terms like layoff so they dont have to justify the real reason of your age etc. -a realist-
Alliance reply: Actually IBM does not use the term layoff. IBM terms are Resource Action or termination.

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Comment 4/03/11: 4/01/11: IBM is outsourcing DB2 to India again. Left the dev team last month. I was based in the Markham lab. The outsource was 3rd line's idea. 15 by 15 anyone??? -goneForGood-

Sorry to hear about that. But did you do anything about it before it happpened? What made you think you were safe? Was it your pbc rating or your connection with your manager?

Most of the jobs will be off shored ... That I can promise you as I have been in meeting with first, second and third line and they all talk about head count!

Report to Toronto Star, Sun and so forth ... Don't let these guys get away with it. This site is not known to all. Print flyers and go hand them out at 3600 ... Rather than having those lunches and talking about ipads or games you guys shouldve done this ...

As for passwords, only one you should give is BIOS .. Rest should be reimaged. Windows/notes password should never be shared. If so, your manager is scared for himself; as he wants to see which second level you went to. -Tony-

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Comment 4/03/11: Is it legal to lay off workers and re hire them as 'complimentary'? There are all kinds of ex full time people in the Hudson Valley that have had to take jobs with less pay and little benefits. With the econemy the was it is, they 'IBM" have us in a bind. We need to make $$$ to live and they know it. -gone-
Alliance reply: This has never been illegal. As long as you work for IBM, you are an "At Will Employee", as long as you DON'T have a contractual agreement that stipulates things like layoffs, rehires, benefits, pensions, salaries, working conditions etc. IBM can pretty much do what they want to...And they have done so and will continue to do so, unless and until the employees fight back. Does that answer your question?

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Comment 4/01/11: IBM is outsourcing DB2 to India again. Left the dev team last month. I was based in the Markham lab. The outsource was 3rd line's idea. 15 by 15 anyone??? -goneForGood-

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Comment 4/01/11: Just informed on Project X. This is being implemented in Southbury, CT Tax department. Effecting SUT and PPT. RA in two phases. Phase 1 - July 2011, Phase 2 - April 2012. We are being outsourced to Argentina. -Southbury Tax-

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Comment 4/01/11:
Call to action April 4th! http://www.cwa-union.org/content/april4
Protect workers rights! Join an action! Find a location here: http://www.we-r-1.org/
or here: http://www.aflcio.org/splash_weareone.cfm?continue=/index.cfm -member-

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Comment 4/01/11: Count Sam in this club...http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2011-03-31-ceo-pay-2010.htm -Joker-

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Comment 3/31/11: -Anonymous in EFK- We tend to be our own worst enemy. In the C. E. ranks, we automatically just divvied up someone's workload if they quit, retired or were fired because we were conditioned to protect our customer base at all costs. Management used this against us and just kept cutting whenever they wanted to make better. numbers. It was an easy way for a branch manager to look good on paper. Looks like it has spread like a cancer. Bet its taught in Business Management courses now. The job protection steps I would see in Union shops seemed ridiculous to me. Things like the guy who ran the tape drives couldn't load paper in the printers and the printer operator couldn't load tapes but now you see what happens when a company can force you to do someone else's job even temporarily. They make it permanent, fire one of you and work the other one double hard. It seems less and less ridiculous every day. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/31/11: This is not directed at anyone in particular or any posts in particular. When I read posts about "how can execs sleep at night" and "execs should be RA 'd for foreign nationals" or "why doesn't congress help us or why isn't there a law" all I can picture is an elementary school yard fight with lots of name calling, "Yeah well you're a booger face", etc.
In life if you do not protect yourself you will not be protected. EVER. Waiting on the phone with 911 operators while someone kills your family is far less effective then a 12 gauge shotgun in your hands firing at the criminal. No one is going to protect your job. No one is going to treat you fairly in IBM. No one outside of IBM gives a damn about your job or your work conditions because you do not care enough about things to organize and stand up for yourself. Have American workers become so complacent that we just accept bad working conditions ? Is everyone waiting for the Nanny state government to fix everything for us? I do not understand how union membership can keep dropping nationwide when all you hear are employment horror stories nationwide about how employees are mistreated and jobs sent overseas. When do Americans say enough! IBM used to hire the best and the brightest . People who understood what it took to make a difference in the world. Now it seems IBMers cant even agree to protect themselves from employer abuse. Stop waiting for someone else to do something. You have total control of yourself. Show the world the way to a "Smarter Planet" begins with a smarter workforce. Join together and protect yourselves and quit wasting cycles hoping Sammy grows boils on his toucas. Even if he does he would just order one of you to pop 'em for him . Other duties as assigned as it were. Stop closing your eyes, crossing your fingers and wishing on falling stars. The power to change your world rests with you and your coworkers. Do not try to be an army of one. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/31/11: Hopefully more media outlets will pick up on this story. I think we're all painfully aware of it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42349181/ns/business-world_business/ -Anonymous in EFK-

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Comment 3/31/11: I really liked your blog quite informative and interesting facts and figures you have discussed on your blog even the comments are very fruitful and helpful in enhancing the knowledge regarding the topic. -ibm laptops-
Alliance reply: This topic has been exhausted. Thank you for your comment.

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Comment 3/31/11: In my opinion, it's okay to give the power-on password, but none of the other passwords should be revealed. If they want access to your mail, the server copy is available to them without you having to violate your promise not to reveal passwords. -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 3/31/11: Comment 3/30/11: I was part of the Feb RA. Last day at IBM was March 28. I returned my laptop on the same day. I am now receiving emails from my former IBM manager asking for my passwords (bootup, windows password, etc.). I replied back with both. I just received another email for the lotus notes password. In response to this question: Is this standard for all IBM RA's to give their passwords? Should I give the password? (I am always concerned when someone asks for passwords) -anonymous-
This is a violation of IBM's security and privacy policies. In any departure at IBM it is a security requirement that all laptops be re-imaged. IBM has lotus domino servers to obtain any information that be pertaining to the business of the company however your workspace should have been reallocated and reimaged. -workfoibm-

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Comment 3/31/11: I didn't have to give my Lotus Notes PW to my manager when RAed. Only PC & Windows PW's and root password for any Unix OS. Unless you have IBM Confidential e-mails relating to business dealings I don't think you have to volunteer your Lotus Notes PW. Besides a Lotus Notes Administrator can always acess your e-mail's or any Notes DB's you created. Ask why you have to give out your Lotus Notes PW and who you have to tell or give it to. IBM could use anything you supply them to harm your RA. Don't willingly give them the chance. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/31/11: I was part of the Feb RA. Last day at IBM was March 28. I returned my laptop on the same day. I am now receiving emails from my former IBM manager asking for my passwords (bootup, windows password, etc.). I replied back with both. I just received another email for the lotus notes password. Is this standard for all IBM RA's to give their passwords? Should I give the password? (I am always concerned when someone asks for passwords) -anonymous-

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Comment 3/30/11: -ANA- I hear you! It would be far less expensive and cheaper for IBM to RA Sam and get an Indian, Chinese, or Brazilian CEO! Better yet make that all the present USA Sr. VP's should be RAed and hired with offshore executives since IBM has repeatedly made it clear it is quitting USA operations slowly but surely. That can surely get IBM their global profits and ensure their EPS hits at least $20 by 2015. I hope an IBM stockholder at next month's meeting says this! It's high time to see Slam actually answer a real question presented to him. -RAIBMExecs-
Alliance reply: There is no chance that IBM will RA it's CEO. There is no chance that ANY Sr. VP's or executives will be RA'ed by IBM. It will never happen, like you envision it. There is little chance that ANY IBM stockholder will get to ask your question at the meeting, unless you are that stockholder and you ask your question. Your sentiment is in the right place; however, these things will not occur, unless you make them happen. If you are still an active IBM employee; then you need to organize your co-workers and join Alliance@IBM. If you are an RA'ed IBMer and you want to see change in IBM that will be in favor of the employees; then you need to let all of your former IBM co-workers know that they need to join Alliance@IBM and organize. These are the best actions that you can take, that can make a difference for IBMers.

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Comment 3/30/11: to loophole and anon: when a employee retires or is ra'd it is the manager who determines if that person could return to IBM as a reg or contractor or a supplemental. they make this call based on how the person left and their attitude . very few ra'd people get to come back unless they volunteered as opposed to being ra'd on a 3 pbc. if you are on good terms with your mgr then he/she can recommend that you be ok'd for return to site. by the way if you ever want to visit a site security also has the ability to see if you should be allowed back in the buildings. nobody wants a rouge employee returning and hurting people or sabotaging systems. -wasa1stlinenowra'd-

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Comment 3/29/11: To -Ex-IBMer now CIO- I worked at a customer based technology call center in Dallas,Tx and was RA'ed in 2010. Our center was sent to India. I wish all customers would demand that customer based technology for production equipment call centers were only located in the US. My team trained the Indians and Sam sent our jobs off shore because it would be less expensive. Who cares about the US customer that cannot even understand what the individual in India is saying.. There needs to be a union in IBM. -ANA-

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Comment 3/29/11: -Loop Hole- I do know when an employee leaves it is up to the manager to flag whether they can be rehired or not. When I voluntarily retired I made sure that I received a signed copy of the document. I suspect that it is voluntary for the manager to provide this information. In most cases dealing with RA's I would think the employee is marked not rehire-able and not shown the document. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/29/11: I lead a shop with 2500 servers and about 16K end points. In 2008, when I was let go, the server mix was about 72% IBM, 10% Dell, 10% HP, 5% White Box and 5% Apple. I had 89% availability of those servers over at year then.

Today, the availability of the servers is 95% and the mix of production servers is 18% IBM, 48% HP, 34% Dell and no Apple or white box.

When the 5th IBM rep I've had came by, crossed her pretty legs and started talking about IBM's new services, I cut her off immediately.
My terms don't change over time:

1. 30% of service personnel must be band 9+ and have over 40 years of age.
2. Customer support for technology of production equipment must be local and call centers US based.
3. Applications and the business control the decision, not fancy technology or briefings.
4. Before I buy I must talk to a customer that actually has 1-3 in a production environment.
New services for configuration? So why do I have to pay extra for that? Why can't the products self-configure and self-heal like you promised decades ago but never delivered?
She came back with the line that "our services are more cost effective and better than anyone elses". To which I responded: "Bravo, then you won't mind me adding a clause to the new services contract that says that any failure due to a configuration problem you'll be glad to fix free and pay for production time lost of the server by a factor of 2X."
Silence....another few IBM servers going down the tubes. Mind you, the competition isn't any better or cheaper, but they are more honest than IBM. -Ex-IBMer now CIO-

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Comment 3/28/11: I believe there is a legal loop hole these companies have found (IBM has definitely found it), that older workers can't be rehired. People can even receive letters on company letter head, telling the person they can not be hired. How can this be legal with our Labor Laws? What changed? Not sure what the cut off age is ... guessing 50. Was it a part of the Medical Package passed by Congress? -Loop Hole-
Alliance reply: Our labor laws are weak and have been gutted for decades by corporate and political interests. You really don't have as many rights as you think you do.

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Comment 3/27/11: Last year when I was RAed this site and others were inspiring; I want to return that. ("Thanks!" to all who post here.) IBM colleagues and other friends were instrumental in my job search. Within 6 weeks of leaving I had 5 different real opportunities that led to 2 different offers. I didn't take either of those offers though because I accepted an offer from a different lead I generated from my own efforts. Ex-IBMers: You're bright and talented and underappreciated. Embrace the opportunity to change employers; you deserve it as much as I did! -BigBlueBlows-

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Comment 3/27/11: "IBM to pay Israeli employee let go due to age:"
beamer..thanks for posting the link. I see this happening all the time in IBM. And to strike back at IBM is like David fighting Goliath. IBM is a big bully. Glad to see this 62 yr old dedicated IBMer win some compensation in court. -beemer 2-

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Comment 3/26/11: Everyone thought I was crazy and neurotic when I said the internet and the resulting internet bubble craze of the stock market would spell doom for most USA, Canadian, and European IT workers. I said the internet means that ANYONE IN THE WORLD can do an IT Specialist's job. Also the internet bubble craze awakened the greedy USA robber barons and created a bunch of new ones in the IBM executive ranks. So I was not so crazy after all was I? -RAedBeamer-

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Comment 3/26/11: -beamer- For those that think labor issues in the rest of the world are not as fair as the USA truth be known the USA now stinks with older worker labor rights. Who can afford to retire at 50, 55, or 60 now in the USA? The corporations protected by the USA government wants middle aged and older to go out to pasture and just simply go away. USA government doesn't have to report someone forced to accept work exile as unemployed and the corporations don't have to pay as much in unemployment insurance. Entities like IBM which are incorporated unadulterated thug outfits with financial engineered false profits run by greedy management) have their labor practices protected in the USA. No wonder IBM wants to increase business in communist China. Wish I worked in Haifa instead of EFishkill. I might still have a job at my advanced age. Now I wonder if IBM Israel will see their jobs offshored in retribution for this labor case that IBM will undoubtedly say had no merit in the first place? -anonymous-

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Comment 3/25/11: -Loophole- IBM has the best loopholes money can buy. Entire lawfirms work exclusively for Big Blue and no one else. Prove employees over 50 are being dicriminated against in rehireing. Even if you can they will tie you up in court for 30 years. Actuarial tables say you will be dead in 25 . IBM lawyers tied the justice department up do long it gave up and dropped the antitrust case. Now thats a loophole. A senior IBM VP pled guilty to insider trading. To my knowledge no further investigation of other execs followed. Think they worry about anyone they allready fired once charging them with rehiring discrimination. Not a chance. The only thing might worry them is a union rep duly elected sitting across from them at contract negotiation time. They may not even fear that anymore as they are now so filthy rich they all can just walk away laughing. Sad but true. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/25/11: IBM to pay Israeli employee let go due to age:
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000632642&fid=1725 -beamer-

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Comment 3/24/11: For those in global services, anyone nearing retirement has a HUGE target, any managers on sick leave = fired, i've seen it happen. If any portion of your team has been transferred to india + GDF = get out. There is no hope once gdf hits its all down hill. Your manager will pretend to be your friend, but the reality is quite different, account execs are also in the loop. Please do yourself a favour & find either a different internal posting or starting spreading your resume. Ibm has become a monster of a outsourcing maching, clients want to save money, ibm wants to save money = NA workforce is obsolete .. sorry i see it happen every day. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/24/11: Just One Ant... Check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft1CoINZRXY&feature=player_embedded
This is relevant to everything this union stands for, IMHO -OneAnt-

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Comment 3/24/11: Anyone RA'ed in late Feb found a job internally? -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/24/11: Anyone know of a loop hole legal/hr has found to refuse the rehire a person if they 50 or older? People over 50 who once worked at IBM marked as "Do not hire" by HR and mgrs are blocked from hiring those people. This is only found when a mgr tries to hire, HR gives 'do not hire' but if the former employee calls, they are told there are no problems. -loop hole-

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Comment 3/22/11: IBM Global Union Alliance, being formed! More details soon.. Help build the American section! Join today! -Alliance-

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Comment 3/22/11: Just a FYI. Local 911 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union has taken a strike vote and voted 94% in favour of rejecting the company's final offer. The company is ISM Canada, an IBM Company located in Regina,Saskatchewan, Canada. Company site: http://www.ismcanada.com/About/index.html Union site: http://www.cep911.org/index.php -Riderville-

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Comment 3/21/11: Soon-to-be ex-IBMer in Chicago after 16+ years, although I had plenty of work and was never on the bench. I\'m in IBM\'s Global Business Services, Commercial Services. Laid off in Feb RA; last day is 3/28. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/19/11: -Ich Bin Muede- You are right. Let us not forget that IBM executives cannot be dismissed Like das leader they can retire, resign or "step down" (like former das leader Akers did) And since IBM executives or middle and upper management acts on behalf of IBM Corporation they hide behind the IBM name and brand as in this news article. If IBM doesn't get caught with hands soiled with dirty funds then IBM knows no foul. The dealing or business has no merit of wrongdoing in IBM since it is part of IBM staying 'competitive'. Oh, and speaking about Chinese government leaders: don't forget communists get rich on bribes. How else can they acquire wealth and power? Sounds like an oxymoron that a communist can get rich, ya? But they haff vays dant ay? Only the underlings can get fired or RAed (terminated without cause).
.... A bug in the IBM Opportunity Marketplace app? Smacks like the bug in 1999 with the VM-based Estimatr app. Nah, it's a new feature in Opportunity Marketplace . A new enhancement to the application! It's all in preparing for another RA. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/18/11: IBM pays $10M settlement. That is nothing compared to what it is saving in tax breaks and in sending jobs overseas while destroying the American workforce. When will Americans wake up and see that corporations are writing the rules, executives are raking in the money, and the middle class is disappearing? Unions have had problems in the past, but banding together is our only hope for the future. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110318/ts_alt_afp/usskoreachinaitcomputercrimesec -Pickles-

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Comment 3/18/11: And we just reviewed the BCG with a section on taking and giving bribes subject to dismissal.. Did they fire the exec or exec's that did this over the last 10 years, I don't think so..
.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sec-sues-ibm-over-alleged-s-korea-china-bribes-2011-03-18?siteid=yhoof

More of the same from das "leader" -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 3/18/11: For all of you that are still looking for a job internally please know that there is a bug in the Opportunity Marketplace that makes you think your application has been submitted and is being considered when in reality the tool has determined that you do not meet the job qualifications and it does not send the application on for consideration. So follow up on all your applications via e-mail. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/18/11: To -sam-is-deaf-to-workers-but-can-he-read- I don't think he reads anymore. He is told of important stuff and then reacts if it suits him. Think like royalty; think like a king. I sent an e-mail to him when I was at IBM and I got a response from Randy MacDonald. Sam might give the impression he is reachable but the contrary is more true. Save your $.28 for a postcard. A better investment with your money is to join the Alliance at least as an associate member for $.16 a day or as a full member for $.033 a day. -sby_willie-

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Comment 3/18/11: With the earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan, unrest in the Middle East/N. Africa (Egypt, Libya, Bahrain. and maybe Saudi Arabia) causing the stock prices to go down including IBM, you can bet the only way IBM will handle this situation is not with restraint; but an RA action to make sure they are still on their self mandated almighty EPS target. IBM executives aren't just greedy; they want it all and they want it now. -da_facts-

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Comment 3/17/11: IBM WHOOPS!: Health Net Breach Exposes 1.9 Million Records

http://www.darkreading.com/database-security/167901020/security/attacks-breaches/229301155/health-net-breach-exposes-1-9-million-records.html

Health Net Breach Exposes 1.9 Million Records
Insurer's second major breach due to lost drives

National health insurer Health Net started informing customers this week of a data breach in January that exposed as many as 1.9 million customer records. The breach came after its IT vendor IBM misplaced nine server drives following a move to a new data center.

"This investigation follows notification by IBM, Health Net's vendor responsible for managing Health Net's IT infrastructure, that it could not locate several server drives," Health Net said in a statement it posted on its website on Monday. "After a forensic analysis, Health Net has determined that personal information of some former and current Health Net members, employees and health care providers is on the drives, and may include names, addresses, health information, Social Security numbers and/or financial information." -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/16/11: As a means of protest, every year I always vote my stock shares exactly OPPOSITE of however IBM recommends. This includes voting NO for their entire slate for the board of directors, and the auditing firm. I sold most of my shares years ago because I felt IBM stock represented "blood money", but I kept 2 shares just for the satisfaction of saying NO to IBM. I hope my colleagues at IBM will join the union so we can have a bigger impact when employees say NO. -contraryme-

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Comment 3/16/11: Amazing what this internet can do, ceo sams home address is right there in public!
http://www.contact-the-ceo.com/page2.html
Samuel J. Palmisano
665 Pequot Ave
Southport, CT 06890-1416

Maybe a few post cards with some comments for sam might be an idea, you know his corporate secretary pool wouldn't let the emperor read anything the rabble he shucks off send to his corporate palace headquarters but a few postcards home might actually end up on his actual reading list, the post office is legally required to deliver the mail! You can bet he'd not seeing these comments from an article like this off the alliance page:
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/comments/article/20110302/BUSINESS01/103020337/IBM-job-cuts-612-latest-round-watchdog-group-says
"I'd like to know why Obama and Congress doesn't take action to find a way to coerce these greedy CEOs to keep jobs here. No nation can long survive with only CEOs, hedge traders land menial jobs available. We have to make something the world wants lest we become a 3rd world hole."

Maybe the post office might get the message through, maybe a 'mail sammy a message' day might be an idea for the alliance to try! -sam-is-deaf-to-workers-but-can-he-read-

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Comment 3/16/11: [sarcasm] Damned greedy unions! Its all their fault that their wages have kept up with inflation over the last 15 or so years and mine haven't. Its all their fault that they have health insurance and I don't. Its all their fault that they have jobs and I got laid off and never got as much as a lousy T-shirt. What did they ever do for me? What about me? Its all their fault those greedy bastards! Bust 'em up I say. Nothing good ever came from a union... [/sarcasm]

PS - I added the sarcasm tags because some folks can be way too literal... -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 3/15/11: Have a look:http://www.financialpost.com/related/topics/Shifting%20blame/4433640/story.html -canadaseyes-

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Comment 3/15/11: I was part of the latest layoffs (Feb 2010) - I was in IGS, in Essex VT -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/12/11: Some people never change and never really want change. To continually wait to join a union, at the right moment when it DOESN'T matter is not joining it at all. You're better off being a faithful customer of Wal-Mart or Target. Like when they have sales; is the only time you'll venture out to the store. Why go out when nothing is on sale, right? Joining a union is nothing like that. You would rather treat it like someone that joined the fight just as the battle was coming to an end...so you don't really have to risk anything...that's much safer, right? Meanwhile, others have started in the beginning when there was no one to speak up or step forward. They are the members that Alliance has had for several years. How many people do you think started out protesting at the WI state capitol? It wasn't a huge group; but the numbers grew when people realized that their rights to even bargain for their wages, benefits, etc.; were about to be taken away. IBMers have NEVER had that right. So do you think it's not worth it to fight for that right? Do you think it's only a good idea if EVERYBODY else thinks its a good idea, first? If so, then you don't really know what a good idea is, until you're willing to work for it, speak up for it, or fight for it. I saw a sign in an IBM first line manager's office once... it said "Some people make it happen. Others watch it happen....and some people wonder what happened." Which one are you? -whoathere!-

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Comment 3/12/11: -Exodus2007- "There is little else they can do because until over 50 percent of WORKING IBMers sign up and a vote is taken so the union can be the legal representative of the IBM workers they work so diligently for; they have no legal grounds to do any more." -
What are the current statistics, i.e. what percent of current employees are signed up for the union? You must be keeping track of this, right? If not, then how will you ever know when that threshold has been crossed. If you are keeping track, and you should be, what percent is it? People may join if they know that the threshold may soon be crossed. If we are forever stuck at a low percentage then spirits may never be raised high enough to join. -Unsure-
Alliance reply: Yes we do keep track and no, we are not close. Why? Because there are too many that look for excuses not to join.

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Comment 3/12/11: Where can I apply for a spot on IBM's Board of Directors?
http://www.footnoted.com/my-big-fat-deal/on-cathie-blacks-retirement-from-ibm/ -anonymous from efk-

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Comment 3/12/11: This comment section was archived, today, up to 01/01/11. Please see the archive links above to view comments posted before 1/01/11. -Alliance-

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Comment 3/11/11: For those who ask what the union has done so far:
1. Got members who pay monthly dues because they feel the cause is worth a measly 10 bucks a month .

2. Worked at recruiting people who sit on the fence and watch others do the heavy lifting so they can time their jump in to achieve maximum gain with minimal pain.

There is little else they can do because until over 50 percent of WORKING IBMers sign up and a vote is taken so the union can be the legal representative of the IBM workers they work so diligently for; they have no legal grounds to do any more. So those of you reading the board from the fence. What have YOU done to better your job conditions at IBM?? Please let us know. Its the least you can do for us as we pay for this web site. Tell us why you have not joined. We would love to know why you all come here for information but will not join the people you trust for the straight scoop? Please do not pull any punches. We would really like to know. Even if you would rather your response not be posted we still would like to know why you have not joined. Please be honest with yourselves and with us. If you feel a union is too blue collar for you as an IT professional, say so. If you have a low opinion of unions because of things you have seen in other union shops, say so. We really would appreciate your feedback. Those of us who joined, did so for a reason. It makes sense that those of you who will not join, no matter how bad things get at IBM, have a reason for not joining so please tell us. Thank you -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/11/11: on tuesday 8/3 all uk informed 30 day ecc...so more jobs CUTS unless this means paycuts...it was only july the last round completed -endoftheuk-

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Comment 3/11/11: To Screwed- You got 3k? Consider yourself lucky. I am a band 8 with a 2+ rating. I got 2750k. YOu want to know something else that will make you sick to your stomach? Did you know that all the managers are asked to give a kick-back from that pot of variable pay money!! Each manager is asked to 'donate' whatever they feel comfortable with to give back to the execs. I bet you didn't know that did you!!!!!!! That piddly sum you got, could have been more, but those greedy execs didn't get enough, they want part of your $$ too. -dun-4-

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Comment 3/11/11: "Did IBM CEO Sam Palmisano deserve a 19 percent raise?" Vote yes or no here: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com -Gorya-

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Comment 3/11/11: This is for 2+ screwed, regarding the 2+ rating and only $3K. I unfairly got a 3 and got zero so go bitch somewhere else. -DontCareNoMore-

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Comment 3/11/11: -lapdog- Those with a PBC 1or a select rare few PBC 2+ will be lucky to see 1.9% MAX. Also GDP is going to be $hitty this year. No wonder more people are a PBC 2 and many more are PBC 3 who will get nothing other than an eventual and inevitable selection for a resource action. But good for those IBMers that continue to sit and do nothing and not support the Alliance. What else do they expect? They get a piddly or no raise since that is what they deserve by not standing up to IBM. -KickMe-

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Comment 3/11/11: -Jaded- I was a PBC 2+ but was on IBM short term disability when they came out with the oay raises. I seen a raise of $0.00. IBM HR said that it was not because I was on short term disability that I did not receive a raise but it was because my organization didn't put me in their yearly salary plan. Then when I returned I was promptly and summarily RAed. Nice treatment by IBM, eh? -sby_willie-

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Comment 3/11/11: This is for 2+ screwed, regarding the 2+ rating and only $3K. Well, I was a 2+ and received under $2K for PBC payment. Management explained that IBM sets a formula against earnings/profits to set what PBC payouts will be.........they can manipulate it any way they want. Record profits, less payouts than last year. If any IBMer cannot see that IBM is slowly doing away with variable pay, then they really do have their blinders on! -Jaded-

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Comment 3/11/11: "Doesn't it just make your blood boil to read "last day is 3/28"? IBM is still having the last day be a few days before month's end to screw people out of a month's accrued vacation time."
It is all part of IBM's patented financial engineering practices. It sure makes any blue blood left boil ! It also is done to save IBM just a few cheap USA $$$ to make their 1st QTR numbers look better which is more $$$ for Sam, Randy, Mike Daniels, et. al. and the rest of the Armonk Greed Machine which is a monster of the new global economy. For those whose last day is not "3/28", you last day is going to be"mm/dd" sometime soon. This is not a threat. It is a reality. It is a going to be fact unless you do something about it! The first step is to join the Alliance. It is the only way. -da_facts-

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Comment 3/11/11: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/
Sam got his 19% raise by cutting the jobs and benefits of IBM workers how did you do? -lapdog-

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Comment 3/10/11: -Pension is Gone-, page 4 of that presentation is for retirement cost in 2010, nothing else -Pension Not Gone-

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Comment 3/10/11: Hi, Regarding your reply to "2+_Screwed". Many will join; but please share what you did so far, If this is posted , many of us will join. -doesnotmatter-
Alliance reply: Do you know how many times we have heard this? When we tell people what we do, they still don't join.
We are here to organize and gain a contract with IBM for employees. On our main page we have a "works in progress" in the join box. If you are just coming to this comment section you are missing the whole picture. We have an 11 year history of advocating for employees.

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Comment 3/10/11: Then They Came for the Trade Unionists:
http://www.truth-out.org/then-they-came-trade-unionists68363
This is an informative piece on some of the specifics of the WI anti-union issue. Good read, all the way through. I hope Alliance will put this on the board. -Niemoller-

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Comment 3/10/11: At no point did I ever say I agreed with what was done. I in fact stated that it was something that should have been negotiated at contract renewal time. It was neither the time or the place for it at this time. I point out that the Democratic strategy didn't work and offered the suggestion that maybe a filibuster may have worked better. The only things 100 percent in life is death and taxes. On the other hand by unhooking the issue from the budget bill, another form of legislative trickery , the Republicans may have opened the issue up as a Federal Labor law violation as it is no longer a Wisconsin Budget issue. At the very least the issue will be front and center in the next Wisconsin election and if the actions taken by the Governor were not the will of the people then you can bet the newly elected Governor in the next election will correct the issue quickly. As previously stated by the Alliance. Elections do have consequences. They are the only consequences elected officials understand. As I also stated in earlier posts Wisconsin is just the tip of the iceberg. Other States with a budget problem will surely follow their lead rather then exercise fiscal responsibility and stop overspending. Hopefully elected officials in the next states to try this won't go hide in Wisconsin to avoid the issue rather then fight alongside their constituents. And hopefully IBMers will quit hiding under their desks to avoid the issues and will stand beside their coworkers . As far as the Governor running on the issue, I admit I did not follow the Wisconsin Governors election as I do not reside in that state, but I did see that statement in the Paper, hear it on CBS, NBC, FOX and possibly ABC that the budget was an election issue the Governor ran on. My point on the issue has always been if you can honor bonuses for AIG employees because they were in a contract how can you not honor the Wisconsin Employees contract? That's why I questioned if maybe they were between contracts. At this point Maybe I will go hide in another state to avoid further commentary. Hahaha. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/10/11: In my opinion, while not IBMers, US contractors have been dumped, dozens and more, in Northeast locations last month or so. Their benefits are ridiculous, they get no severance, Nothing! Meanwhile their IBMers co-workers aren't even notified until after the fact. No effort is being made to make-up for these lost resources. The ones I worked with were 100% utilized. This is just a comedy of errors - Sam's been wearing his Emperor's Clothes way too long. IMPLOSION SOON! -whoopee-

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Comment 3/10/11: Doesn't it just make your blood boil to read "last day is 3/28"? IBM is still having the last day be a few days before month's end to screw people out of a month's accrued vacation time. Add it up for all the people RA'd and it is a huge windfall for IBM and a loss to those RA'd. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/10/11: I know that this is not the right forum but I wish you could open up the PBC rating and bonus section for a few days. I had a PBC2+ rating and received $3000 payout and I have no way knowing whether I was discriminated, screwed on bonus. IBM celebrated best year ever and I got peanuts :(. Is there any other site we should discuss this?) Thanks! -2+_Screwed-
Alliance reply: There is an alternative for you, if you would like to discuss PBC's, Salary, Pensions, or just general comments...you could Join Alliance@IBM CWA and become a dues paying member or an associate member. Once you join, you will get access to an Alliance Members Only Forum that is open for members to discuss just about anything they wish. We purposely removed the above mentioned comment sections, because our members pay for this site to be here, and frankly, they were tired of giving a free forum to non-members to visit and make comments to, or ask for help from, Alliance. We gladly will help people if they have an issue with IBM, regardless of what that may be; however, we will not do it continually on the Alliance@IBM CWA members dime.

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Comment 3/10/11: -Exodus2007-: I agree with Mr. Conrad, in regard to your statements about how the Governor campaigned on removal of CB rights. He did NOT. Apparently, YOU DON'T KNOW for sure, whether or not the Democrats could have filibustered the vote or any other move to stop the passage of the bill with the union-rights poison pill. You don't seem to have a problem with the millions of dollars in tax cuts that Walker proposed for the top 2% incomes of Wisconsin, do you? The Democrats WERE willing to vote on the bill, minus, the CB rights removal. The unions WERE willing to make significant concessions. Where were you when that information came out? Now layoffs AND no CB rights will become BAU in Wisconsin for years to come. Where's your solidarity with unions, now? Yeah, this is still about job cuts. Not about how WI Republicans make laws to "save" the state from union collective bargaining. Pick your side, Exodus2007, you can't have it both ways. -whoathere!-

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Comment 3/10/11: There is a lesson for all IBMers in Wisconsin. If you have no representatives at the table at bargaining time you should not be surprised that you did not get what you wanted from the bargaining. Shame on the Democratic Lawmakers for leaving their constituents to fend for and fight for themselves in an arena where they had no say. Its worse to not be represented when you actually have representatives in place then to not have them in place at all. It would be like the union not sending negotiators to the bargaining table in a contract negotiation. Shameful. To feign outrage when your whole strategy was to dance around the law and you find out your equal counterparts can dance also is a farce. I guess a filibuster would have been too much work. My condolences to the workers who put their trust in representatives who ran and hid. Sadly the Governor did exactly what he said he would do during his campaign. Hard to fault someone who did what he said even if you disagree with it. Changes in pensions and benefits are something that should have been negotiated at contract renewal time. What no one has ever said was when did the public employees contracts expire or were they working without a new contract? If they were between contracts then they are at will employees. We all know that's not a good thing to be. As usual its the working taxpayer in America who gets the shaft. -Exodus2007-
Alliance reply: Walker did not campaign on doing away with collective bargaining rights. That is one of many falsehoods being spread by right wing media. See here:
http://politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/22/scott-walker/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-says-he-campaigned-his-/
The Republicans in Wisconsin want to bust public employee unions plain and simple. It is a political agenda, not fiscal, by the extreme right wing and corporatists in our country.
Don't forget public employee union members are taxpayers too. And they were willing to negotiate. The Democrats used a tactic they hoped would keep union rights alive in Wisconsin. Unfortunately 50 years of workers rights in Wisconsin have been deleted by Wisconsin Republicans.

Lee Conrad
National Coordinator

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Comment 3/10/11: I am a soon-to-be ex-IBMer in Chicago after 19 years, although I had plenty of work and was never on the bench. I'm in IBM's Global Business Services, Commercial Services dep't. Laid off in this latest RA; last day is 3/28. I know of another GBS employee in Chicago who was impacted by this RA but able to stay on until May due to project requirements. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/10/11: Check out page 4. The pension rumor is about to come true. http://www.ibm.com/investor/events/investor0311/presentation/pres2.pdf -Pension is Gone-

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Comment 3/10/11: Exodus said it all. I too, have known so many who just sit back and think it won't happen to them. Years after I left I still talked to a project manager. I told him you better read Alliance and get on it. He said oh that site just depresses me. Besides, I only need 10 more years. What a joke. Guess what? He got RA'd eventually. Without a Union, this is no place to work. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 3/10/11: "IBM will respect the legal rights of its employees...."

Not exactly true. RESPECT is not in the IBM dictionary anymore just like RESPECT for the individual,
is no longer a cornerstone of IBM's basic beliefs.

So:

"...to join or to refrain from joining worker organizations, including labor organizations or trade unions."

Where is Sam's RESPECT if Sam will NEVER PUBLICLY MENTION or acknowledge, by name, Alliance@IBM which is the USA non-collective bargaining unit as Local 1701 of CWA (AFL-CIO)? Sam and IBM don't have RESPECT for; if they fail to mention the Alliance@IBM/CWA by name.

"((IBM) makes managers at all levels aware of those rights." Not exactly true either.

I bet most IBM managers don't have a clue of what legal labor rights and what is covered under labor law that an employee has.

As an example, when I passed out Alliance fliers in cafeterias and snack shop areas, management would sometimes pick up the fliers from the tables. Or on one rare occasion I was even asked what I was doing by a manager and the manager said I was not allowed to since I was on IBM property and I had to "educate" that manager on Section 8a (1,2,3) provisions of the USA Fair Labor Standards Act.

Here are those provisions that is protected by USA labor law:

* Interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in their rights under Section 7. These rights include freedom of association, mutual aid or protection, self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively for wages and working conditions through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other protected concerted activities with or without a union. Section 8(a)(1)

* "Dominating" or interfering with the formation or administration of any labor organization . Section 8(a)(2)

* Discriminating against employees to encourage or discourage acts of support for a labor organization. 8(a)(3)

If IBM truly respects the right of employees to join unions and work organizations they should state the law fully instead of the instead of their general HR jargon word-speak! Of course IBM doesn't disclose or state fully anything that they don't have to or don't want to.
Interfering. Dominating. Discriminating. Now these are IBM words and actions that have replaced RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL and all that should come from it. Yes, -screwed by Sam too- is 100% right in assessment of Sam and IBM. I only wish more employees are as wise as yourself!!! We can all do something that isn't hard to do to force the respect of IBM if we all stand together in solidarity and join the Alliance!!! -sby_willie-

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Comment 3/09/11: "IBM will respect the legal rights of its employees to join or to refrain from joining worker organizations, including labor organizations or trade unions. IBM complies with legal requirements worldwide regarding employee and third-party involvement. IBM respects the rights of employees to organize, and makes managers at all levels aware of those rights."
IBM is saying this just so they don't get sued. IBM will push the envelope as far as they can in their favor. Without a contract an IBM employee is at will. Sam Palmisano has an army of legal experts on his staff. He knows how far he can go. Is Sam looking out for you? Of course not. Is Sam looking out for himself? Of course. Wise up folks. Sam is playing the legal game. He isn't stupid. -screwed by Sam too-

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Comment 3/09/11: From IBM's corporate website: Freedom of association:
"IBM will respect the legal rights of its employees to join or to refrain from joining worker organizations, including labor organizations or trade unions. IBM complies with legal requirements worldwide regarding employee and third-party involvement. IBM respects the rights of employees to organize, and makes managers at all levels aware of those rights." -member-

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Comment 3/09/11: Exodus2007, you are right on the money. I have suggested the union to several people over the last year, but the feedback is always passive like they do not dare take a stand for themselves, yet they bitch when things do not go their way. Yes, I am a member myself, because it is easier to sell something when you are a part of it. I do feel for the people who are RA'd but pity them when they get all mad because they were RA'd like it should not have happened to them. Some of them get damned rude, and I just pity them more. They are afraid to stand up for themselves and they cry when fate strikes them down. Well, to the person who was rude to me recently who would not join the Alliance when I suggested it a while back, I say: Boo Hoo. -You-can-Lead-A-Horse-to-water-

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Comment 3/08/11: All IBM US employees should revolt together !! Tomorrow who ever is there in IBM might not be working !! Learn from Egypt and Libya and get ready to revolt against companies sending out our Jobs to China India and Brazil and now many more countries off course. Mr.O is also not doing any thing on our JOBS. Rally !! Rally !! Rally !!! Revolt !!! -Johny-

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Comment 3/08/11: Re. TAA - does anyone know if it will be possible to get TAA under an existing approved petition, or is that out now too? -Anon-

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Comment 3/08/11: To -another- Effective February 15, 2011, TAA is now operating under the 2002 Amendments. No more service worker unless Congress extends the 2009 Amendments in the near future. I hope you have record of all the client accounts or works offshored in the department and the ones you managed for last two years. Even better, the whole organization in your tower. The number persons, and their name, laid off in the department, and the total in your organization (in the package). You might be able show to DOL that these are reasons you were RAed regardless what IBM stated. When TAA allows for service workers, have your state TAA cordinator file the TAA petition on your behalf. Reporting structure, your hr information do help DOL to do a better investigation. For now you can appeal and write to your Congress representative to extend TAA. -cannedbyblue-
Alliance reply: Welcome to the new Congress. Elections do have consequences.

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Comment 3/07/11: A simple word of advice. Every year there are RA's. Every RA, people post in disbelief that this time it happened to them. Every RA, someone loses Pension and other benefits by a very short time. Soon after, people start posting about Sam being a thief, a coward, and how can he and the other executives sleep at night. I see this year after year. When are IBMers going to break this cycle. Organize. Join the Union. This is how you make Sam feel bad. Imagine being the CEO that had IBM America unionize on you. THAT may give Sam and his cronies a sleepless night and ensure people get treated fairly with respect. Anything short of that and they sleep just like a baby. Year after year. Until they choose to take their pensions that were never touched and collect their Gold Laden retirement packages that they are entitled to by their contracts. You know....The contracts they have that YOU do not. The same contracts that are bad for IBM if you have them but good for IBM if they have them. Wake up. Wise up. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/07/11: @enoughisenough - you didn't learn the first time?? Of course you'll be RA'd again.... -Crazy?-

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Comment 3/07/11: Here is why there are job cuts....and more to come..
".- International Business Machines Corp's (IBM.N) Chief Executive Sam Palmisano earned $31.7 million in total compensation last year, up from $24.3 million a year earlier." -IBM Greed-

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Comment 3/07/11: "...along with his fraternity brothers for updates on the draft. The number he'd received his junior year was four, low enough that his chances of recruitment were high. "So I said, 'I've got to get a job,'" he remembers. A friend mentioned that IBM's recruiter had come to campus to look for women with backgrounds in math and science. Though he fit neither category, the next day Palmisano took and passed IBM's entrance exam---"
Sam is nothing more than a draft dogger. I also received a low number during the Vietnam War during the lottery. My number was 27. I was drafted right out of college after I graudated from Syracuse,and served two years in Vietnam. There should be a complete investigation into why Sam was not drafted with a lottery number of 4 - ANA-

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Comment 3/07/11: To -another- "Question- In order to get TAA does IBM have to admit a person was let go due to oddshoring? My dept was taken over by India but I have a feeling IBM is not saying that is the reason I got RAed. (Tried to get TAA,... not on "the list") What can I do?"
IBM has to indicate if your job was sent out of the country. In my case they responded that my job was not which was true. However, I was able to appeal by demonstrating that I was indirectly impacted by moving the work of my team offshore thereby leaving me with less work and people to manage. I was approved. It's up to you to provide the additional information. The person reviewing said IBM does not provide detail information-- only if "your" job was off shored or not. -Andy Mic-

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Comment 3/07/11: Article on IBM job cuts:http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh030711-story03.html -member-

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Comment 3/07/11: Sam a coward? The Fortune article on Sam: "---along with his fraternity brothers for updates on the draft. The number he'd received his junior year was four, low enough that his chances of recruitment were high. "So I said, 'I've got to get a job,'" he remembers. A friend mentioned that IBM's recruiter had come to campus to look for women with backgrounds in math and science. Though he fit neither category, the next day Palmisano took and passed IBM's entrance exam---"
I am a veteran and served in the Gulf war and I took a military leave since I was also working for IBM at the time. And in 2008 IBM RAed me. And Sam and IBM do business with communists who supplied the guns to the enemy when my father fought in Vietnam. -disgusted_IBMvet-

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Comment 3/07/11: To -sams conscience-: Well put!!! I remember when the pension plans were frozen Sam says it was "...a hard decision for myself to make...". Well no one can see how hard it was or is for HIM. He and Randy and the rest of the Armonk entitled and RA immune royalty will have a lucrative retirement. Most IBMers will have less retirement money than their Social Security checks and will have to rely on Medicare exclusively without retirement medical or measly FHA funds (if Sam doesn't make another "hard decision" and freeze or take the FHA away). -SlammyP-

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Comment 3/06/11: I doubt these comments will make it into the fortune article fluff piece comment log....
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/04/ibms-sam-palmisano-a-super-second-act/
The word coward probably describes Sam best. He holds his shareholder meetings as far away from his workforce as possible and refuses to take questions from anyone he thinks might ruffle his feathers. Stealing benefits by routinely laying off workers just short of retirement, sending many to what he knows will be an early grave, cut off from the retirement they've worked for, isn't the work of a great leader, more like a sociopath. Taking advantage of slave labor in the worlds biggest police state where workers are beaten for minor infractions and suffer from terrible environmental conditions is where sam's working with the communists on the installation of a major facility giving 50,000-80,000 jobs for the communist empire to help control it's citizens and grow it's military power, another good example of what more and more people see as an anti-American sociopath! His protégée and rumored future replacement, Moffat, another coward who wilted when confronted on his actions, is now doing a stretch in prison. The company, mimicking sam's cowardly demeanor no longer reports layoffs, or how many employees they have in the US, current estimates are 90k and losing 5-8% per year. They stopped reporting what they claimed was replacing people due to 'skills' because current employees are forced to 'train' their own untrained replacements making that lie so clear even the public fooled by these fluff pieces could figure it out. He got away with stealing about 10 Billion in the pension lawsuit, buying off the lawyers for a $80 million many would call it, and paying his future 'early grave bound' workers, pennies on the dollar. At the same time he and his predecessor/sociopath were in the process of spending a ballpark $100 billion buying back stock, boosting the price and unloading their own as fast as they could, and sam still does nearly as fast as he get his hands on it. He gets about $10 million of shares a year and doesn't even seem to want to own it long enough to get taxed at the long term/ 1 year rate 15% rate, dumping it at the seemingly 50% short term rate. He wants to get rid of it so fast, he might be getting the company to pay his taxes as many ceo's do. He shills at the shareholder meeting and throughout the year what a great business he's running and then bails with both hands year after year like he's running some kind of Ponzi scheme, but then, that would be normal behavior for a sociopath. Look, like clockwork, he's done it again!

1-Feb-11 57,274IBM Disposition (Non Open Market) at $162.98 per share. (Value of $9,334,516)

Sam talks a good game but he's got plenty of company on his, get out of dodge tour:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=IBM+Insider+Transactions

He recently told employees he wanted to get back to the 'dna' of the company, but like any sociopath, what they say and what they do are two different things. Respect for individuals is a long dead slogan as anyone still working there knows. Respect for American is clearly also dead in armonk, based on sams actions. -sams conscience-

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Comment 3/06/11: I was RAed a few years ago and now back at ibm. I hate commute and am tired a lot. If I tell my manger to work life balance will I be RAed again? I was RAed once already. -Enoughisenoughis-

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Comment 3/06/11: Go tp the following website:http://www.ibmemployee.com/ This gives the entire picture within the walls of IBM -ANA-

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Comment 3/06/11: IBM is running a business and Sam Palmisano is getting paid the big bucks to cut costs. What are the costs? The employees with big salaries, benefits, and nice retirement plans. Without a contract Sam can do whatever he wants. It's like taking candy from a baby for Sam. Is the stuff Sam doing to employees right? Of course not. Can Sam get a way with it? You betcha. Wise up folks and support the Alliance and get a Union going before it is too late. If you wait too long you won't have a job. Sam will continue to offshore jobs to cut costs. -The Ugly Facts-

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Comment 3/05/11: Bullied out of my IBM career in 2008. Nine months later landed a sh*t pay job until being laid off after 51 weeks. Still unemployed so I have lost *everything* and gained a dangerous eating disorder. I hope you all do better than myself. It is so tough when you are alone. -just_a_girl-

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Comment 3/04/11: Question- In order to get TAA does IBM have to admit a person was let go due to oddshoring? My dept was taken over by India but I have a feeling IBM is not saying that is the reason I got RAed. (Tried to get TAA,... not on "the list") What can I do? -another-

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Comment 3/04/11: -28.6 and screwed2-; What you've described equates to the theft of a full retirement. I know because it happened to me where I lost my full pension and all retirement medical benefits with only months to go to lock them in, and any chance of preventing this being blocked by management. It defies description when you have a management team and system that not only allows this but implements it. My sincere condolences and best wishes to you; better things will be ahead for you. A system that will do this should no longer be associated with the integrity that once backed the name IBM. You have employees being blocked from any chance of fair treatment with just months to bridge to retirement after a good, solid career, due to a current arbitrary ranking on some 'list'. Then you have a chief executive who collects almost double in incentive pay alone last year - $9 million - not to mention the rest of the compensation package yet to be revealed. Also, business for 'friends' like the former head of bankrupt Lehman who has done advisory work with IBM's acquisitions team (according to Fortune's September issue). Something's wrong and doesn't add up, and any fluff journalism that doesn't probe on actual facts behind how IBM is making some of their bottom line 'profit' isn't worth the time of day. The 1990 biography 'Father, Son & Co' authored by the real Watson (vs. the fact-spitting machine) mentions how he - Thomas Watson Jr - and Al Williams stopped taking stock options at one point because 'we don't want to look like pigs' (Williams quote). The facts are, you have employees who have worked their entire career for a full retirement package only to have it ripped off with just months to spare in some cases. If they've done it once, they've done it too many times and it's happened more than that in this environment. The building blocks of integrity, decency, and a sense of fairness are gone in the IBM of today. If every current and former employee would join the Alliance on behalf of not only themselves but their current and former co-workers, those who are still there and those who are gone, there would be a fighting chance to bring back the greatness of this once great company. The Alliance is the one to do it, who is fighting for it in the fairness of a bona fide employment contract. The time for this is now; the time to join is now. -Former True Blue-

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Comment 3/04/11: Here is the URL: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/04/ibms-sam-palmisano-a-super-second-act /
- I posted a comment to the link that UN OWEN provided, you should too. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/04/11: IBM's Sam Palmisano: A super second act CEO Sam Palmisano took a revitalized IBM and made it the envy of the tech world and darling of investors. His secret? He's restored Big Blue's focus on innovation and set it up for an even brighter future. (Move over, Lou Gerstner.) Lou and Sams super act was RA 200,000 IBM employess and send our jobs to India and China. We sure were given alot of BS from these two guys, respect for the individual and full employment., Fourtune managazine needs to interview IBMers who were RA Ask them about the second act -ANA-

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Comment 3/04/11: Article on Sam Palmisano in Fortune - I think we should all write into the comments section at the end of the article and say -- Yeah, Sam is making profit by RAing everyone here in the US. Should also post some of the items people have put on this board under that article.
Here is the URL : http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/04/ibms-sam-palmisano-a-super-second-act / -UN OWEN-

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Comment 3/03/11: GBS, Strategy & Transformation: Org & People, Distribution Sector. In morning, interview for and selected for a very long term global project, fully billable. Afternoon, get phone call that I'm being RAd effective 30 days due for restructuring purposes. Just selected for a guaranteed year+ billable project. RA me now? WTF!?!? Oh so p*#()d off. Grrrr. -RAdTickedConfused-
Alliance reply: This is why we continue to say that you are an At Will Employee, at IBM's mercy, until you have a written, collectively bargained contract. Without it, NOTHING is "guaranteed". Sorry for your job loss.

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Comment 3/03/11: In Toronto Canada, over the past month, I know of 3 people whom were layed off. 2 more to come. Band 5-8 -Tony-

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Comment 3/03/11: Email to all of us from management that internal transfers are now encouraged, whereas before they were not. My manager candidly tells me they are trying to move people around so they don't have to do a cut - they did not get as much attrition last year as expected. Seems to me nobody cares about specific skills or accomplishments, just head count. Nice to be valued, eh? Join the Alliance if you haven't already. -SWGinMA-

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Comment 3/03/11: I'm with RNM...I left Big Blue last year, instead of waiting for the ax to fall, after realizing that the system is rigged for corporations like IBM, and that IBM is rigged in favor of an elite class of executives. I respect the fight by the Alliance, and wish them well, but I can only see an inevitable victory by Goliath... -BZBoy-

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Comment 3/03/11: If you're a "non-direct" or non customer facing employee in GBS watch out. Highly likely more lay offs coming in 2011. My manager is dropping hints left and right about our whole group getting the boot. I'm in GBS (div5) operations. -Lefty-

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Comment 3/03/11: I used to read on here from those who were RA'd how they did find life outside of IBM and work that was more rewarding, paid better, and treated better all around. I used to think they were just trying to "be nice", but its true. I was part of Last March's RA and am now in a place where they are investing in me to bring me on board and making me feel part of the team! AND its a huge competitor!!! Go figure. I have learned to just enjoy the ride, work hard and if something happens hold you head high. IBMers and exIBMers know what to do and will always land on their feet!!!! Good luck to all of you remaining. I have fond memories of the worker bees like me that I worked with. -Spyder-ExIBMer-

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Comment 3/02/11: Palmisano, 59, who's led the company for eight years, received $9 million in incentives last year, the company said in a regulatory filing today. That compares with $4.75 million a year earlier. Sam makes all the money, we as IBMers continue to be RA' ed -ANA-

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Comment 3/02/11: To -28.6- I feel your pain. I got the "call" in last year's March 2010 bloodletting at 28 years/10 months. The "powers that be" wouldnt budge and keep me on another 2 months so that I could end my career with dignity and bridge to retirement. Keep your head high, and know that many have gone before you. Its not your loss, its the loss of the shell of whats left of a former great company that is no more. To the rest of you still there... WAKE UP ALREADY! YOUR TIME WILL COME UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION! -screwed2-

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Comment 3/02/11: Ohio Senate passes bill to restrict public unions. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_ohio_union_fight -cannedbyblue-

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Comment 3/02/11: There are layoff and forced moves in IBM Toronto Lab. Could be 1-2% -x-

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Comment 3/02/11: To -28.6 years- IBM is screwing you out of your full pension and FHA. I hear you. I was RAed too before 30 years, Get calls from Indotronix and Artech. There BM's Indian headhunters for USA resources. Believe me I love Inidans. Truly. They are decent people. Hard working. And IBM will take and do surely take advantage of them. They have and continue to. It stinks. My primary doctor is Indian and I love him. But IBM is just the evil empire. Enough said. Let's unionize all of IBM! -anonymous-

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Comment 3/02/11: I left IBM in 2009 ... This company has two kind of people left: Someone, who got sucked in due to outsourcing takeovers and these people tend to leave quickly. The other category is the people who are scared to leave IBM. Some are on retirement count down. Some have skills so obsolete they are not marketable. And a lot are just people who would rather keep bitching and wait to be slaughtered instead of trying to make any change in their lives. It was so disgusting to see, when IBM managers were using the same old divide and conquer technique, chip off small parts of the groups at a time and the team would never stand up as a whole. I'm sorry, IBMers, but you're getting what you deserve. It's not like your bosses are genius evils playing some over sophisticated games. It's just the fact the best people are long gone from IBM. And whoever is left have no will to change anything -RNM-

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Comment 3/02/11: "Unless you play golf with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level..you are done for in East Fishkill!"
Doing things that lower your ethical or moral standards or completely throwing out your dignity, ( IF YOU HAVE ANY TO BEGIN WITH),,, Are A CHOICE and a bad one at that. I will leave this place with pride knowing I am not a coward. I would never miss suckers (emphasis added) like this anyway. -Head-Held-High-

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Comment 3/02/11: I have applied for jobs outside of IBM and everything seems great until the face to face interview. I have to believe age discrimination is prevalent. -IT-Now-

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Comment 3/01/11: To -fishfood 2- : I knew a guy that did golf with his first line manager and bought the guy coffee every morning. He was a contractor on one of those 3 year deals. After 3 years, he HAD to leave. That was the deal he signed. Well guess what, he got hired on as a full timer while the rest of us were getting canned. It's so true only those that suck up keep their job. Unless there is a UNION CONTRACT, IBM is no place to work. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 3/01/11: GBS Professional Services - IBM Maximo Maximo Technical Services. I am a consultant and I worked from home in Massachusetts with my assigned office of Littleton, MA which I never go to. The unit I am in was in Division 5 but moved to AIS a couple of weeks ago. My manager reports 5 (including me) of his 25 direct reports are being RA'd . The issue is apparently that we can't compete with the smaller consulting firms implementing Maximo because of our high rates -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/01/11: I knew my lay off was just a matter of time and knoew it for years. But at 28.6 years!! What a reaming!! Thanks Sam! However, what really sucks now, when looking for a job in IT, (which itself sucks now!) is when phone calls regarding the jobs are returned by ALL Indians! Now THEY hire us. WTF is wrong with you America !!! And these young arrogant IBMers who are on fast tracks, A word to the wise, All the ones I knew that were, are now gone! BWAHAHAHA ! HOW ABOUT SOME GREEN EGGS AND HAM, SAM! -28.6 years-

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Comment 3/01/11: In "Dangerous World", Unions Fight "Assault" on Middle Class Families, Elizabeth Warren Says:
"Unions are one of the few institutions trying to strengthen America's middle class by fighting for fair wages"
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/in-%22dangerous-world%22-unions-fight-%22assault%22-on-middle-class-families-elizabeth-warren-says-535975.html?tickers=MUB,TLT,TBT,%5EDJI,%5EGSPC,SPY,LQD -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/01/11: Part of the 2/24 RA in Canada after 17 years -although told it wasn't a RA, more of a lack of job funding. IBM is just like the Titanic - Iceburg, dead ahead! Get off the boat while you can folks!!! -Cut in Canada-

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Comment 3/01/11: "Unless you play golf with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level..you are done for in East Fishkill!"
So true. And you have to let them win and buy them food and drinks too or they will retaliate and take their frustration out on you. Their egos are very immense and a product of the Sam Palmisano culture. I can't wait to get out of this nasty environment and find a better job. -fishfood 2-

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Comment 2/28/11: If opressed people of middle-east people can rise up against tyranny of their dictators. What can't we IBMers? What has happended to us ? We are so risk averse, afraid of losing a job? Let's organize and tell them how we feel. Seems like there is a long way to go for this union of get recognization. Let's all of us find a way to express our voice. There are many way we can do this. Mass sick leave; silent walk out for 10 mins (in presence of media); meeting offsite (Starbucks?), etc., etc. -fedup-

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Comment 2/28/11: How many people were RAd in IBM Canada? -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/28/11: I am in the Office of the CIO; which is part of IBM Corporate Headquarters, and I was given notice of my termination on Feb 24. I am located in Southbury CT. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Sorry for your job loss. Thanks for telling us. Do you have any more information that would be helpful for us to know?

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Comment 2/28/11: Here is the truth on WI union busting efforts....
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/25/the-wisconsin-lie-exposed-taxpayers-actually-contribute-nothing-to-public-employee-pensions/
Isn't that what IBMers were told...? Total comp. was part now, and the rest was in retirement and medical coverage. -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 2/28/11: "Unless you play golf with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level..you are done for in East Fishkill!"
Even then without a union you have little chance. IBM management in EFK has immense ego and greed now and no respect for life forms other than themselves. While you play from the sand trap they get to tap in from the green with a birdie or better every time. -fishfood-

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Comment 2/27/11: Moderator - as many newly RA'd people are probably coming here, it might be good for you to publish the URLs to get to the IBM yahoo groups for pension, issues and retirees so they get info on FHA and similar. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: Those links that you speak of are already on this web site. They are also within this comments section; either below, or in the multiple Archives (such as Pension Comments, etc.) We have made countless mention of the Yahoo Groups that are concerned with IBMers and their pensions and FHA. This section is not intended for those topics. We have allowed some conversations re: FHA and Pensions to go on for a while; but in fairness to our members, who pay dues for this web site to continue; we recommend searching the web site for answers regarding those topics, on your own. If you are already a member of Alliance@IBM and pay dues, you can contact us through our Contact page for more information.

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Comment 2/27/11: Like 2 weeks ago, I got this sametime message from someone that I never heard of and works from Canada. The message was basically a simple technical question: What is a Java JRE and what do I need to do to get it setup? I realized then that it came from a weird group, which I won't name here. But I started thinking that IBM is now using employees to send technical messages which every technical IBMer should at least know how to answer. In other words, if you don\'t know what a Java JRE is used for and how to install one in Linux, then probably you shouldn\'t be in IBM. At least I was able to answer the question and guy the person. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/27/11: IM and SVL have been in a pre-RA mode for the last months. Mgmt asked dev, QA, and enablement people to find jobs outside IM (particularly in S&D and IGS) with pseudo deadline of end of Feb. Basically look any where BUT IM.. This means this coming week is going to be bloody. Buckle up IM and SVL, it is going to be a wild wave.. Oh, and good job everyone in training CDL and ISL. All we need now is dev mgrs in US to manage remote resources. -SVLer-

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Comment 2/27/11: I am also part of the resource action on 2/24 (part of AMS group). I am in a better situation than most - (still billing at a client site, and not on the bench). I should be able to easily find work afterwards. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/26/11: The DB2-related layoff reports out of Toronto are particularly interesting given the rumors that at least some DB2 development is moving to China. IBM has already separated the world into its Growth Markets Unit and...well, obviously, the Non-Growth Markets Unit (a.k.a. Shrinkage Markets Unit). It's not exactly sophisticated management. Only the employees in NGMU countries with strong labor protections, such as Germany and Italy, are keeping their jobs. The only hope is to unionize. -Think Global-
Alliance reply: Include France in that mix, as well. We have been aware of IBM Japan's union members for several years; but lately I haven't seen or heard any news regarding their situation. It only stands to reason that IBM employees need a Global union. However, unions and organized labor in the US have reached their lowest point of membership by the working people of this country. Public unions, as you already know, are under attack in virtually every state--Wisconsin as the present battleground--for their very existence. Corporations now control the wealth and the means of production, worldwide; as much as they did in the US in the early 1900's. The movement for equilibrium in the workplace must begin all over again. This time, it must be Global. As workers for these companies; and especially IBM, we have the power to change things. It's a matter of getting everyone affected by the loss of their jobs, their homes, and their incomes to see that they still have the numbers. We cannot give up and give in. Organize. We ARE One.

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Comment 2/26/11: I was advised 3/24 that I was being laidoff as a result of a Resource Action. My work location is Southbury CT and I'm in division 1G which is the CIO's office within Corporate HQ. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/26/11: KTTC in Rochester MN has stated in their newscast and web site that the number of RA's is 6k people in this Feb 2011 round. They are citing a public Internet board. I am not sure if anyone wants to verify KTTC's source.
Here is link to their article: http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=14144097 -tired-
Alliance reply: KTTC more than likely got that comment on '6000 cut' from one of our posters. There is no verification that the number is correct. The Alliance is posting job cut numbers on our main page from RA packs we have received.

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Comment 2/26/11: to -Damagedgoods-... and all others.... Your posted link should piss EVERYONE off. You should all go to his link and look at the pages and pages of jobs dated 2/25/11 that are being posted for IBM, just HOURS after this latest round of RAs. WAKE UP PEOPLE. -screwed2-

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Comment 2/26/11: I just looked at my FHA account and I had 35K that was zeroed out. I worked for 23 years before I was let go year but I was only 53 at the time...why was it zeroed out since I had more than 15 years with the company? -Screwed-
Alliance reply: I'm guessing because you were not 55. FHA was basically 'ghost' benefits or a promise of 'ghost' benefits scam that IBM initiated several years ago. No one at IBM should count on actually getting FHA; unless they can retire at 55 from IBM. Even then, we have not heard from too many people that actually were happy with what they recieved in FHA benefits, if they did get them.
Also from IBM's FHA rules: There is one small paragraph that may require many to be at least 55 at retirement to start using the FHA they are entitled to. **At termination they have attained 30 years of service (regardless of age) and were eligible for an opening balance on July 1, 1999, or have attained at least age 55 with 15 years of service.** If they were not eligible for an opening balance on 7/1/1999, then they MUST be 55 years or older to start using the FHA. BTW... No more posts regarding FHA. Job Cuts Reports is what this section is about.

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Comment 2/26/11: Sorry to hear about further cuts at IBM. Greed rules the day now. What amazes me is those left who sit by and do nothing hoping their name will not be called next. It is clear IBM has no intention of changing its course of action and hiding under your desk pretending they won't come for you someday won't work. I know many people who work at IBM and live under the gun each and every day not knowing when and if their jobs will be taken. What is sad to me is the fact in most cases nothing has been done to even TRY to change what will happen. At least go down fighting not rolled up on the floor in a ball.
I just have to ask how many employees have signed up with Alliance? Do those that have not know a better plan? People in Egypt had enough and are risking their lives to show their disgust with the status quo. Will those remaining employees at IBM EVER reach the point where they have had enough? How many more days will you go to work with your stomach in a knot before you decide enough is enough? By doing nothing and relying on hope and luck you are playing right into their hands. As one other poster suggested you teach people how to treat you that means if you allow it to continue it will go on and more than likely get worse. -lapdog-

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Comment 2/26/11: -survivedTheRA- I hope you are not kidding me. FHA is the Future Health Account. a.k.a. IBM retirement medical. You need to know what IBM benefits you have lost and are potentially losing! If you are RAed before 55 years old and/or have not worked 15 years for IBM you will get no FHA, NO retirement medical benefits. Nada. Zilch. If you think IBM can't do this to you. THINK TWICE. They will.
To check on your benefits: http://www.netbenefits.com
PLEASE join the Alliance. They will educate you and fight for your benefits that you are not aware of. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/25/11: In response to anon and trouble in fishkill: Unless you play golf with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level..you are done for in East Fishkill! -Glad2BGone-

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Comment 2/25/11: I was layed off effective Feb. 24 2011. I don't know the total number but all contracts in DB2, Software Group, Toronto Lab were cut. Just before Xmas many other contractors (A group in Spain that I worked with) were let go. A message asking employees to look for other internal customer facing jobs (providing bonuses to those who can get them) leads me to think that a whole bunch more are coming in the near future for DB2. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/25/11: I'm 60 years old and my manager (30 something and on the fast track) keeps reminding me that it is time for me to retire. I can't afford to retire. I'm good at what I do and I enjoy my work. My customers like me too and I get good feedback from them. But I feel like my manager is trying to force me out. I'm on the old pension plan. What should I do? Should I look for another job internally? He has already threatened to lower my apprasial saying that my performance is dropping. Any advice on what I should do? -not a slacker-
Alliance reply: He IS trying to force you out. And he won't stop until you are gone. You are an At Will Employee. You have no contract. You are at his mercy. Yes, you could try to look for another job internally, but it is unlikely that you'll find one. From IBM management's perspective; You cost IBM too much money because of your service length and salary. You have to decide what to do. One thing you may need to do is reassess just what you CAN afford to do.

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Comment 2/25/11: Ok this pisses me off.
http://seeker.dice.com/jobsearch/servlet/JobSearch?rel_code=1102&op=104&qt=0&value=IBMIIRC%20%3CIN%3E%20dsDiceId
-Damagedgoods-

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Comment 2/25/11: Interesting that Sametime messeger was down all all day long during the RA. Looks like they were trying to reduce the rate the word was spreading. Working at IBM you just live in 3 month cycles wondering not if, but when your number is up. Nobody is safe. PBC ratings don't mean a thing, don't fool yourself. You can get hit at anytime for no reason at all. -Ed-
Alliance reply: Sounds like IBM followed what the Egyptian government did during the recent democracy protests; shut down communications.

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Comment 2/25/11: It used to be that if a company was laying off workers, it was in serious financial trouble. The understanding was that it was a reluctant decision, based upon a need to make drastic cuts in costs, reduce the size of the company, react to customer demand, or make a major shift in the type of work that the company did in its industry. NONE of those apply to IBM in the past three years. IBM is raking in the money, there are constant glowing press releases about earnings and outlook, new products, advertisements on television and radio. The people at the top and investors are just greedy. They love growing their money and care not how much they devastate the individual lives of their employees, the American workforce, and economy as well. -1 2 X U-
Alliance Reply: By our calculations, IBM has been profitable and been in fine financial condition, quarter after quarter, year after year for longer than "the past three years". We've been around for nearly 12 years, and IBM has not been in the red since we came along in 1999. This is why it's hard for Alliance Members to understand why IBMers won't sign up with Alliance@IBM in droves. IBM hasn't been hurting for sometime; but they've been hurting and destroying their employees for nearly 2 decades. IBM can afford to treat their employees better; they just choose not to. Join Alliance@IBM and organize. The more IBMers that fight back and fight to win a contract; the better the chance that IBM WILL treat their employees better.

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Comment 2/25/11: I'm 51, still employed. One post mention: "Also r u real close to age 55? If you don't make 55 years old you lose all your FHA". What is FHA? For us survivors, where do we get info on benefits as we accumulate (survive) more years with the company? -survivedTheRA-

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Comment 2/25/11: To -trouble in fishkill-: I was there at that meeting. And I just want to clarify some facts that you mentioned and comment on the Town Hall meeting as a whole. 1st, It wasn't Mike Attardo, it was Mike Cadigan, and I don't believe that he is a Senior VP, but he is the General Manager of Microelectronics. Aside from those 2 things your comments hit the mark as to what happened during that meeting, but you forgot to mention that when Mike went into his speech after the 2nd guy said his 2 cents, that Mike said that he didn't appreciate the applause. Well, I, for one, can tell you that it's about time that Mike has heard those things from his front-line workers because you know damn well that nobody else beneath him has told him about the morale problem that exists. What do these upper mgmt really think?? Take away the pension, and medical for life, couple that with the yearly increases in the medical benefits, the yearly increases in taxes, the elimination of the AWS premium, the lousy raises and bonuses, if any, and what do they really expect?? I guess that the workers really have just got to come to terms with the fact that nothing will change, and that is what we get for being 'at-will' employees. It's not our will, but theirs. And to top it all off, Mike has the gall to actually put out the key words for the year ' Trust and Quality!?!? What a joke!!! -anonymous-

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Comment 2/25/11: "IBM treats their US workers poorly and without concern because US IBM employees ALLOW it."
As my sister says: you teach others how to treat you. Message: if you continue to allow your employer (or whomever) to treat you poorly, poor treatment will continue. -Think-

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Comment 2/25/11: I work for GBS in the AS C&M Team more than 10 people were hit with the RA -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/25/11: I also got laid off, from the GBS AMS org, I heard a total of 6K across the company -ibmer-
Alliance reply: We need RA packs sent to us so we can verify to the media how many were cut and which units.
send to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 2/25/11: Realized I did not have the best review but I have been killing myself working round the clock and this is what I get. How can they RA someone and NOT know what the severance amount is going exactly or the exact medical benefits. This is nuts that they go into the conversation and not have this information at their finger tips. -L&K-
Alliance reply: Because you do not have a union contract.

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Comment 2/25/11: There was a question on Jeopardy! concerning labor union process and practice, and Watson got the answer correct. So you know IBM is aware of unions. And IBM should be, because of the way it treats it's resources (ahem, human being employees). -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: IBM has not only been aware of unions for the past 100 years; they have negotiated with unions and works councils in Europe and Asia for about 50 years. IBM treats their US workers poorly and without concern because US IBM employees ALLOW it. Whenever US IBMers decide NOT to allow it anymore; then IBM will have to PUBLICLY admit their "awareness" of unions and what they mean to IBM employees. Now is the time, to do just that.

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Comment 2/25/11: http://forthedefense.org/post/New-York-Judge-Rejects-IBM-Non-Compete-Agreement.aspx
New York Judge Rejects IBM Non-Compete Agreement -Anon-

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Comment 2/25/11: -Now Former GBS IT Specialist- I'm sorry for your job loss. I have empathy. I also lost my job to an RA in 2009. How close are you to 25 years? If you are real close do what you can to make 25 years so you get added IBM health insurance coverage. IYou'll get 1 year compared to 6 months if they haven't changed the basic RA package). It's not much compared to losing a job but every little bit needs to count for you now until you can get a better gig. Also r u real close to age 55? If you don't make 55 years old you lose all your FHA. So also do what you can if you are real close to your 55 year birthday to stay in IBM. Of course if we had collective bargaining and a contract we could help stop job losses and also get better benefits, in and out of IBM. -RAedBeamer-

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Comment 2/24/11: My friend, a band 7 from Strategy & Transformation, Business Strategy, Comms sector, who had hit his utilization target last year, was RAed today. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: 40 people ra'd in bt/it CIO organization today -almostgone-

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Comment 2/24/11: Contrary on the other hand, IBM is spending Millions on IBM Showcase PULSE Show in Vegas. Hardwork by some on is spent laveshly by others at the cost of Jobs which gives daily bread and butter!!! -Crazy_Crazy-

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Comment 2/24/11: "Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." ~ Frederick Douglass -Joe Punchclock-

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Comment 2/24/11: 6 People cut in NJ. -Blue No Mo'-

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Comment 2/24/11: Div 5: GBS, HCM, Strategy & Transformation, Organization & People, Industrial: "small amount of rebalancing our practice." I do not know enough people to know of others, so just me so far. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: Fresh IBM Layoffs in BAO Practice (Federal / Analytics) North America. 2/24/2011. Calls are occurring right now. -BAO Person-

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Comment 2/24/11: Apparent layoffs today, 2/24/11 at Poughkeepsie IBM, numbers not clear. Heard from a former coworker, My husband was let go 2 yrs ago, after 28 yrs of service. Nice huh... I was let go 12 yrs ago with 20 yrs of service. Im not as offended, as I was just as glad. Just sad that the jobs are being sent overseas, with so many unemployed and still looking for work, what does this country expect all of us to do? -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: I'm sorry for the loss of both of your jobs. They don't expect you to do anything. Working people are under severe attack. IBM has been doing this for some time. You have obviously found out about Alliance@IBM.
Isn't joining a union and fighting for one's job, considered an option for those still there, anymore?

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Comment 2/24/11: San Ramon, California 15-30% of onshore work force AMS divisionc 6C -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: Ok. This really is it. Wisconsin is just a taste of what is to come. There is an uprising. It is coming to your state, sooner than later. IBM has locations in many states. If you have ever wondered why unions fought so hard in the early 1900's for the right to organize and have a collectively bargained agreement; NOW is the time to take note of the reason. Labor unions are now faced with the same repression and union-busting that was NOT tolerated by labor back, in those times. We must now start ALL OVER AGAIN. You must see that Governor Walker's agenda is not his, alone. This is not about state budgets, and never has been. (He was recently 'punked' into believing he was talking on Skype to one of the billionaire Koch brothers. He said straight out that the unions must be broken, in so many words. Turns out, it wasn't one of the Koch brothers, it was a reporter.) This is about crushing the rights of EVERY working American to organize, form a union, and collectively bargain for contract. IBMers could be at the head of this fight, instead of having their head stuck firmly in the sand. This will definitely be the end of unions and the working people in this country; unless we all stand up and fight back.
If Alliance@IBM had 51% of IBMers across the USA, we could vote our union in and start the fair process of bargaining for a contract. 51% of 90,000 IBMers is 45,900. That's how many people need to be signed up with Alliance before we can go achieve our union certification. Yes, it is a huge number. Yes, it seems impossible...but it is NOT impossible. This can be done. This MUST be done if we want to have ANY chance of continuing to own a home, raise a family, send our kids to college, afford health care, or collect a pension after our service to IBM. Without a contract; ALL of those things will be gone sooner than later. It's now or never. No more excuses or fear. What say you? -strike-the-robber-barons-

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Comment 2/24/11: Got laid off today - GBS Strategy and Transformation Band 7 -D-
Alliance reply: To all, we need RA packs sent to the Alliance so we can track numbers and Business Units involved.
Send to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 2/24/11: GBS - Toronto, Canada - RA. Bench is fat and there is no pipeline -Done like Dinner-

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Comment 2/24/11: Another year of record revenue followed by the firing of IBM's workers. Please wake up and band together. Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFRadCGY_ao -Porkchop-

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Comment 2/24/11: Sent 2/24/11 12:31 PM email, so do not double count. Location: Research Triangle Park # job cuts: don't know
what locations: don't know Division and BU: Global Business Services AMS IBM Global Account -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: IBM Global Services/AMS/IBM Global account losing 194 staff, according to the package, if I counted right. -What@endicottalliance.org-

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Comment 2/24/11: GBS AMS - IBM Global Account is laying off, I mean firing, people today. I don't know how many but 2 people I know were let go. One in Pok and one in Raleigh. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: CIO BT/IT and Global Business Services so far. Just the notice not the numbers (yet). -RA Announced-

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Comment 2/24/11: I work in Global Business Services AMS on the IBM account and was cut today after 24 years. Can't say I didn't expect it, just didn't know when it would happen. Looks like there were about 300 in my group cut. I sent the details in. -Now Former GBS IT Specialist-

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Comment 2/24/11: Had a call with my manager today that RAs are coming down all across GBS. Told the calls are starting today. Was informed that there will be impacts in our org and other orgs I work with but no specific numbers given. -gbs worker bee-

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Comment 2/24/11: Please look into Endicott resource action happening today -anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: I am a learning consultant in GBS. I just heard from my manager that I did not lose my job in a "resource action" today, but that others in my group did. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/24/11: RA in IGS today. Uncertain of the numbers but rumor is that it is large. -Bullet_dodger-

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Comment 2/24/11: RA today in IGS (Lexington KY, probably others) -What@endicottalliance.org-

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Comment 2/24/11: Firings today. Confirmed in GBS and div 1G -Miss Cleo-

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Comment 2/24/11: Another RA happening now, I do not have specifics because I managed to be below the radar.-GTS- -Duck-you-Sucker-Or-Stand-Up-And-Join-the-Union-

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Comment 2/24/11: To -trouble-in-fishkill-: Of course the executive was uncomfortable, the truth usually is. It's about time someone with guts spoke-up to the IBM executives responsible for putting their employees through living hell for years. While the executives have become millionaires overnight on the backs of the oppressed workers. -stop-the-madness-

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Comment 2/24/11: Resource action today. my manager described it as "extensive". one GBS team I work with in EFK will lose 30%. -WFH-

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Comment 2/23/11: Rumors came in from Yorktown today of some kind of freeze, might be affecting contractors, no details. In other news: Mike Attardo the senior VP of the technology group (fishkill,NY/burlington,VT) was having a town hall meeting with a couple hundred employees. The usual, we're doing good and need to be careful, working hard, a little blue skies too.. blah blah.. Then at the brief question session after a line worker goes off on him along the lines of... in fairly loud voice, hands sometimes waving.. "you cut our pay, you cut our aws, cut our overtime, but you're always making your bonuses and everyone in the "ivory towers" is getting rich and your sticking it to us..." So Mr. smoothy starts interrupting about how he [the employee] has such animosity he might want to consider his position, (the old love getting financially raped or leave it proposition), then he segways into a conversation... where do you work, what shift and days and he'll come visit and see how things are and make everything hunky dory... Then the next question was... "how come you were telling us last year how great everything was going and the variable pay is getting heavy rumors to being less than last year...." So mr. smoothy says igs pulled ours down and it's their fault.. I've rarely seen anybody get mr. smoothies goat buy these two got pretty close... I bet next time Mr. smoothy will have them put questions on cards so he can hit softballs and avoid getting called on the carpet... (I got the first guys name and going to recruit him in short order for the Alliance, he's going to need a union button for protection after that episode telling the emperor he was naked and that was followed by a round of applause!!!!) Mr. smoothy wasn't lookin' to smooth today... -trouble-in-fishkill-

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Comment 2/22/11: In May 2010 STG did a forced placement of a large number of z hardware and software engineers into the X/Blade server hardware organization. The employees and receiving managers had no choice in who moved and no interviews were performed. Everything was done based entirely on your SKILLS database assessment. Since I don't need to work I decided to retire a few months after the transfer. My opinion is this is the wave of the future with IBM (i.e. you are seeing the full fruition of Moffet's employee commoditization). The only long term resolution for those of you that are left is to unionize or leave. -SWG RA rumors-

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Comment 2/22/11: Instead of listening to rumors and worrying about your job why not take action and join the Alliance? Maybe by taking this action IBM will take notice and stop this madness. The reason why IBM is the way it is is that not enough of employees take action to change IBM for the better. Don't expect your manager, director, or executive to do anything to make your life and job better in IBM anymore! -youhavethepower-

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Comment 2/20/11: I'm in DB2 and have been asked to look for another job in another division such as GTE. I was told by my manager that there are a lot in the same situation. Another manager told me that there will be a force placement in March. So far there is no rumor on RA, probably that will cost IBM more than force placement. -torolab-anonymous-

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Comment 2/19/11: I concur eresdamalu, there has been excessive activity, people movement, ISAPS, RA's etc in SWG RTP. Rumors galore. Big push to get employees out of the labs and into customers shops. Goal is to shut down development labs and have all software development done at customer sites, employees homes and BRICS. People well aware and worried, productivity is suffering. Wish they would just pull the trigger and end the pain. -IBMmgmtOnAcid-

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Comment 2/19/11: We are one. Labor is labor. We all know that Corporations and governments, worldwide, want to crush unions for good. This is the reality, no matter WHAT political party you support. If we don't fight back here and now; our ability to bargain for a contract, will slip away for good. IBMers have as much skin in this game as anyone. Any IBMers in Wisconsin? Organize!
"Unions aren't to blame for Wisconsin's budget":
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html -Unite&Conquer-
Alliance reply: Here is something everyone must consider. Unions continue to lose members in the private
sector. The Alliance has also lost many members. If we don't gain new members we will be finished and unable to move forward.
So if you are reading these comments or coming to this web site for information or want to organize please join today.
If you want to be part of the labor movement join today. Can you imagine if we had 51% of IBMers in the Alliance?

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Comment 2/19/11: Just watch the IBM stock price, the higher it goes the more RA's inevitably follow. The IBM executives are doing all they can to get fatter and richer and will stop at nothing to boost the EPS even if it means IBM will soon become a dinosaur once they all cash in. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/19/11: to -former- How long were you in DB2 ? DB2 is one of the products affected. The managers are pretty open after a month of secrecy and have "literally" asked people to look out for new opportunities. The precise words used: "We need to have a look at the operating expense in way we develop. How much we are spending to how much we are making". For young people: 20's and 30's is the period when you learn. Get into a startup, and learn as much as you can. Do not waste your time working for IBM. -eresdamalu-

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Comment 2/17/11: Products under SWG are experiencing cuts. Canada, US regions are mainly affected. Romor mill has workings to about 60 people per product under SWG. Apparently, this is supposed to be in line with the 2015 plan of EPS of 20$ per share. Managers are trying to reorg the resources to other divisions such as GTS and techical sales. News is SVL will be severely hit. Watch your back folks. -eresdamalu-

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Comment 2/17/11: Wisconsin is just the first of many States that are going to try to wiggle out of obligations made to Unions. It is against the law for a private company to fail to fund their pension obligations but I guess past Governers never counted on the vast ATM they call the voters running out of money . The Unions in the 21st century are going to have to be smarter about what they negotiate and how it is payed. Maybe the union itself should hold the pension monies in investment accounts for their members. Then, unless someone pulls a Jimmy Hoffa the money wil be there for the members and can't be renigged on. The federal Government has pulled the same Ponzi scheme with Social Security. All the money you and your employer payed was "Borrowed" for other things and now the government is too broke to pay back the loan. If all the money collected was sitting there drawing one or two percent interest Social Security would be fully funded no problem. The shame is the current Governers and Congress and Senators who have to fix this finacial mess their predecessors for the last 50 years have caused are going to be painted as the bad guys instead of the heros who actually stopped the bleeding to save the life of the patient, the US economy. I guess when you put it in perspective the Government allowed companies like IBM to convert people to cash balance pensions then to 401K pensions so why should it not be ok to do the same to Government workers??? And people actually ask why do we need Unions. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 2/17/11: EagerBeaver, what department did you work in, db2? How long were you there for. I left last year and never looked back, best decision I made -former-

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Comment 2/16/11: How the middle class became the underclass "Without collective bargaining pushing up wages, especially for blue-collar work -- average incomes have stagnated."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-the-middle-class-became-cnnm-2876148381.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=
-anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for the article. We have posted it on our front page, in the Article section on the right panel.

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Comment 2/16/11: US Service Division has been subdivided into 2 divisions..Enterprise (ESD) and Retail (RSD). Depending on your workload in either will decide where you work. I fear a service division sell off in the future -Anon Again-

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Comment 2/16/11: -AT WILL- Why don't the EFK "altercations" be a union gathering? That is more productive use of employee time and energy. It still amazes me that IBMers have the attitude of "oh well, it ain't me" and "IBM will not do that to me". Then when it happens to these same employees they show their true colors which certainly isn't blue... -anonymous-

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Comment 2/16/11: A&P is in bankruptcy and many store closings were just announced. This link is to the union's website and shows the actions of a union in a downsizing. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/16/11: -confused employee-: There is always hope for you. You still have a job (albeit one you don't like because of IBM) and was not RAed like myself who has been unemployed for over a year now. Now my unemployment benefits have run out and any TAA assistance has expired. Since I still hope I joined the Alliance. I hope you have too. -RAedIBMer-

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Comment 2/15/11: At IBM East Fishkill NY within the last two Days we heard on our two-way radios that employees had altercations in the parking lot. Tempers are running short just after fifty employees in manufacturing B330 C4 plating were told that they would no longer have a job just after IBM announced that it had a stellar record making annual revenue profit! -AT WILL-

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Comment 2/15/11: I am a supplemental employee at IBM Canada who got RA'd few days ago. Well, I am still young and can easily find a job elsewhere but I feel sorry for folks who have families and bills to pay. Rumor has it that a lot worse is to come by April. No stability what so ever with this company! -EagerBeaver-

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Comment 2/15/11: Regarding: Have heard from manager, that some announcement comming Feb 16. He had to sign non-disclosure so couldnt say anything more. Likely will affect headcount in some manner. Anyone else heard anything? -Anon-
Care to elaborate any more? Org affected? Brand? Could just be yet another acquisition, as anyone working on one early on will be required to sign NDA. However might be something to it, as our All Hands call for tomorrow was cancelled. -Anon too-

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Comment 2/15/11: To -confused employee- I admire your integrity. You are too good for IBM. If you want to talk back to your manager, then I recommend the words of -He Who Carries the Pickle-: "Are you asking me to falsify company records?" That would probably shut your manager up and make you feel better. But it won't save you from an RA. Your manager knows by now that you hate him and hate IBM, so he'll put you on the list no matter what you do or say and regardless of any data. Without a contract, he has that power. Good luck in your job search. I hope you find a company as honest as yourself. -Gorya-

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Comment 2/15/11: -ANA- I agree with your post but I am surprised at the respect for the individual and full employment comment. Those went away the first year of Gerstner. Do you really mean you just noticed it or were you lamenting what the company stood for before Lou Gerstner took the helm?? -Exodus2007-

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Comment 2/14/11: Benefits for workers who lost jobs to offshoring goes down in flames.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/11/brown-by-blocking-unemployment-aid-set-to-expire-the-gop-says-too-damn-bad-to-american-workers/
-hello India-

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Comment 2/13/11: I was told to look for another job outside of Tivoli. I guess the virtual career fair was not successful. I can't believe people do not want to travel 60 to 100% of the time. -_OutTheDoorSoon_ -

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Comment 2/12/11: By playing the game I mean that management uses the data to justify hiring more people. I get my work done in 40 hrs. But my manager wants me to post more time so that he can justify hiring more people. I'm not putting down time I don't work. I just hope he doesn't use the data to RA me. IBM has become a sick company. I'm just buying time until I find a better job. There is no future for me at IBM. I hate my job and hate my manager. -confused employee-

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Comment 2/12/11: UAW reallty takes care of their employees.GM Workers will receceive 150 million dollars in bonuses, and some empolyees will receive 50% bonusus of their salary. We at IBM have been feed a bunch of BS Respect for the individual and full employment. This company sucks. Join the union We at IBM have no rights We need collective barganning. -ANA-

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Comment 2/11/11: "The Game" is simply make your manager look good and feel safe so he keeps his job. He does not care if you falsify things as long as he can deny he told you to. He does not care if you work 20 hours a day and sleep in your car. As long as his measurements are made so he can get his maximum bonus and job security, he is happy. Its all about him or her and how their boss feels about them. To them it really is just the management game. To you its your life and food on the family table. Isn't it high time you took it seriously and stopped playing games. Management will know you're serious when enough of you join the union to force a vote. Then its a whole new ball game. One that you and yours will enjoy playing in. Live better, Work union. Buy union. Support America. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 2/11/11: To: -NotPlayingTheirGame- "the game" - you are right, no one told us the game so we don't even know the field to play on.
So IBM controls whatever competition is going on with its dealings with its employees. In IBM "the game" is not played on a set playing field (board,
court,pitch,ice,etc.) if it is played on one at all.
"the solution" - with a union contract we get to define the playing field and it will not change (i.e the field will not be enlarged or pushed back) based on setting the rules of "the game" (i.e. our collectively bargained contract).
Then we can fully compete and better "play the game" within IBM and employees will not be seeing more PBC "3"'s and subsequent RAs. -da_facts-

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Comment 2/11/11: Whenever I was asked by a manager or other 'superior' to fill out a form, record or omit hours worked, or any such action that was essentially entering information that was untrue, my response was simply to ask "Are you asking me to falsify company records?" That always stopped them from pushing the issue. Will it help? Probably not, but we all know that the executives and management hold all the power. -He Who Carries the Pickle-

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Comment 2/10/11: Sounds like or better put is, all Operations roles in North America are being reorganized and into 3 groups (lots of VPs & Directors to run these 3 groups). With plans to move any repetitive reporting type of work to offshore locations in either China, Brazil or a yet unnamed location (Cairo). Executives will be told too bad if you need data contact the COEs, the COE will tell them sorry only canned information is available. And once the COEs are trained you know what will happen to the existing staff with a few stragglers left behind to enjoy their new roles. Starts in 2Q to be fully implemented by 2012. -Former Ops Person-

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Comment 2/10/11: >> He said if I don't play the game he will be forced to lower my apprasial. Is this ethical?
I am continually amazed that people come here, year after year, with anecdotes of how IBM is treating them shabbily, and asking "Is this legal?" or "Is this ethical?" You have no contract. They can do whatever they like to to you, modulo the restrictions of criminal law. "Ethical"?? How long have you been working for this company, and you ask that? You still expect them to treat you well?? Join a union to try to make it a better employer, or find a better employer elsewhere. It's a pretty simple choice. There's no third alternative you'll like better. -irRational-

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Comment 2/10/11: -confused employee- you can do one of two things:
1.) Join the Union and organize your fellow employees against the abuses of your manager, yes, that is abuse.
Or
2.) Kiss his butt, bend over for him and do whatever he dumps on you, become a scab on his butt that he can scratch off anytime he desires. -Reality-

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Comment 2/10/11: Have heard from manager, that some announcement comming Feb16. He had to sign non-disclosure so couldnt say anything more. Likely will affect headcount in some manner. Anyone else heard anything? -Anon-

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Comment 2/10/11: -confused employee- "He said if I don't play the game he will be forced to lower my apprasial".
Same here. I am in SWG development and was told some months ago to start "playing the game" or wind up with a "3". Well, I wound up with a "3". Apparently this "play the game" thing is a big thing for managers. Must be the new management buzz phrase. Problem is, no one ever told me what game we were playing!!! -NotPlayingTheirGame-
Alliance Reply: The "game" is anything but a game; however it is simply "Do what we tell you, don't THINK for yourself and don't expect us to care about you." As stated in this section many times: You are an 'At Will Employee'. You have no written employment contract or binding agreement that is in your favor. Please tell your co-workers to WAKE UP!

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Comment 2/10/11: -confused employee- was told to record false overtime and wondered: "Is this ethical? Could I end up on the RA list if I don't play the game?"
Of course it's unethical and of course you can end up on the RA list for any reason or no reason, because you have no contract. -Gorya-

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Comment 2/10/11: -Confused employee-. If your manager told you to clock your time and you refuse he can just plain old fire you. Saves IBM the severance pay. It is only an ethical problem if you are to asked to clock hours you did not work. -still here-

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Comment 2/09/11: China is seeing a growing amount of illegal, independent labor action now.
This site features news about labor actions there, as well as great interactive maps: http://chinastrikes.crowdmap.com/
I thought you might find this of interest. -David-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for this information. For those who don't know, China has its own 'state' labor unions; but they are mostly powerless, and under Chinese Communist Party control. This is why it is considered "illegal" for independent actions by labor in China.
It would be interesting to know if, and how these actions affect IBM locations in China.

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Comment 2/09/11: My manager told me I better start recording overtime on my time reporting. He needs this to show that his people are working well beyond 100%. I told him this is bull crap since I get my work done and I only get paid for 40 hrs per week. He said if I don't play the game he will be forced to lower my apprasial. Is this ethical? Could I end up on the RA list if I don't play the game? -confused employee-

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Comment 2/09/11: maybe just maybe.....
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/09/road-recovery-bringing-customer-service-america/?test=latestnews#content -rayofhope-

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Comment 2/09/11: "Since IBM is basing it's utilization numbers for contract servicing with OT "built in" and billing the customer for OT that is not actual then isn't IBM in violation of something? Is it accounting law, labor wage law being violated?"
The above post is somewhat related to a frustrating experience I have been dealing with for the past 3 months.
I was RA'd in 2007 after my team trained some group of Indians. I found another job outside of IBM with better pay but I was not happy there. The director of IT was a hugh Ahole. Anyway, it didn't work out. Now I am back on unemployment. I have kept in touch with a previous IBM manager over the years because I actually like him as well as my old IBM team. In December he called and told me there was a contractor job that needed to be backfilled at a large commercial account in my area and asked me if I was interested. I told him I was as I need a job. He is not the manager of the account but is close with the IBM manager of the account and passed my name on to him. The other manager said OK but he has to get the approval to back fill. It is now February and the jerks in corporate have been sitting on the approval. My question is, isn't this a breach of IBM's contractual obligation to allow a cusotmer to be short staffed so IBM can save money on the contract? I know IBM can do whatever it pleases with their internal operations but a customer PAYS for the contract and should get what they pay for. How is IBM getting away with this? And will they continue to get away with it? I really need this job and hope this gets approved soon. I am an honest, dedicated worker and I guess crazy too since I am willing to get involved again with this dysfunctional company. -needajob-

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Comment 2/09/11: To -the-straight-forty-guy- : The "work/life" thing was always a joke just like pbc's. There was no work life balance. I don't miss the days of being up in the middle of the night at home working on some system because thats the only time they would let me do changes, and then be expected to be in the office in the morning after being up all night. The work/life balance was just another farce to cover them. At least I got money from that overtime lawsuit to cover "some" of my OT over the years. If you want real work/life balance, organize and unionize. It is the only way with a company like IBM. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 2/09/11: I know this has nothing to do with a job cut or a resource action but in regards to:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/02/04/white-house-launches-new-aba-hotline-labor-dept/

I still think there is a deeper reason IBM did the salary to hourly change and that 15% remix (ahem, pay cut) to tech workers. It was not done solely to screw the employee and save IBM money. It was also done to do damage control due to IBM's manipulation of labor accounting in relation to customer contract servicing.

Since IBM is basing it's utilization numbers for contract servicing with OT "built in" and billing the customer for OT that is not actual then isn't IBM in violation of something? Is it accounting law, labor wage law being violated?

Can it be proven IBM moves utilization numbers (billable hours) around from business units (divisions or LOBs) and from one QTR to the next to make quarterly numbers look better?The USA government should know about this.

If enough of us stand together and say IBM is reporting OT as billable that is not actually being worked by us week-to-week, quarter-to-quarter, there has to be a case I'm sure can catch the ear of the US government.

Also, the Alliance here is your real voice in dealing with IBM. Listen to them. Support them. We need this union to quell IBM abuses that hurt us employees (and retirees), our customers, and our economy. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/08/11: A Jeopardy question that will stump Watson: Companies for 1000$. What company continues to screw its employees in any way possible. Less pay, more work, less GDP etc. Come on folks wake up and lets unionize!!! -watson was here-

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Comment 2/08/11: Hmmm...maybe outsourcing is not so good...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sundaybuzz/2014125414_sundaybuzz06.html -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 2/08/11: Indeed your GDP will $uck for 2010 record results. If you get RAed before the payout make sure you get what little GDP you might be entitled to. IBM made more folks PBC 3 and PBC 2 this year and thus less GDP bucket and payouts will be left even for PBC 1 and 2+. I'd guess PBC 1 get 5%, PBC 2+ 3% and PBC 2 about 1%. And yes, your $1000 stock prize was part of your deferred GDP so to speak. IBM plays three card monty with your additional compensation. They always win and without a union you'll always lose. -da-facts-

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Comment 2/08/11: For what it's worth... http://www.wfsb.com/news/26785375/detail.html -ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 2/08/11: Well its looking like the GDP payouts this year will be stated as same levels as 2010 however if you stayed same or got a higher PBC expect a lower payout than last year. The new motto of IBM at 100 years More Work Less Money for You more Money for the Execs -GDP-

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Comment 2/08/11: I see people make comments on working over a 40 hour week and it just surprises me. Who makes you do that? I participated in the Overtime lawsuit, but I moved into a different position right before the axe fell to chop 15% off of the tech jobs' wages. It was luck that it happened that way because my wages did not get chopped. But one thing I did notice is that my managers stopped saying it was mandatory to work 15% overtime. So, I just stopped working the overtime. I work a straight forty and if the work does not get done, it is not my responsibility because I am NOT a manager. I may be a target but I will go out with dignity and feel good about the work I do.
Work-Life-balance is up to the individual, why do people not know this? Sixty to 80 hour weeks, HAHA. Join a Union or at least grow a pair and take a stand. -the-straight-forty-guy-

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Comment 2/07/11: To -Anon- That's exactly what it is. They moved money from one bucket to another and in doing so saved the company millions of dollars. IBM doesn't give anyone something 'extra'. They only 'take away'. -Miss Understanding-

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Comment 2/07/11: Next phase of outsourcing? Chained to their desks: prisoners will staff call centre within Indian jail:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/01/call-centre-inside-indian-jail -anon-

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Comment 2/06/11: Call to action - don't take the 60 to 80 hours of work per week anymore. Don't take the verbal abuse of managers - report them. Joe Biden says you should! Have to wonder if he realizes big blue employee's could overwhelm the legal resources available?
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/02/04/white-house-launches-new-aba-hotline-labor-dept/ -anonymous-

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Comment 2/06/11: Curious said - "I have no views one way or another about joining a union at my stage of the game,"
As a union member, I'm sorry to hear that. I'd also like to point out that if you don't join the union at this "stage of the game", you will never get control of the dice. My only other observation is that an awful lot of people have been bashing unions lately. They forget that unions brought EVERYONE so many things, like weekends, an end to child labor, overtime pay, maternity leave..a huge list of benefits that workers enjoy today came from unions. As always , people like to use the benefits that unions give them (such as this board), without paying for them, without joining or supporting the union, and then feel that they have some right to complain about them. This is the "only stage of the game" we've got. Join the union now, and we can avoid ALL these discussions about RAs in the future. -Anon-

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Comment 2/06/11: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/magazine/06FOB-Ethicist-t.html
Doing the Outsourcing
By RANDY COHEN -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/05/11: http://clomedia.com/articles/view/4080
IBM partnered with Northeastern University to reduce high-potential attrition in emerging markets. Solving the problem of unacceptably high turnover among high-potential managers in emerging markets is a challenge for many companies. IBM Global Business Process Delivery partnered with Northeastern University College of Business Administration to address this challenge head-on. The solution, an online MBA program tailored for IBM, was launched in India in 2008. The program was so successful that IBM introduced it in China in 2010. The development of this program began in 2006, when Peter Lynt, IBM general manager of global business process delivery, shared that IBM was experiencing an unacceptably high turnover rate in its India operation. As a result, the company was suffering from decreased productivity and employee loyalty in its Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi process delivery centers. -Anonymous-

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Comment 2/05/11: Colleague who is a manager told me yesterday that GDP payout ranges this year are down noticeably compared to last year. Not quite sure how IBM can have a record year, grow revenue and profit, surpass the 2010 EPS target, and then pay noticeably less in GDP versus last year. Sounds like our stock grant (at least for U.S. employees) is not "additional compensation" for a job well done but a shift from one bucket (current year bonus) to another bucket (stock in 5 years IF you perform well and remain with the company.) -Anon-

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Comment 2/05/11: Perhaps this article is of interest for posting....
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/ibm-to-offer-1000-esops-to-india-staff/articleshow/7393865.cms
-IBMER from Europe-

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Comment 2/05/11: "This is not intended to be a flame to the responder, but I think I asked a very legitimate question."
And you were given a very legitimate answer, Ask your Manager, If no answer ask Your managers manager. They are who decide these things so no one but them can answer for your department and situation and skill set etc.
"In fact, volunteering to be RA'ed so someone else's job can be saved is hardly mercenary or petty."
Telling your Manager that you intend to retire on such and such a date allows them to do manpower planning and infact remove someone from an RA list to meet the needs of your department if it is strictly a headcount issue. If that is really all your worried about, just retire. You just won't get severance pay . I even gave my manager 6 months notice for that very reason. I of course will never know if I saved anyones job but I did walk out the door at the time of my own choosing owing the company nothing and them owing me nothing more then the pension my 30 years of service entitled me to. That in and of itself is a good feeling. Just for the record I still do not understand your mindset and probably never will but to each their own. Enjoy your retirement. I'm sure you have earned it. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 2/05/11: (from our International Comments section)
Country = UK
Union Affiliate = No
Job Title = Retired
IBM Division = ITS
Message = IBM is India's second largest private sector employer according to an article in the Times of India: -India Times article-
A cross-section of industry analysts and manpower recruitment firms estimate IBM India now employs 100,000 - 130,000 people. This is up from 73,000 in 2007, the last year IBM provided figures for employee numbers. -easyrider-

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Comment 2/04/11: "Alliance Reply: We don't offer this comments section to decide whether people should ask to be RA'd."

I don't recall seeing a limitation of perspective with respect to RAs as being part of the posting guidelines. If, in fact, the forum expressly prohibits discussions of subjects other than KEEPING one's job, it may be a good idea to state those conditions clearly.
I apologize for assuming a certain level of openness.

"We offer it to IBMers, like yourself, that seek answers to their questions regarding RA's"
Mine was a question regarding RAs.

"The responder's point was made that "this site is all about organizing IBM in an effort to KEEP people employed".
The responder's point was made in a cavalier and sophomoric manner that belies the professionalism associated with the typical IBMer; qualities that are, I'm sure, bound to endear one to one's mamnager and provide protection from being RA'd.

"Alliance@IBM members specifically join to seek stability for their jobs. If you are not a member of Alliance@IBM, then you may not see any reason to defend that position. If you would like to join, we welcome you."
I have no views one way or another about joining a union at my stage of the game, but protecting posters who make rude comments is not serving to strengthen your case for my joining. -Curious-
Alliance reply: There are 2 of us that monitor the comments section and reply when warranted. Myself, and Rick, our webmaster and Alliance officer. This website has been in operation for 10 years and is kept alive by the dues of our members. We have certainly seen our share of rude and demeaning posts and have kept most of them off without resorting to heavy handed censorship. But at the same time we have posters, like yourself, who come here often for answers or to make comments but never see fit to join the Alliance or support it. You can understand the frustration of us and our members. Some wonder why we even offer it to non-members.
The decision was made to keep this section open with the hopes that employees like yourself would see the value of this website and the need for an employee organization.
It seems you are with those who visit here on the members dime, but don't join. So be it. It is your choice, but when you multiply that by thousands it does nothing to contribute to our survival as the only advocate for employees. We stand by our comment that we want people to stay and organize instead of using us to figure a way out of the company.
Lee Conrad
National Coordinator

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Comment 2/04/11: "If we don't hang together we shall surely hang separately".
The same comment applies to IBMers, those employed and those RAed, as it did to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. -Benjamin Franklin-

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Comment 2/04/11: Those that are RAed can attest that the job market is still bleak in the USA., even those who have found jobs. You should try to keep your job no matter how dire and bad it might be. It still pays better than unemployment insurance and your severance check will rapidly shrink in this economy. Instead of trying to ask to be RAed why not do something positive and ask yourself and others to make the decision to join the Alliance even just as an associate member. Maybe then we can keep and improve our jobs, we can try to get those who got RAed recalled, and be able to retire when our time comes. I am still a member of the Alliance, despite being RAed since. I still want better for those that have not been RAed. -sby_willie-

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Comment 2/04/11: I am not the one who posted that they want to be RA'd, I am not the one who posted being insensitive to someone who wants to be RA'd. On the contrary though, we do need to be sensitive to each other's needs. If we do Not respect one another's actions or needs we will have division. Division is what IBM wants amongst ourselves. There is division on issues of Pension, issues of RA's, PBC ratings, Promotions, Medical Care, and the list goes on. Not everyone agrees with each other, but we Need to stop pissing on each other because one person thinks differently. We have at least 3 to 4 different generations here at IBM, we need to Unite under a common need for everyone and stop directing insults on your brother or sister because they feel differently. I do personally know there is a lot of friction amongst IBMers in general and a lot of back stabbing to try win the manager's approval or kissing ass, if you will. IBM likes this because we refuse to "Stand Together on any common principles". - Unite-and-Stand-Up-To-the-right-Entity-Which-Is-IBM-

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Comment 2/04/11: I wonder how many people were chosen to be RA'ed because they took part in the OT lawsuit. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Yes, the number of reasons for getting RA'ed may include that 'revenge' factor; however, IBM doesn't need any reason to RA anyone. If you read back through a year's worth of our archived comments; you'll find that the 'OT Lawsuit revenge' issue has just become another one of those 'reasons' on the list. The point has been made over and over and over again. Isn't it time to take a stand and start organizing, instead of continually obsessing about the reasons IBM will get rid of you? Without a contract, you are an "At Will Employee". IBM doesn't NEED a reason to fire you. and you don't need a reason to quit. That's the deal. Take it, or leave it for organizing IBM and gaining a union contract.

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Comment 2/04/11: This is not intended to be a flame to the responder, but I think I asked a very legitimate question. In fact, volunteering to be RA'ed so someone else's job can be saved is hardly mercenary or petty. Go ahead and discard this post if you must, but understand that you are censoring valid questions in favor of baseless, opinionated nonsense. -Curious-
Alliance Reply: We don't offer this comments section to decide whether people should ask to be RA'd. We offer it to IBMers, like yourself, that seek answers to their questions regarding RA's and about forming a union and seeking a contract that protects IBMers FROM losing their jobs. The responder's point was made that "this site is all about organizing IBM in an effort to KEEP people employed". Alliance@IBM members specifically join to seek stability for their jobs. If you are not a member of Alliance@IBM, then you may not see any reason to defend that position. If you would like to join, we welcome you.

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Comment 2/04/11: Lou-Jr: Thanks very much. I suspected it would take a while, but assumed that under current circumstances, the cuts would come more aggressively. You are absolutely correct about the added features of being RA'ed that make retirement that much more viable. -Curious-

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Comment 2/04/11: -Curious- Actually, I am very sensitive to people with cancer as I have multiple family members who are battling the disease. Thats why the analogy jumps into my head, as none of them asked for; or would ask for how to make it worse. I am insensitive to people who are prepared to retire and are so mercenary and petty they come to a place where people are trying to prevent job losses and ask how to get fired for a few bucks severance. Grow a pair and quit. Stop prostituting yourself for one last dollar. I know, Now I'm sexist and insensitive to prostitutes. -Exodus2007-
Alliance Reply: No "flame" posts on this topic, please.

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Comment 2/04/11: "What if you want to get on an RA list? What is the best strategy? -Curious"
I asked my manager. It took a couple of years for the opportunity be RAd to come, but with severence, unemployment, training money, COBRA, etc. it made retirement possible and was well worth the wait. Training a replacement seemed to help too. Becoming unnecessary was key. -Lou_Jr-

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Comment 2/03/11: I was with IBM for many years and know most of the stuff that goes on. I worked on projects where I reported to people high up. Anyways, as many said here, PBC is no indication of being saved. You can be 1 and be picked. Always think this way, what are you to them and what you provide them with. Let's say you are a server admin over a cluster of 250 servers and have 6 projects under your belt running. What stops them from hiring 5 indian personal with all the certs that you could ever think of, pay each 10K, and replace you and still have 30K plus your insurance! I promise you all that if you don't have a union one by one you will be cut. Now I don't care if it is this site, whom are so helpful, or any other ones; but do it for you kids and wife! If you dont other big guys will follow the same path of massive off shoring. Our country needs our people to make money and be safe! Do what our grand fathers did! IBM will never know you are even on this list till it is so big they can't refuse it and there is no real cost involded!! Save a coffee a month and do this, you will thank yourself. Just recall the GDF model and you can see the future of your role. -Jim-

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Comment 2/03/11: I was RA'ed in 2009. Haven't been here for a while. $1000 bonus for 4 years of suffering at that hell hole? Chump change is more insulting than nothing at all. It's just another way for Sam and his cronies to piss on the serfs and laugh about it. A retired IBM manager I know said that the rumor is DB2 development at SVL will be taking a big hit this year as a lot more work is sent to China. -ByeByeBlue-

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Comment 2/03/11: If you want to get ra'd it is pretty simple. Managers love when someone comes in and says "if I can save another employee by getting ra's , I would consider that". You now are a life saver for your manager who usually has a hard time picking the bottom of the rankings. As for 1's and 2+'s getting ra'd here is a little thing to look for. Watch for the manager suck up. He/she will usually be moved (saved) into another group a few months before the department gets axed. As said when the department gets closed and shifted to BRIC all people in the group get fired. Last, I assume the Alliance is correct and does not disclose their members. The problem is people talk and the mgr spy gets info back to the manager. Also if you go on a picket line you can bet someone is taking pictures. They know, so proceed with caution. Trust is no longer in the IBM dictionary. -wasa1stlinenowra'd-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for verifying what we have been telling IBMers for years: Alliance does not disclose their members. If someone walks in a picket line, they've pretty much become public about wanting a union. Just imagine if a whole dept, project, or function decided to picket on their lunch hour? That impact would ring through loudly to ALL US IBM sites as evidence that IBMers have had enough of IBM's lies and abuse. How do we get there? Join the Alliance and get your co-workers to join. There really isn't any other choice.

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Comment 2/03/11: Had a very strange 1-1 with my manager in DB2 development. He said there was a great need for skilled band 9 employees in GTS. When I asked if my current job was going away he would only say that management is prioritizing resources on high value development. He forwarded some slides on GTS opportunities and a spread-sheet of technical sales job postings. We will have regular meetings on how I am doing with the interview process. Another year of paychecks would be helpful before retiring after 37 years. -HereForNow-

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Comment 2/03/11: "What if you want to get on an RA list? What is the best strategy? -Curious- "
My opinion: Over the last several years IBM has been replacing people in the USA who make over $45,000 with Off Shoring, Out Sourcing, New College Hires with a much Lower starting salary. Chances are if you make over $45,000 / year, you have an Excellent chance to become a target for an RA. Most jobs are documented well enough for a new hire to hit the ground running. Of course, they would prefer you just quit, that way they can avoid any potential legal issues. -Aim-For-The-Big-Bucks-

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Comment 2/03/11: To -Exodus2007-: You might be surprised how many people would actually like to get on the RA list. Some of us have actually managed to prepare for retirement and would like to be paid to leave. Your oncologist analogy is nothing but flip, and very insensitive to people who have cancer. -Curious-
Alliance Reply: No "flame" posts on this topic, please.

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Comment 2/03/11: To -Band 7- The Alliance is absolutely right. Sorry, you can forget getting a job once RAed at a higher band. Even if you are qualified Just forget it. You *might* ( and I used the word without much confidence) be one of the real lucky ones that can get a band 7 job when RAed, but the better and slim chance of getting another assignment is as a band 6 or lower. Like IBM doing away with resources with an RA they are also doing away with band promotions.
IBM doesn't want you to volunteer for the RA list. You get *selected* for the RA by IBM (it's like a sweepstakes). Volunteering for an RA shows IBM how you feel. They can then PBC 4 you and then you might not even get RAed. IBM would rather have you just flat out quit so they save money and can more easily offshore your job. Join the Alliance and maybe then you and other IBMers can negotiate your exit strategy better. -da_facts-

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Comment 2/03/11: "How many PBC 2+ and PBC 1 get RAed? These folks should be safe based on their performance right?"
This is absolutely not true. I went in for a performance review where I received excellent feedback and a 2+. Several days later I was RA'd along with 60% of the people under my second line - including many 2+ performers and some 1's as well. If management decides that your function is no longer needed for whatever reason (in our case jobs were moved to BRIC countries) then your performance doesn't matter. I had twenty years of loyal service with extremely high ratings (including a number of 1's over the years), many patents and a number of articles published. All the jobs were frozen - so it didn't matter that I was a good fit for a number of other positions. Join the alliance before it's too late! -Gonein09-

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Comment 2/03/11: Gotcha! That makes sense. Thing is, one person was told that they could take a position for a higher band above them and the other one could not. It was for the same position in another group. I was told I could and am interviewing, someone else, same band as me and same years and experience as me was told they could not. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: All the more reason to not put faith in what IBM tells you or what they tell anyone else. You may have been told the truth or not. My point is that in the end, your chances of actually getting another job are slim to none. Wondering about the IBM manager conversation minutiae, will just use up your mental energy and waste your time. That is what IBM wants you to do.

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Comment 2/03/11: re: What if you want to get on an RA list?" Your best strategy is to join the Alliance. -anonymous-
You make it sound like IBM monitors alliance membership and puts them at the top of RA list - better be careful how you respond in the future. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: IBM does not have access to; nor know, by any means available to them by Alliance, the names of the members of Alliance@IBM. Our membership list is confidential and is contained on a secure DB on a separate server, from our web server. Our members are protected by Federal law. Alliance@IBM will never reveal any of our members names at any time for any reason.
IMO, the quote you cite, meant that instead of leaving IBM; stay and join the alliance, and fight for a union contract that protects IBM workers from the abuses by IBM.

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Comment 2/03/11: Sorry to bother everyone, but I have a question. If I am a band 7 and get RA'd, is there any issue with my taking another position that is a band 9 or 10? I have been told that it depends on the hiring manager as whether or not they will take you and move you up a band level. Others have told me that you can only apply to a position that is in your band. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance! -Band 7-
Alliance Reply: If you've been RA'd, the likelyhood of you getting another job within IBM is bleak.; no matter what level or band. The reality is, that only a few people have survived past RA's and actually have been able to get a job in another area within IBM.

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Comment 2/03/11: "whatever", I think you are right, there are people that would stick around for a lousy $200 a year stock bonus. -light-is-on-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-

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Comment 2/03/11: The new IBM $1000 employee stock option scam. Another unappetizing IBM dangling carrot. IBM figures this might convince some employees on the fence of leaving IBM to stay. See how little Sam thinks of you unorganized workers if you buy into this? Sounds like another flavor of the old ESOP that IBM did away with years ago. But this new program is a sham. The $1000 stock option grant to employees will be much like the FHA: You'll never get to see it. IBM will see to it. The $1000 in stock options you supposedly get will not save you from an RA sometime between now and 2015. I can assure you can bank on this happening. Those that are left after 2015 will definitely get a PBC rating or appraisal bullet that will disqualify your vesting of the options. I guarantee this will happen to almost all of you USA employees reading this who have not joined the Alliance.. So try to hang on to 2015 and see if I am wrong. Join the Alliance and get the $1000 option in a contract and in writing. -Sam$ucks-

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Comment 2/03/11: "What if you want to get on an RA list? What is the best strategy? -Curious- " Answer: Stay with IBM. ;-) -Gini-

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Comment 2/02/11: "I am resigning voluntarily, having submitted my resignation with my signature. My manager wants me to sign "separation papers" on my last day."
Your manager is just protecting him/herself and IBM. Probably trying to make you sign a covenant not to sue. Don't sign anything to give away any rights you might still have. Just return all IBM property (laptops, office keys, badge, corporate credit cards, etc.) to your manager. If you are resigning voluntarily just walk away on your last day you agree to work for IBM and don't look back. Your resignation letter should be sufficient. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/02/11: "What if you want to get on an RA list?" Your best strategy is to join the Alliance. -anonymous-

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Comment 2/02/11: -Curious- Ask your Manager. If your manager will not tell you how to get on an RA list then Open Door to the next level. Keep doing this untill you get your answer. This site is all about organizing IBM in an effort to KEEP people employed. Coming here to ask how to get fired is a sad statement on your mindset. We members of the Alliance have no idea how you or anyone else can get fired. It seems if you stick around long enough it will happen to you. That is exactly what we are trying to prevent. Its not unlike asking an Oncologist the fastest way to get terminal cancer. Please come back and post after your open doors to let us all know how well it worked for you. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 2/02/11: I recently left Big Blew and if we're talking about the same paperwork it really is just you verifying that you've turned in all your IBM property and that you don't own any money on your corporate card, things like that. If you have vacation pay coming to you, they probably also won't pay until you sign. Be that as it may, there's no reason to get worked up about signing off on this, again, if that's what it is. -gj-

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Comment 2/02/11: To on-the-out: The papers to be signed may be for items such as receipt for returning the laptop, axknowledging the balance when closing the credit card, acknowledging receipt of final paychecks which will be handed to you, etc. -BeenThere-

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Comment 2/02/11: "How many PBC 2+ and PBC 1 get RAed? These folks should be safe based on their performance right?"
Alliance got it right with their comment. I might add that you may be safe now with a 2+ or a 1 but that can easily change. I pissed off my manager and he systematically and methodically dropped me from a solid 2 performer for many years down to a 3 and then a 4 in the course of a year. There was no reasoning with this moron. He was determined to make me look bad and he justifyed putting me on the RA list. It had nothing to do with my performance. He held all the cards. I had no one to support or defend me. In the end he won and I got the boot. You people still there should really support the Alliance. Like a good neighbor, they are on your side. -Gone from Big Blow-

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Comment 2/02/11: To -Glad2BGone- : On my last day, I asked my manager why myself and certain people were chosen. I was told it's just numbers, whatever that means. Less experienced people stayed while I left. What these people I worked with told me later, is in a meeting, they were told, that I and others were "disgruntled" and thats why we left. So my manager tells me one thing, and tells them something else. In the end, it worked out better, because the next day after I left I started a much better job, plus had 4 months of severance, and then got 8k from the OT lawsuit. If I didn't get RA'd, I would of left because of the timing of finding this new job and not get that severance, so getting RA'd was the best thing to happen to me. Who's laughing now? -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 2/02/11: to on-the-out, Do not sign anything that has a covenant to not do business outside of IBM or the right to sue. Tell your manager you need a few days to discuss the paper with your Lawyer and even if you do not get a lawyer, do your own research on the laws. -Do-Not-Trust-Them-

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Comment 2/02/11: To pension-roulette; So basically nothing leaked out. Everybody knows that pension changes have been discussed, and that the timing has slipped three times - assuming there was a timing. -Curious-

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Comment 2/01/11: As for pension changes, what leaked out was an admission on what is being discussed among executices,aka: pension-changes. Once the leaker realized that what is past tense in Armonk, isn't common knowledge among the victims, the conversation ended without details being disclosed. We will all see soon enough, most here are prepared for sammy-the-slayer and his vampire executives at least at the thinking level. Know one knows for sure how blood thirsty these anti-American slave loving vampires really are until they unveil the next round of plans. -pension-roulette-on-the-table-

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Comment 2/01/11: LOL the $1000 stock bonus is a joke. I think it's to keep people from leaving. It vests in 2015 and if you leave IBM voluntarily or non voluntary it's cancelled hahaa lamest bonus ever! -whatever-

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Comment 2/01/11: How many PBC 2+ and PBC 1 get RAed? These folks should be safe based on their performance right? -newbeamer-
Alliance Reply: There is no way to know the number you seek. Performance is not necesarily the number one driver of an RA. If you are a new employee; say, less than 2 years, you may be safe by default...MAY be safe. IBM can do whatever they please because you and your co-workers do not have a contract in writing. Most people that visit this comments section and have been RA'ed, will tell you that IBM can and will RA anyone they want to, for any reason or no reason; because you are an "At Will Employee". That's the best advice and truth that you will get, anywhere.

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Comment 2/01/11: IBM Dallas Is having a huge ice storm, and I work at the Diplomat location. Just received a call from my boss that if I do not come into work, that coud be grounds for dismissal. I asked him if he was going to come to work and he said that he will be working from home today. This company sucks.. Join the union -ANA-

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Comment 2/01/11: What if you want to get on an RA list? What is the best strategy? -Curious-

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Comment 2/01/11: I am resigning voluntarily, having submitted my resignation with my signature. My manager wants me to sign "separation papers" on my last day. I don't know why I need to sign anything else since I gave my resignation letter. I wasn't offered a severance package or otherwise. Does anyone have advice for me? -on-the-out-
Alliance Reply: Ask your manager why you need to sign separation papers. Don't leave it open to wonder.

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Comment 2/01/11: Where do you think your $1,000 stock grant is coming from? Those folks who got RAed. Their dumped salaries are paying for some of it. Now those folks who got a PBC 3 will get zilch for GDP and a probable RA sometime this year. You can bank on it. -thinkaboutit-

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Comment 1/31/11: I agree with the folks here.. the PBC has little input to you being RAed. What is on the table is how much money you cost IBM versus your contributions. If IBM doesn't think they are getting a "bang for their buck" with you then you are probably going to wind up on the RA list. Of course, being a PITA (pain-in-the-ass) to management doesn't help you either. A union contract would be a plus. Teachers and nurses have union contracts. Why not you too? Support the Alliance! -2 performer and RAed-

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Comment 1/31/11: Any Hope? The 401K is a good thing right now. Just tell the other newbies to look at what IBM did to our pensions and have no doubt that the 401K money will be next in their sights. If they can steal it they will. Build your resume and move on. -Still here-

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Comment 1/30/11: IBM to offer $1,000 Esops to India staff
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/ibm-to-offer-1000-esops-to-india-staff/articleshow/7393865.cms -Anon-

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Comment 1/30/11: To -pension-roulette-on-the-table-: Definitely a sentiment I can empathize with, but what changes are you talking about that have not already been discussed here? Frankly, so many of the rumors here have turned out to be false, that it is hard to take any comment seriously now. That pension deadline was first supposed to be June 2010, then Sep 2010, then year end... and still nothing. If you know something, t would be nice to share, otherwise you risk being seen as just another boy crying wolf. -Curious-

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Comment 1/30/11: I wonder how many people are even affected by the pension any more. I know It doesn't affect me as I am on the 401K plan. Anyone that was hired after 1999 probably does not have much of a pension, Alliance-Member. -Any-Hope?-

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Comment 1/30/11: When I was RA'd in early 2009, I requested a meeting with my 3rd level manager. As expected, the jerk wouldn't accept it, deferring me to my 2nd line. I was rated a 2 consistently throughout my career even on my final PBC before my layoff. THE RATINGS MEAN NOTHING. During the telephone meeting with my 2nd level, I asked why I was RA'd. Now, I never expected to get a real answer, but his response? There were other 2 Performers that did more than I did. Excuse me? I didn't know there were different variations of a "2". I thought if you were rated a 2, you were the same as every other 2. Apparently not. Not that it made a difference, I told him then that the whole PBC process is flawed and needs to be revamped. Whatever. What comes around goes around and I hope he eventually gets what he deserves. As for me? I'm a lot happier and thankful for not being there anymore. Blessing in disguise. There IS life after IBM after all. -Glad2BGone-

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Comment 1/29/11: -RA'ed in 2009- I agree with you totally and can empathize with you: I was let go too in 2009 after health issues forced me to take short term disability and when I returned to work got the 30 day IBM career death march. I would like to know the percentage of those folks that had serious health issues that might have been on IBM short term disability that were then summarily RAed. I bet it is much higher than the general IBM employee population that has been blessed so far with relatively good health. Of course IBM is totally committed to obfuscating it just like IBM obfuscates how many employees in the USA it actually has. If you worked at a fab, in computer tape operations, etc. you definitely came into contact with known harmful and toxic substances despite whatever precautions IBM thought could minimize risks. A current case in point: anyone drink the water in East Fishkill (EFK) lately? Not to think that IBM knows that they harmed us healthwise based on our medical issues perhaps? -anonymous-

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Comment 1/29/11: IBM is just a cost cutting dinosaur. It is devouring it's own roots in the place it was born. It is devouring the places where it expanded internationally in Europe. We get word of USA RA's, IBM Canada RAs, IBM Ireland RAs, etc. Why do we NEVER hear of an IBM China or IBM India RA? So everyone they hire there is not a PBC 3? Or is being a PBC 3 in a BRIC you get special immunity from the USA (North American) and European RAs? Another issue of RA's is that we never hear of any major IBM contract signings coming in China, India, Brazil, etc. All the major contract signings are in the USA and in Europe, with a scant few in Australia.. I hear no mega yuan or rupee IBM deals do you? Now if IBM is really growing it's business where are mention of these signings in those countries? Do we have to wait that those contracts will be offshored elsewhere to find out? -Thinkboutit-

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Comment 1/29/11:
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/10/201101302011013000012133127d9461a/Big-Blue-boss-coming-to-B%E2%80%99lore.html

Big Blue boss coming to B'lore

IBM chief Sam Palmisano will address company staff and members of IISc to commemorate the firm's 100 years. Twenty months after US President Barack Obama gave the call 'Say No to Bangalore and Say Yes to Buffalo', here comes the wind of change: US-based technology giants have started making a beeline to Bangalore. Leading the way is Sam Palmisano, chief of the world's largest technology giant, International Business Machines (IBM). He will address IBM employees and members of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at the J N Tata Auditorium on February 9. IISc has collaborative projects with IBM. -Anon-

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Comment 1/28/11: A very good source on pension changes has leaked out, not what they will be, that's not too hard to guess though. An inadvertent hint from a exec T.A. about the 'pension changes' that was mistakenly commented on was quickly dropped like a hot potato. What changes can they make? Will it be an incentive, take a little now and leave or a forced, take the old pension and leave or take the cash balance and stay? If you take the old and try to come back as a contractor, they win, cutting costs and medical/vacation/sick time etc... If you take the cash balance they skim hundreds of thousands from you, dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. Your dealing with the scum of the earth, sending people to an early grave minus retirement pay.... Maybe the ceo's moniker should be: sammy-the-slayer! -pension-roulette-on-the-table-

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Comment 1/28/11: Few are bigger supporters of slave labor and communist rule of the elite like sammy and his slave trading gang in armonk!http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/9010546/
"RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) is working with a Chinese partner to build the Great Wall equivalent of data centers in China. Big Blue said Wednesday that it is building data centers as part of a 6.2 million square foot high-tech campus within a 30-minute drive of Beijing. This truly could be a tech wonder of the world built at a cost of over $1.5 billion and with IBM getting $100 million or more in contracts, according to media reports. The complex will lead to between 60,000 and 80,000 jobs, according to one report." -sam-exports-jobs-and-tech-to-communists-

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Comment 1/28/11: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/business/ibm-ceos-incentive-pay-nearly-doubled-in-2010

IBM CEO's incentive pay nearly doubled in 2010

IBM reported in a regulatory filing today that its CEO, Samuel Palmisano, nearly doubled his incentive pay in 2010. Bloomberg News reported that Palmisano, who has led the company for the past eight years, received $9 million in incentives compared to $4.75 million the prior year. -Anon-

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Comment 1/28/11: To Screwed: First bad rating? Time to be worried and start looking? Are you kidding? Seriously? Are you an Alliance member pushing to get others to join or do you just read this site to see if you are next? I am so amazed at how many people are still numb. PBC ratings mean nothing. Your job performance means nothing. More dollars in IBM's pocket is what matters to them. Billions in profits but it's not enough. Who else can we cut this year. Wake up and smell the coffee. You have two options...Organize and Unionize or look for a job some place else, because you ARE on the chopping block. It's just a matter of time. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 1/27/11: ok, the director had it on a slide deck, pretty sure he wouldn't put it there for all to see if doing RAs The layoff was my term, it was resource action. BTW, that's for this quarter only, no more fall plan, now they have quarterly reviews. Given the periodic flyby baseless rumors by blueclues etc, I thought it would nice to have fact base information. I did add for "what's it worth". Given the re-alignment of resources to customer services, I suspect no RAs in those areas as well. -qtr_centry-

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Comment 1/27/11: To Curious: I was RA'ed in 2009 after going through cancer surgery in 2008. I was on Medical Leave in 2008 and returned to find out in 3 months that I would not have a job after April 2009. IBM showed me what I was worth after 28 years of service................NOTHING, my job given to someone from India. -RA'ed in 2009-

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Comment 1/27/11: That $1000 stock bonus is laughable. What is the strike price? IBM won't be under for it because employees will let the options expire. It's bad paper. Just another way for IBM to cut costs on the backs of it's employees. I was layed off in 2009. I found a job in 1 month. $10k more salary. Quarterly bonuses that each exceed my IBM yearly variable pay. $40k in stock as a sign on and $10k more in 2010. Those of you at IBM need to keep looking and interviewing. IBM doesn't want you. -2009layoff-

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Comment 1/27/11: ""Director level mgmt in SWG says while there are "budget challenges", there will be no layoffs."
What an oxymoronic statement for the IBM director to make. This IBM Director is clearly a liar. Most are. -anonymous-"
I have to defend the executive. Layoff is a term used for people who usually have a labor contract who when business improves will be called back to work. To my knowledge no one has ever gotten their job back at IBM with same pay , Benefits, Job title etc. What IBM does is FIRE you flat out. Therefore you are not layed off implying you may be called back to work, you are FIRED with no chance of returning as a regular full time employee. Workers at IBM are at will employees. They can leave at will, Theirs or IBM's without violating any labor agreements because there are none. You can expect nothing better. Its all defined in your contract. Or lack of one -Exodus2007-

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Comment 1/27/11: "Loughridge, lets start the rebalancing where it belongs. We could get rid of 3/4 of second line managers and above. People who do nothing all day."
Amen, Ana! You know something called REASON and smart SENSE. But second line and above just know MADNESS and SENSELESSNESS. Until what you astutely suggested happens LIFE IS NOT GOOD in IBM. -trexibmer-

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Comment 1/26/11: Get this, bad enough to layoff of in 2009 but IBM is more than willing to hire you back as a Temp. That is their new employment practice. Would not work with a Union! -EFK'ed-

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Comment 1/26/11: Typically I find Rick Smith to be one of the few open allies to expose IBM's RA efforts. This new study by Duke must have few credentials for those who have worked with the offshore centers KNOW how many jobs are being shifted from the US to Asia simply for cost. In fact, IBM is willing to lose contracts to competitors that are now demanding their data and transactions be managed onshore. Here is the link to Rick's article http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/opinion/blogpost/8971828/ -anonymous-

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Comment 1/26/11: I was RAed in 2009 due to budget challenges: even with my PBC was 2+. for years and the decision was made by my IBM Director. IBM Directors will do anything and everything now to make sure they have a shot to make their profit numbers. It affects their bonuses. They don't care who they affect, well maybe, their inner circle and favorites fare better. So what if trimming some good, loyal, even lower paid in band employee (I was in IT as specialist as a band 8 for over 13 years and never cracked 80K base (for NE region USA pay despite the PBC 2+'s) is done to fudge a profit or lessen a deficit?. EVERYONE is just line expense items to IBM Directors, except themselves! -sby_willie-

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Comment 1/26/11: Director level mgmt in SWG says while there are "budget challenges", there will be no layoffs. IBM Directors are liars. RAs are all about politics. Join the union. -ANA-

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Comment 1/25/11: @management sucks- You are absolutely right! As a former 1st line manager (who graded at 100% on the management survey the year before), I fiercely defended one of my employees when she was put on the list by the 2nd line. As a consequence, my whole department was RA'd and the work transferred to Canada from the US, where you can get 3 Canadians for the price of 2 American software engineers. So what happened to my employee that was on the list? Well, she got a job the day after receiving her severance pay from IBM, then made senior a year later, and now she is in the PhD program at the local university. In retrospect, I am very proud of standing up for her, even though it may have cost my department its mission! As for me, I am working for a late stage start-up (reporting directly to a billionaire CEO), and enjoying my work more than ever! In my second month on the job I received an award equal to the highest award I received at IBM in over 20 years of service. There are opportunities out there, though it may not appear so at the beginning. So keep your chin up and move on; it's the best thing you can do! -former1stlineRA2009-

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Comment 1/25/11: Anyone tracking how many who are RA'd went on medical leave in recent years? -Curious-

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Comment 1/25/11: Just received first bad rating ever in many many years of employment. Anyone have confirmation that all these devalued ratings are for a layoff or due to the pretend bonus thing? Time to be worried and start looking??? -Screwed-

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Comment 1/25/11: "Director level mgmt in SWG says while there are "budget challenges", there will be no layoffs."
What an oxymoronic statement for the IBM director to make. This IBM Director is clearly a liar. Most are. -anonymous-

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Comment 1/25/11: "all non-executive employees who performed consistently during the execution of the company's 2010 strategic plan, covering the years from 2007 to 2010, would receive the IBM stock."
PBC 2+ for as long as I can remember but got RAed in December 2009 and gone before 2010. No stock for me. I bet myself and others were added to make this carrot not a big hit to obscene record profits and to obtaining and exceeding the EPS. But my IBM second line and director that did my execution will sure get their additional stock. Greed is good. Power corrupts. Any RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL: my a$$. -anonymous-

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Comment 1/25/11: "Mark Loughridge leaked it at the results call: In the first quarter of 2011, we expect a gain on asset sale, which will be largely offset by workforce rebalancing predominantly in Europe".
Loughridge, lets start the rebalancing where it belongs. We could get rid of 3/4 of second line managers and above. Peope who do nothing all day That would cut down the resource actions. Join the union. -Ana-

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Comment 1/25/11: Here is the game management plays during an RA. The 2nd line is told from his manager that he has to create an RA list. He will form his RA list by his opinion of his employees and the opinions of his managers. Of course the first lines want to save their employees so they will turn on the other first lines. They will suggest employees from the other departments. Here is where making enemies in management can really hurt you. You are screwed if you have a new or weak manager who can't defend you. It is really a game folks. If you had a union you would have someone on your side to defend you. Right now management makes all the rules to the game. -management sucks-

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Comment 1/25/11: what does PBC ratings of 3-4 do for applying for unemployment? Just got my 2nd in a row. -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Seriously? PBC ratings have nothing to do with unemployment. 3-4 ratings twice in a row may mean that you will be put on an RA list and be forced to TRY and collect unemployment after you are gone from IBM.

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Comment 1/24/11: "perf rating: 2 performance: 100% partner/sat Results: You have just given me permission to slow down and do marginal work. By racheting down my PBC rating you control how much output this resource provides."
Actually, by racheting down your output, you're probably self-selecting for a PBC 3 next year, and RA selection. Just so you know. I'd use the time intervening to either help organize the union, or look for a better job elsewhere. Because IBM as an employer is not going to improve without the former, and if you're not trying that, the only real option to you is to either take with a grin the abuse they give you, or find another job. -irRational-

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Comment 1/24/11: I spoke to an account delivery executive today & she basically said that banks are on their "stay away" from list. As they generally have a habit of in-sourcing the material to infosys. Which I find quite hilarious considering it was already there before. -Montreal_-

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Comment 1/24/11: On Request for Hire form: "Hiring Justification: Identity"
"If backfill/hire is a US hire, please provide an impact statement if hire doesn't occur in the US" -Anonymous-

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Comment 1/24/11: 10% across the board RA in AS on March 31. Also huge push to offshore in division 7 will put a bunch more people on the bench. Spot on the person who said RAed resources are selected by 2nd lines. This sucks. -Anon-

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Comment 1/23/11: re: "Scraping along the bottom", pretty sad IBM did not even make the list. When you take into account of how big this company is, the results are not impressive. Pathetic Company -Looking-Elsewhere-

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Comment 1/23/11:
perf rating: 2 performance: 100% partner/sat
Results: You have just given me permission to slow down and do marginal work. By racheting down my PBC rating you control how much output this resource provides. --an IT commodity-

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Comment 1/22/11: Read the fine print on the $1000 stock bonus they are giving out: "all non-executive employees who performed consistently during the execution of the company's 2010 strategic plan, covering the years from 2007 to 2010, would receive the IBM stock."
If your PBC ranking dropped at any time between 2007 and 2010, you will not be getting it. -Anonymous-

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Comment 1/22/11: Can't give location - there has been an abnormally high number of IT employees leaving to take better jobs elsewhere. They're fed up with IBM. -Fred-

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Comment 1/22/11: any more cuts at East fishkill site???.......... -Anonymous-

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Comment 1/22/11: I was RA'd in March 2009 a week after burying my father, after 20 years of service and sacrifice. My manager called me at home to give me the news. I cannot tell you how horrible I felt, how desperate I was at that time in my life. That manager is still with IBM, still canning people year after year, still handing out appraisals that are manipulated to the lowest level possible. Why I am writing is to give my support to all who are threatened, who feel desperate knowing another RA is around the corner. Start on your resume today, seek assistance from those who love you, take inventory of your skills and abilities. I landed on my feet quickly, although I am not going to tell you it was easy. Starting over at 53 was not something I had planned, but knew was inevitable once I started to understand what IBM was becoming. To those still at IBM wondering when your time will come, join the union, support your co-workers, try and make a difference, I wish I had. -Sagemeister-

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Comment 1/21/11: Ok guys - here's the scoop: As we all know, IBM does not give anything away for free. Anytime an employee thinks they are being generous - think again. You know that wonderful $1000 stock bonus they are giving out? Well - that's not really an sweet little extra, In reality they are moving monies around into different buckets. That's why so many of you got lower appraisals this year. They give you $1000 in stock bonus (which you may or may not get in 5 years) and they lower your appraisal so that you will not qualify for the March Variable Pay bonus (or get a greatly reduced sum because of the lower appraisal). This is how IBM saves money folks. A piddle stock amount on the one hand, and they take away your variable pay that would have been a few thousand dollars. This is THEIR company. They make the rules and you suffer. Organize or leave for greener pastures. Those are your options. RIght now we all just : "Work at ibm at our own peril".
There are a few folks in my dept complaining about PBC ratings this year. Seems the persons who are saying anything are grumbling because their ratings were lowered. If you were a 2+ last year, this year you are a 2. If you were a 2 last year, you're now a 3 and pretty soon out the door. No telling who else was affected. Lots of folks just suffer in silence. I am beginning to hear rumors of a imminent RA soon to come. (February time frame). The managers are setting their accounts in order. Jettisoning accounts to the GDF and trying to wash their hands of all supplemental DOU work. I am in GTS. -Miss Understanding-

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Comment 1/21/11: @qtr century - - heard the same thing today at my PBC meeting ....expense control, with contractors taking any layoff hits...this is in GTS. -Don't Care-

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Comment 1/21/11: Mark Loughridge leaked it at the results call:
"In the first quarter of 2011, we expect a gain on asset sale, which will be largely offset by workforce rebalancing predominantly in Europe".
So the 14,500 in 2005 and many hundreds on a yearly basis were not enough....they need to get rid of more....to go from major markets only of course, UK, France, Germany etc...none from the muppets in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic etc..., coz they are cheap. -UK_ITD It's only a matter of time-
Alliance reply: Although you may feel isolated in that regard; the US is continually losing IBM employees to offshore as well. We really do feel your pain. It is a shame that we can't be an international IBM union that works in favor of ALL IBM employees no matter what country we're in......wait a minute...we DO have that. It's called the IWIS: IBM Workers International Solidarity... Here's the link to the front page: http://endicottalliance.org/iwisindex.htm

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Comment 1/21/11: To -gadfly-: When I was young we used to say "If I go to hell and you're not there, I'll know there's a way out....so leave some markings" :O) I suspect that if there is a "hell", Sammy and his ilk will be"nicely taken care of".... bwa ha hahaha... bless you all. Now get busy and organize! -oldman-

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Comment 1/21/11: To -GotMineMarch10-: What IBM reports as employment verfication is not secret and its not much. This is all that will be supplied by IBM: Employees can choose to make available to the 3rd party either type of verification letters: Verification of Employment (No salary), Employee Name, Division, Social Security Number, Employee ID, Status, Most Recent Start Date, Original Hire Date, Job Title or you can choose this option: Verification of Income, Employee Name, Division, Status, Most Recent Start Date, Original Hire Date, Job Title, Base Pay, Overtime, Commission, Bonuses, Other Income, Total Pay, Displays three (3) years earnings. No other form of verification will be provided. -Beat Up -

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Comment 1/21/11: If I get to Heaven and see Sam Palmisano there, I will turn around and leave.... -gadfly-

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Comment 1/21/11: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/full_list/ -Scraping along the bottom-

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Comment 1/20/11: The PBC rating means little during an RA. Your immediate manager has little input. It is your 2nd level manager who puts you on the RA list. 3rd level managers and above probably don\'t even know who you are. So you better start kissing your 2nd level manager\'s butt. If you are on his/her shit list you are all done. Having a union could give you an advocate. Don\'t be short sighted. If you still work for IBM join the Alliance and support a union. -been there-

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Comment 1/20/11: Director level mgmt in SWG says while there are "budget challenges", there will be no layoffs. For what it's worth. -qtr century-

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Comment 1/20/11: Guys, seriously don't hang round for the $1000 share insult. I left IBM a few years ago, I was given 30 times that as sign on bonus from my new firm and have accrued additional shares ever since. Perhaps Sam should only be given a $1000 bonus, though I think he'd fail if it only vested post 2015. -anonymous-

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Comment 1/20/11: And let's all not forget, $1000 in IBM stock is going to be around 7 shares, give or take. And I would suspect these will be given in the form of RSUs, which, when they they vest, are reduced by 1/3 for withholdings (this may be an option). I just know my RSUs that vested a while back went from 150 to 100. So if you survive the next 4 years, you'll end up with about 3-4 shares of IBM stock. I would have rather had a $1000 check -anonymous-

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Comment 1/19/11: Do not worry or fear or be alarmed by your lower PBC ratings this year. It is across the board. I tell you the truth; for if Jesus Christ himself worked at IBM, at best he would be rated is a "2" as they continue to "raise the bar" to establish a "high performance culture". Yes friends, turning water into wine, or being the salvation of humanity, or even generating record revenue and profit growth can never satiate the greedy and lustful appetite of our executive leadership. They again scheme to skin-flint you out of any possible raise or promotion, or any thought of job security. Just be grateful you have a job, while you train your cheaper offshore replacement and they laugh their way all the way to the bank on your backs. Your worth consists of what you are and not what you have, or in what arbitrary number they choose to rate you in order to cut costs. -Joe Punchclock-

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Comment 1/19/11: "Will this PBC rating 4 affect my job application process in other companies?":
IBM employees can request a free employment verification package once per year from a business called "The Work(R) Number". Look on the IBM HR website under employment verification, fill out a request form, and look what IBM (and other companies) report about you. It took about 2 weeks to receive the report in the mail (in March 2010). This could be one of the only freebies left at IBM. -GotMineMarch10--

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Comment 1/19/11: To -CJin Texas- The ball is in your court. The PBC form has an "Interim Review Dates" field. It's your responsibility to fill that in if you wish to have one. That's how IBM plays the game. -anonymous-

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Comment 1/19/11: All the 3 and 4 ratings are making more sense to me after reading the Sam P letter. "All non executive IBMers WHO PERFORMED CONSISTENTLY...will receive $1K stock grant" ie you don't have a 3 or 4 rating. Oh and those who DO get it, will probably be RA'd before it's vested anyhow. And so it goes on, until we organize. -Critical Mass-

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Comment 1/19/11: All you folks that got a PBC "3", especially those who got it the first time and without any warning notices prior by your manager: what are you going to do about it? I don't mean coming to this comment section and venting. It does no good. What will do good is to band together all your PBC "3"'s and make noise by organizing and get your union NOW.
How to start the organizing: go to the cafeteria during lunch hour and make a comment that you find it unfair and unacceptable that good, hard working employees that have made the IBM stock rise to $150 a share on record profits are now being targeted as PBC "3" performers. (If IBM has a record stock price and profits then how can there be more underperforming workers than ever before?) IBM Management cannot tell you to shut up or leave the cafeteria. The cafeteria is you best area to begin organizing. You are protected by National Labor Relation Board law if IBM tries to take any action against you if you start and do it in the cafeteria (or snack shop/vending machine area) Then you can end this IBM travesty once and for all and before it is too late when you get RAed. -IBMUnionNOW-

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Comment 1/19/11: I've been at IBM for over 15 years, with lots of 1's and 2's in my PBC past. Last week I was given a 3 from my previous manager (there was a reorg just before the end of the year). This fellow would always complain about how "inconsequential" my work was but somehow could never find the time to understand what I did, yet he was now saying how sad he was that I might leave. He also said my new manager wanted to talk to me. Haven't seen her since but she did email her condolences. I do believe there are good managers in this company who want to do the right thing; sadly, I haven't worked for one in a while. Thankfully, I had 2 interviews in the week I was given my 30 days, and I have several more on the horizon. Can't wait to work for non-idiots. -Running for the door-

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Comment 1/18/11: In Sam's email to employees announcing the great earnings report he added this:
"In recognition of this, I am delighted to announce that all non-executive IBMers who performed consistently over the 2010 Roadmap period will receive a grant of $1000 of IBM stock, where permitted, which will vest at the end of the next roadmap, in 2015."
The key part I see is the vesting in 2015. Will there be anyone working for IBM by then? How many people contemplating leaving will hang around 4 more years just for 1000 bucks? -CJ-Roc-

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Comment 1/18/11: Huge RA upcoming in US. Fact. Will happen beginning Feb. -blueclues-
Alliance Reply: You may be right; but your statement leaves a lot to be desired details-wise. Care to elaborate?
After all, that's what we DO ask for here, on Job Cuts Reports:

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Comment 1/18/11: "Incorrect information. If you are applying for Gov't security clearance, part of the background check will allow investigators to request and IBM to grant access to your jacket including past PBC's. -Anon- "
Where they will look for things like did you steal from the company, Break laws or otherwise do illegal things. They could give a rats ass about how well you did or didn't do your last job. Job performance has NOTHING to do with a security clearance. In case your wondering an employer is only told you passed or you didn't. No reasons are given if you fail. Any crimes uncovered during the investigation CAN be prosecuted by the way. Anyone else care to offer a correction or an obscure viewpoint that may matter one time in a million?? Lets not nitpick things to death here and make things seem worse for these folks . Most employers these days use an online application with an online personality test. You should actually search online for how to answer the questions to get past the first automatic rejection screening. A lot of people apply for jobs online and never hear back because some automated robot rejected them because of a wrong answer to a mundane question. The young college kids are aware of this and search online for correct answers. Level the playing field and do the same. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 1/18/11: To screwedByBlue: Ditto, was 2 at midterm, apparently 3 was dictated by upper mgmt, if I had to guess, another RA is in the works. Funny, been 2 or better my whole career. Whatever, I'm so tired of it all... I think this year global services will be spared and development will take the hit. Chinese can replace developers but not services. -SWG dude-

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Comment 1/18/11: Heard about lots of 3's being handed out in my area (Software Group) then I got one today, totally unexpected. -screwedByBlue-

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Comment 1/18/11: I have been a dues paying member of the Alliance for over 8 years, and have been an IBM employee in good stead for over 15 years. I just received my first negative (3) PBC rating ever, and I am wondering if it is acceptable to have this rating assigned to me without ever having communicated anything negative to me about my job performance prior to this rating assessment. I cannot say that I was surprised, given how poorly ITD is performing as a whole, but my manager has never once provided me with any negative feedback, ever. -CJin Texas-

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Comment 1/18/11: "Will this PBC rating 4 affect my job application process in other companies. Will IBM inform my future employer of my latest PBC rating which is politically motivated and spoil my chances elsewhere. Is it possible for me to file a workplace harassment suit or appeal the PBC rating within the next 30 days? "
Exodus 2007 summed it up well. I would add that you are pretty much screwed trying to find another job with another company in the same area of expertise. If you find a similar job with another company they will want to know your prior work experience and talk to your previous manager. IBM's policy is that they will just verify your employment and say nothing about your job performance. You could have been a stellar 1 performer with IBM but your previous management will say nothing except that you worked there.
IBM management wll not give you a job reference. So, getting RAed is really like getting fired. IBM ruins your life and your career and most likely you will have to start over and find a new occupation if you are lucky to find someone that will hire you. This is good reason why the Alliance and a union is so important. You need an advocate to protect your rights as an employee. Do you think IBM's HR is looking out for you? Think again. The way it is now IBM throws you out like a piece of garbage and forgets about you like you never existed. Don't let IBM destroy you and ruin your life. Stand up and organize! -I Got Screwed by IBM-

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Comment 1/18/11: "Please be aware that IBM does not discriminate or show favoritism when executing an RA."
Really? What a joke this statement is. Its all about politics in IBM. Join the union -ANA-

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Comment 1/18/11: I was with IBM for close to 10 years, never receiving worse than a 2+ (or 2 before they split that category). Every quarter I would wonder if this was the quarter when I'd get the axe. In 10 years I'd had 8 managers and met exactly 3 of them. As an IBMer I was expected to be available at any hour of day or night on a moments notice. I was expected to anticipate the customer's needs going forward and head them off yet my last 4 managers had no earthly idea what skills I possessed or even really what I did. I'd seen my compensation cut 15% to reclassify me as non-exempt. Once the real cost of all that 'give back' dipped into IBM coffers I had my OT capped - the work still needed to get done, I just had to find a way to do it with no OT and a team that grew leaner in skilled workers. Finally I got sick of waiting, knowing that whatever was coming would benefit 'the company' at my expense and took a job with another company. I lost a few perqs, mostly tied to tenure and the 401k isn't as nice but I make 20% more with room to grow in my band. I sit 30 feet from my manager who not only helps when I need her but actively works with me to develop skills. As an exempt worker I am expected to work OT only when there is an absolute requirement, and then I am expected to flex that time. My co-workers are baffled that I get up every morning and log in remotely to make sure everything is running smoothly before the customers arrive. They're thrilled that I volunteer for work without cherry picking the choice assignments. I'm not trying to redboard or gloat but IBM has taught many of us well. We have skills and habits borne of what this company used to be. If you feel the path is to join the union and try to restore IBM's past, more power to you. I hope you're successful. But if you've had enough, there is hope. Don't wait for the end to catch up to you - get out there and dig. It took me a year but there are hiring managers out there who value and respect the IBM reputation even as the monkeys at the top tear it apart. -Gonegonegone-

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Comment 1/18/11: "Free at last. Free at Last" That's all I can say since being RAed from the bondage of IBM employment. You folks still enslaved and treated as dirt in IBM. Band together. Speak up together. Think twice together. Protest together. Organize and unionize. -MLK-

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Comment 1/17/11: Just had my review. Given a 2 b/c the mgr just couldn't convince the up lines I was worth more than that. I was told that we, the mature market people (slang for American workers), need to find our own opportunities which will most likely be an overseas assignment. They just do not value the American worker anymore. -Anonymous-

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Comment 1/17/11: -feeling the blade- The numbers are already done. In November when the initial request for PBC's to be completed was made we were informed that for our overall department of ~150 people there were only 3 1's and 3 2+'s allotted. This was before submissions or any roll up discussions. Any additions to the above would require an exemption. Anther department was informed that nothing higher than a 2 would be allowed for anyone. -anonymous-

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Comment 1/17/11: Exodus2007: "IBM will only acknowledge that you worked for them from x date to x date. Anything else would open them up to lawsuits." -
Incorrect information. If you are applying for Gov't security clearance, part of the background check will allow investigators to request and IBM to grant access to your jacket including past PBC's. -Anon-

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Comment 1/17/11: To -feeling the blade-, Yeah, they are planning their Feb RA's, however, I have a feeling it will be the in the next week to avoid paying out any bonus. Or am I wrong here? Any Takers? -The-Gist-Of-RAs-

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Comment 1/16/11: "Will this PBC rating 4 affect my job application process in other companies. Will IBM inform my future employer of my latest PBC rating which is politically motivated and spoil my chances elsewhere. Is it possible for me to file a workplace harassment suit or appeal the PBC rating within the next 30 days? ".
IBM will only acknowledge that you worked for them from x date to x date. Anything else would open them up to lawsuits. They are far too smart for that. Appeal the PBC if you want but you were selected by the same upper managers you will be appealing to. Think it will do any good? Take it to your Union Rep, Oh shit that's right, No union Rep, cuz you didn't help organize so you would have one. If you were an organizer for the union and can prove that's why you were targeted you may have had a court case.You can find a lawyer who will be glad to sue for anything you want as long as you pay up front. You won't win, But nothing stops you from suing except your own finances. Best advice is look elsewhere and get out asap. Do not waste anymore time dealing with IBM. If you can find another job with benefits grab it. You can keep looking if it isn't exactly what you want. Times are tough and things are bad. Do not waste time trying to save something that is already gone. Move on. Your Manager probably wont even answer emails anymore. Bet your already off the distribution lists. This is how they deal with people they fire. Even 1 rated people caught in an RA get treated this way. No sense bothering with the walking dead. By ignoring you it makes it less stressful to your Managers. They don't have to think about you as a human being. Just a broken and discarded work widget. Good luck with your future employment and close the door behind you for your own health sake. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 1/16/11: We received notification from our management that PBC ratings/reviews will be tougher this year and will be discussed within the next week. Isn't it kind of early in the year for reviews? Or is it just a set up for the annual February slaughter? -feeling the blade-

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Comment 1/16/11: To all still employed by IBM. When your day comes, fill in the Yadda Yadda as it pertains to your situation:
Dear Yadda Yadda:
We regret to inform you that your job has been eliminated due to Yadda Yadda. You have Yadda Yadda days to find another job within IBM or your last day will be Yadda Yadda. We will not tell you the real reason why. We will not help you in any way. We do not care if you only need one day additional to retire, Or if you are sick or just won an award as the greatest Yadda Yadda we ever hired. Come Yadda Yadda you are gone. Any questions feel free to call HR at Yadda Yadda. A special number has been setup and is being manned by someone who knows nothing and may not even answer the phone. We really do appreciate your Yadda Yadda Years of Yadda Yadda service but your time is up. No need to thank us for removing this terrible burdon of being overworked and underpaid. You have thanked us enough already by not organizing all these years and leaving yourselves wide open to having your life destroyed by the Needs of the Business. As always, Yadda Yadda. Your Business unit executive who is not being RA'd. FYI. This formletter was created By your BUE or their Secretary who is a contractor on a PC from a division that was sold off to China( Lenovo), Printed on a printer that was created by a division sold off or spun off,( Ricoh or Lexmark) across a network sold off ( ATT) . Why would you think you wouldn't be next when thousands of people in Multiple divisions were dumped at every level across the board over the years. Do not wonder for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for you. If not today, then Yadda Yadda.-Exodus2--7-

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Comment 1/16/11: "Please be aware that IBM does not discriminate or show favoritism when executing an RA."
Really? If an IBM director or higher would take a polygraph you would find that they do show blatant favoritism, do discriminate, and screw the underlings to keep their nest feathered. Why do you think no IBM Sr. VP has been RAed? Going lower on the totem pole, name an IBM Director that was PBC "3"ed and RAed. Can you? -anonymous-

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Comment 1/16/11: "I know and I am ready to leave IBM; but my question is, will I be able to come back after a few years."
When you are targeted with a PBC 3 you are gone...gone. IBM is discarding you with the trash. With a PBC 4 then your worse than gone. IBM wishes you never had been around. They don't even want to take the time or effort to throw you out.
Repeat this to yourself folks: to IBM you are a resource and nothing more than an expense; you are considered by IBM to not be a human being. Why do you think IBM treats you in an inhumane way? The only human beings that are not resources and are not expenses to IBM are the middle and upper management and executives who have rigged the PBC system and the IBM business against you and your colleagues. The ONLY way to change this is to join a union and attempt to get IBM management to play fair on a playing field that does constantly change based on management whims and egos. -faceit-

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Comment 1/15/11: Thanks for your reply. Will this PBC rating 4 affect my job application process in other companies. Will IBM inform my future employer of my latest PBC rating which is politically motivated and spoil my chances elsewhere. Is it possible for me to file a workplace harassment suit or appeal the PBC rating within the next 30 days? Thanks in anticipation. -Anonymous-

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Comment 1/15/11: To -Shouldn'tbesurprised-. As far as 'can and should retire'. Okay, you pay my mortgage and health care and I'll take my tiny pension. So much for solidarity!!! I have been with the Alliance since it formed! How much have you fought for US? -Just another old guy-

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Comment 1/14/11: I was selected for RA IN JUNE 2010, but managed to come out of RA when I appled for a post and got it. Now I have a highly political crook, as blue pages manager, who has given a PBC rating of 4. My previous ratings were 2.The PBC rating now comes with a performance improvement plan within 30 days, I know and I am ready to leave IBM; but my question is, will I be able to come back after a few years. Will the 4 rating affect future employment at IBM, The 4 rating is result of political maneuvering by this female who reaches up to the top hierarchy. I got this despite my hard work. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: "political maneuvering" is just one of the many examples of why IBMers should be organizing, now! Whether you come back to IBM or not, is not the problem that you have, right now. Thinking about your future in IBM, after the fact, may not be beneficial to you, now. Thinking about it previously, may have been.

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Comment 1/14/11: Ref: -Trumka-
You've been coming to this site for years? And don't know the answers to your questions already? Are you a troll? If not, get off your ass and do something. Don't just sit around and wait for somebody else to do something for you. Too many beemers are; "my manager always took care of me now they aren't. Who else will take care of me?" The answer: do it yourself or take what you get. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 1/14/11: Word is coming out that Pok mainframe group is going to do some significant cuts this quarter. Anyone else hearing of new layoffs? -pokie ny job cuts planned-

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Comment 1/14/11: I am part of the CIO organization and I was informed on Jan 4th that due to funding my job would be eliminated at end of 1Q and that I had<3 months to find another position within the company.....Happy New Year! I know others are affected too but some are vested in the retirement plan and can retire which is great for them, unfortunately I cannot even though I have 28+ years. Not sure why they chose me instead of someone who can and should retire. It's pretty useless having a discussion with my non-US manager who is a just pawn in this too. -Shouldn'tbesurprised-

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Comment 1/14/11: IDT employee. My entire workgroup of IT architects was informed today that our jobs are being moved to GDF. No specific information on dates, or if severance allowance will be offered. At least 3 people affected, likely more. -lucky-

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Comment 1/14/11: to IBMCSOsux, "Or did all the employees have to trudge in to avoid the next RA".
Please be aware that IBM does not discriminate or show favoritisim when executing an RA. Jumping Hoops, Kissing Butt's or sacrificing your life will not save your job from an RA. RA's are decided at the top and the Plumber's Theory kicks in after that. All Shit Flows Down Hill. -Union-Member-IBM-Alliance-

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Comment 1/13/11: "May be one way would be to drop the dues to a dollar a year and get as many employees signed up as necessary and get a formal union going."
Frankly, if employees value a union so poorly as that, then they deserve what they get. I know plenty of co-workers who easily spend a dollar a day at vending machines. If they don't want to spend the current thirty-three cents a day for better representation of their concerns to management, then they're unlikely to get more than they pay for. -irRational-

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Comment 1/13/11: Southbury CT had about 28 inches of snow on 1/12 so does anyone know if IBM showed any for the individual and told employees and contractors to stay home or work from home? Or did all the employees have to trudge in to avoid the next RA and did all the contractors need to come in to fulfill their contractual obligations? -IBMCSOsux-

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Comment 1/12/11: -Bedazzled- My inclination is that 90% or more have laptops and could work from home. I know I did. Good for you,That is the problem with IBM Excutives and managers.They have no respect and do not care about those employees who have no laptops and cannot work from home. Their attitude is, show up for work in a ice storm, or get fired, while executives and managers can work from home. What a joke that is working from home. Give me a break. Join the union today and bring back respect for the individual back to IBM. Tommy Watson would be rolling over in his grave if he would see how the rank and file are being treated by the managers and execuives of this company. -ANA-

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Comment 1/12/11: SWG is readjusting assignments, they have been unable to fill open slots in the US from the internal population, so they are forcing the issue asking managerd to pop for 1 reassignee. -qtr_century-

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Comment 1/12/11: @treated like dirt......how many employees at RTP have laptops and thus are able to work at home? I was up there last year for about a week and saw maybe a dozen people. My inclination is that 90% or more have laptops and could work from home. I know I did. -Bedazzled-

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Comment 1/12/11: I have been coming to this website for years and always notice the reminder to "join the alliance" after every job cut report. However, I have to say that I do not see any serious plan to actually create a union that will make a difference. And, as long as you do not have a serious plan, I am afraid you will not get participation you are seeking. Further, here are some of my questions:

1. Do IBM US employees already have a union or not? I believe the answer is that they do have a union "CWA Local 1701". However, it is powerless because it needs at least half the IBM US employees signed up. Is that a correct statement?

2. In order to create a viable union, members have to sign an"authorization card". What are you doing in getting these cards signed? Does joining the alliance signify joining the union?

I guess what would be beneficial is if you could outline a step by step procedure on what you need to do before you get a seat at the executive table. Then, the people here can help you achieve that goal. May be one way would be to drop the dues to a dollar a year and get as many employees signed up as necessary and get a formal union going. Just some thoughts. -Trumka-
Alliance reply:
Thanks for your questions; some of which are answered here: http://www.endicottalliance.org/allianceibmsimplefactsheet.htm
We have answered these questions many times over the years but it is good to revisit them.
The Alliance@IBM is an official local of the Communications Workers of America.
We are an advocate for employees, a membership organization and an organizing campaign.
We have not gone through a labor board election for certification as the collective bargaining agent for employees, therefore we do not have recognition by IBM. But that does not neccessarily make us powerless.
Authorization cards have a limited shelf life. We only use them when we have a hot location.
Joining the Alliance in any of our 3 catagories signifies support for the union and a desire for an election.
Voting members pay dues and are full members of the union.
Associate members have limited benefits.
Subscribers (free) just signify they support us and get email alerts.
We can not drop the dues to $1. This amount is set by the consitution of CWA and is the minimum.
Besides, we have a catagory (subscriber) that is free.
Bottom line is we need people to not just come here and read the latest gossip, but to join Alliance@IBM, and organize their co-workers, too, so we can build majority support.
Lee Conrad
National Coordinator

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Comment 1/12/11: To Fellow IBMer: Look at how much IBM cares anymore about its employees. RTP was predicting an ice storm evening of Jan 10, we received this note January 10, 2011: 5:00 p.m. Most companies in the area decided Jan 11 morning to delay opening due to road conditions etc. however IBM decided before the event they were remaining open on normal operating. Glad they sent at 5PM and also closed the cafes since those are some other companies employees they are putting at risk..
IBM does not care about their employees. I lived in Dallas and worked at the IBM call center at the Diplomat location. They made us come to work in an ice storm and risk our lives, but all the managers and the executive worked from home executives made us take days of vacation if we did not come to work. Join the union. -ana-

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Comment 1/12/11: -treated like dirt- IBM used to cancel business back in the 1980's due to snowstorms. They even closed as recently as an April snowstorm in 1997 at Poughkeepsie plant. Remember IBM's founding principle RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL includes IBM employee safety. This ended completely under Palmisano creating his own IBM business principles under the direction of Gerstner no less. Is the RTP cafeteria serviced in some way by SEIU workers? If so then they are union and that might be why the cafeteria was closed. You can bet these workers would be protected from an RA layoff if they chose to stay home for their own safety during any ice storm which is always bad wherever you live (I know from working in CT and NY) I remember when I was on a road trip through NC and stopped by RTP and was chased out of the main cafeteria for passing out Alliance literature by an IBM manager so perhaps IBM doesn't want to advertise any unions already existing on site in RTP(?) All the more reason to get a union contract through the Alliance and get IBM provisions for delayed opening and closures for inclement weather conditions as part of that contract! -sby_willie-

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Comment 1/11/11: There's a reason that article was in a magazine called "Money" and not "People" or "Hard Work" or "Intelligence". They are speaking to investors, executives, and others that have no concern for the long-term consequences of their choices. Forget about what Wall Street says -- you need to focus upon what is best for your future, your fellow workers, and the long-term prospects of the company. That depends upon training, investment in people, the stability of a job that will be there tomorrow... -He Who Carries the Pickle-

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Comment 1/11/11: Look at how much IBM cares anymore about its employees. RTP was predicting an ice storm evening of Jan 10, we received this note January 10, 2011: 5:00 p.m. Most companies in the area decided Jan 11 morning to delay opening due to road conditions etc. however IBM decided before the event they were remaining open on normal operating. Glad they sent at 5PM and also closed the cafes since those are some other companies employees they are putting at risk:

IBM RTP will be open on Tuesday, January 11. However, precipitation and cold temperatures forecasted throughout the Triangle area overnight may create hazardous road conditions in the morning. IBM employees should exercise caution and personal discretion when planning their commute, and should contact their managers to discuss alternative work arrangements as necessary.

Employees in departments which have their own inclement weather or emergency operating procedures should follow those procedures.

This message is also available via the Emergency Status Line: 919-543-5607.

Please note the following:

* All cafeterias will be closed on 1/11, and food service will be limited to the sundry shops located in buildings 713 (main site between buildings 001 and 201) and 500. -treated like dirt-
Alliance Reply: When will you begin to realize what Exodus2007 and the rest of us are saying? Organize and vote for a contract that stipulates rules that IBM has to follow, in your regard. You have the power to stop being "treated like dirt".

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Comment 1/11/11: Fellow IBMers New and Old, Active and Retired. Past and Future even. It occurs to me that we will never get enough votes in the Boardroom at IBM to make a difference in our lot in life. The deck is certainly stacked against any employee initiated proposals there. This leaves two options. Do nothing and just accept that this is the way things are going to be, or join the Alliance and force change through a union contract. For a paltry 10 Dollars a month you can stick a virtual thumb in Sammy's eye and keep this Website and other organizing efforts going. Then at least you can say you tried to make a difference. Invest in yourself. Join the Union today. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 1/10/11: While not offshoring, moving jobs to a new location with no consideration for those currently performing those jobs, is somewhat disconcerting. I work in what is called Mainframe Configuration Management and was told today these jobs are moving to Columbia, Missouri. Internal accounts first followed by commercial accounts. We are currently spread all over the US, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Colorado, New York, and South Carolina are just some of the states we inhabit. Transition of the IBM Internal accounts is to begin in March 2011. -DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT SUPRISED-

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Comment 1/10/11: "Can I volunteer to be placed on an RA list in hopes that some faithful person will be retained as an exchange?"
..... I for one would not do this. The management would get you and someone else and exceed the requirements of finding a target to RA. Your best bet, do not tell anyone you are looking for a new job, and when you obtain the new job take a few days and actually start it, then give your IBM manager notice. They would do that to you in a heart. .... -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 1/09/11: I have worked at several companies during my career and have found IBM to be by far the most abusive. My manager was in my face, using four letter words, and mentally abusing me. I was afraid to speak out and go to HR since he was a high level manager and I thought HR would side with him. In the end he won, broke me down, and laid me off. A union would have helped me since I would have had someone to go to that I could trust. Don't make the same mistake I made. Support the Alliance and get a union going to protect your rights as an employee. -mentally abused-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for the endorsement and thank you for reminding people that they don't have to accept the 'mental abuse' by IBM management. Like Nancy Grace said, "If you allow yourself to be manipulated, then it's NOT manipulation". Same goes for mental abuse. Don't allow it. Fight back! Organize. Join us and your co-workers and build a union that stands up for it's members, and fights for a contract.

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Comment 1/08/11: I was passed over for a well deserved promotion based entirely on politics and the 'good 'ol boy' network. A seriously underqualified person was the only one told about the posting, and subsequently was awarded the postion, as a second line mgr was attempting to save that person, whose original position had been targeted to go to offshore. I've had and seen enough, and am looking for work, and have a few offers. Can I volunteer to be placed on an RA list in hopes that some faithful person will be retained as an exchange? Also, if I am straight up honest and tell my manager that I am looking for work, what is the recourse? I would gladly accept a paltry severance to either be asked to immediately exit or stay a bit longer and train a replacement. Or does IBM kick you to the curb on the spot and empty handed if you make mention of looking for work elsewhere? -anon-
Alliance Reply: IBM kicks you to the curb on the spot and empty handed. Count on it. Fight back! Organize.

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Comment 1/07/11: Did all those reporting job cuts get let go. We had manpower job cuts this week in Poughkeepsie. -jim-

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Comment 1/07/11: I read the Money Magazine article that "No Money" cited. The worst part of the article was that the guy (their chief business correspondent for CNN) says, "...my favorite economic trend, globalization." That doesn't bode well for Accounting or IT job security - at least not in the US. -anon-

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Comment 1/05/11: To anon regarding the mass layoffs that occur each year towards the end of February: I can't speak for other groups, but our group in GTS seems to be preparing for that. Some of our accounts are officially moving to Dubuque very soon. (one cut over today), another goes on 2/15. They are moving people around to the remaining work. They are ending DOUs that have been in place to help out other groups. At first there weren't enough people to do the work. The 're-arrangement' of work and accounts has now shown there are more than enough people to handle the workload. I'm guessing they will be letting the contractors go first. That seems to be the way they've rolled in the past. -miss understanding-

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Comment 1/05/11: Anyone brave enough to write an article for the newspaper or magazines describing the job search experience nightmare when searching for another IBM assignment within the 30 days-60 days RA period? I would like to but I have not been RA yet but am an associate member. We need to get the word out on unfair and unequal employee treatment by IBM to the public otherwise IBM always make the list of most respected and fair employers list. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: They can also write it for this web site and we will get it out to the media.

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Comment 1/04/11: Wondering if there's any rumor-mill churn going on concerning "The IBM Annual 1st Quarter Mega-Firing!" For the last three years, they've been really nailing people around the end of February. Frankly, I'm surprised the company has any fulltime US employees left. -Anon-

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Comment 1/04/11: "Armonk was all about offshoring their local jobs."
Last I checked, IBM is in dozens of cities in the USA. It is not a local thing to Armonk, to off-shoring or out-sourcing. -Unionize-All-Cities-

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Comment 1/04/11: Hi. I am considering joining Alliance as a paying member. Before I do though can you tell me how many paying members you have and give me some sort of idea of how the money is allocated? Thanks. -Future Member-
Alliance reply: Thank you for considering membership in the Alliance. The Alliance has about 200 dues paying members. We have lost many members due to the massive job cuts at IBM and tough economic times. Your dues go to keeping this organization alive.
Everything from costs associated with the web site, office expenses, organizing material, mailings, phone/internet service, etc are paid for with dues. We have one full time employee and 1 part time employee. Salary is reimbursed by our parent organization, the CWA.
We have scaled back our activities the past few years because of declining dues. We encourage employees to join so we can ramp up our organizing. We have an organizing plan in place for a couple locations and we are working on those.
To see some of our other work go here: http://www.endicottalliance.org/work_in_progress_final.pdf
Remember, we are the ONLY IBM employee advocate out there. It is imperative that we exist and survive.

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Comment 1/04/11: Support the Union. PBCs are a joke in IBM. They are all political. If you're liked by execuitves and go to the correct happy hour or have s@@ with the right person, no problem, you will be promoted in IBM. Support the Union. -Ana-

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Comment 1/04/11: @-terminator- If you're predicting the demise of IBM - you're wrong. Contracts come and contracts go. IBM keeps trudging on. If you want to do something about the way IBM management treats workers, Join The Union. It's that simple. With a UNION you have collective POWER. NO UNION=NO POWER. It's a very simple equation. Join today! -4merBmer-

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Comment 1/04/11: To Gone In 07: Like you I was RA'd. The posted jobs were so few. Like magic a job popped up that I was perfect for. The hiring manager said I was a fit for the job. But our senior management denied a transfer that would have kept me employed by IBM. I appealed to corporate HR (Randy) who pointed me to the group HR. They had one excuse after another for defending I could not have that job. I successfully challenged each excuse. Then they finally said that the job was marked to offshore. So the truth finally came out, and I could not challenge that. This was an internal job in the CIO group. Armonk was all about offshoring their local jobs. So that job remained "vacant" and a twin job that had an expert in the seat for years was RA'd as it was now marked to be offshored. -anonymous-

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Comment 1/03/11: I just read an "amusing" article in Money magazine's Investor's Guide (Jan/Feb, p42). The Chief business correspondent for CNN wrote that he is often asked by parents what fields he'd recommend for their children. His answer: IT & Accounting. I wonder if he's talking about the woman in Argentina that has my wife's job, or the guy in India that has mine? This just shows how much the company & industry have been able to delude the press about jobs that are moving off-shore. I'm planning to write Money an opposing viewpoint. It would be interesting if others did the same and see if there is any recognition of the truth in future issues. -No Money-

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Comment 1/03/11: I was RAed with 2-2's in a row. I thought I was safe. Wrong. No one is safe. When I was RAed my manager told me i had 30 days to find another job. I applied to around 10. They were all good fits. I knew the job and knew the manager. Not one manager responded. I called one manager I knew well at home in the evening and asked why no response. He said he was sorry and couldn't. That was all he said. I wasted my time trying to find another job. In retrospect I wish I gave my manager the middle finger. He lied and gave me hope that there would be another job. -Gone From Blue-

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Comment 1/03/11: New TAA notice:
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/ibm_international-business-machines-ibm-global-sales-operations-organization-sales-and-distribution--1397929.html -member-

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Comment 1/01/11: "We were told by the sr. mgr for global PM, that IBM did not want employees any more but rather, just an IBM manager to manage contractors."
An IBM manager cannot manage contractors. If an IBM manager manages a contractor (i.e. treats the contractor like an employee) the contractor can legally file for "dual employer" status and actually sue to become an IBM employee if that is what the contractor wants. A contractor might want to explore this is they are told they are let go by IBM based on the contract(s) they service or support. Then they can stay employed as an IBM employee. IBM still plays fast and loose with the distinction of what is an employee and what is a contractor and how to treat the two and a lot of IBM managers don't know the labor laws. -contractedRnot-

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Comment 12/30/10: To: -IBManagedOut- , This is very old news. Very very old news. Once you are told you are RA'd, you are marked. You're done! I posted for 6 internal jobs and bugged my manager for a month and got no response. When I asked at my exit, why didn't you at least answer my emails the past 30 days, I got shrugged shoulders. IBM does not want American workers, they want cheapo labor overseas. The only way to fix the degrading treatment is with a Union in place. There is no other way. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 12/30/10: i was laid off and retired 4/2009 prior to that my boss and i , (who is still employeed, tried to restart IBM PM certification. We were told by the sr. mgr for global PM, that IBM did not want employees any more but rather, just an IBM manager to manage contractors. Since my lay off I have had many offers at %40 to $55 per hour as a contractor, and it seems to have spread thru out the IBM customers as well. I refuse to do the work I did , for les than half of my former pay and without benefits. The big guys have changed the job market, it is up to us to say no -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/30/10: Looks like the State of Texas contract is toast. If this keeps up, we won't have any contracts left and maybe then, they will start RA'ing some of the massive executive population. Texas will end IBM data center contract -terminator-

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Comment 12/30/10: Alliance - you probably have this covered, but where is the members only link on your web page, I must be blind because I cannot see it.
To was1stlinenowra'd, Are you serious that the management deliberately treat people that way? how unsophisticated can you be? I guess the world is still a long way from being truely civilized. -2010-Was-Good-
Alliance reply: We removed the 'members only' link, because it was tied to the old DB system we used for member signups, etc. We now are using a new DB system that doesn't function the same way. We are in the process of learning all the features of the new system and will let all members know if we re-enable the members only section, from the website menu. Our Alliance Members Only Forum , is separate from the new DB and can be accessed by members only. If you are a member, and have not yet visited the Alliance Members Only Forum, please send me a request: Webmaster I will send you a link and then you can register for access.

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Comment 12/30/10: Please everyone understand that even though you are not a PBC "3" means you are safe and immune from an RA and permanent firing from IBM. I'm sure -was1stlinenowra'd- would agree that folks that were PBC"2+" and even a few PBC "1" have been RAed and treated liked they were ranked at the bottom. Let's face it: if your 3rd line or second line doesn't like you or is ignorant to what skill set you have and what you do and contribute, even though your first line manager thinks your great, you can still be gone in an RA flash. -anonymous-

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Comment 12/29/10: In reference to FHA. I was just stating you dont lose it if you are retirement eligible regardless of age. When you can start using it was not in question. -Beat Up-

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Comment 12/28/10: Yes, soon as that RA shot was fired, the way I was treated changed. People avoided me, I no longer received CC on memos. Told to just take time off and look for a job, but beneath that statement was "get lost" out of sight with a what are you doing here? It is terrible to be treated like this after years of work and I am sorry for each person who goes through this as I did. I don't wish it on any person. -RaMarch2010-

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Comment 12/27/10: to ibmanaged out: The reason for the cold shoulder is that people think that a person who was ra'ed was ranked on the bottom. That is the same reason that mgmt won't/can't help in getting you another job unless you are in the in crowd. My advice is once you're gone don't look back and just keep your head up and move on. You got to keep up your health. -was1stlinenowra'd-

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Comment 12/27/10: -IBManagedOut- I had the exact same thing happen to me when I was RA'd back in '08. It always bugged me how one second I could be a"valued member of the IBM team"..and then the next second-invisible. It even seemed like folks turned down aisles to avoid me. My manager told me that I was on my own and would get no help from him. Personally I think the stigma continues even today-I've applied 20+ times for the type of job I did for 27 years "there"...even in the same project-and I never hear back. I'm still unemployed/underemployed but I joined Alliance as an associate member to help the fight continue. -kickedtothecurb'08-

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Comment 12/25/10: IBM has been on a downhill death spiral for at least 10 years. Sam's method for keeping the stock price up has been to cut US jobs and offshore them overseas. You people still with IBM really need to wise up. Until you ban together and form a union this abuse to US employees will continue. It is sad how Sam thinks he is good for America. Until he stops the US job cuts and starts creating US jobs he is clearly bad for America. Join the Alliance and support a Union! -True Blue-

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Comment 12/24/10: Has anyone noticed that someone being RAed instantly becomes "persona non grata" in IBM? Outcasted. Ignored. Swept aside. Treated as something perhaps less than human. For instance, folks that get RAed get no help from their management recommending them for another work assignment in IBM, no letter or memo .cc'ed to their peers thanking them for their loyal service, they get no proper and dignified send off that some folks that leave the company for another opportunity usually get like a luncheon. Etc. etc.. I personally knew someone who made the Quarter Century Club during the time he was RAed and got no mention of it to his peers like other IBMers traditional get. His book also had no congratulatory letters in it. It's sickening. It's degrading. Let's get a union and restore basic human dignity in IBM for 2011. -IBManagedOut-

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Comment 12/23/10: "IBM loses another contract - yeah? so?"
It is a big deal when IBM loses a contract. Who really suffers when IBM loses a contract? Sam? Daniels? Collins-Smee? None of them or their other VPs and Sr. VPs suffers. It means more employees suffer and get RAed and more IBM contractors lose their assignments. -anonymous-

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Comment 12/22/10: Amazing how even something as simple as FHA is so confusing by design by IBM that we argue over it and yet again another small wedge is driven in between employees making it harder for them to join together as a union. And it works to perfection yet again. Get a contract and you may yet have a decent retirement. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/22/10: Re Dubuque Craigslist rave - in my opinion, not IBM's, Dubuque is just a red herring set-up to give the impression that IBM is investing in US workers and infrastructure. You may only be there as a puppet to demonstrate a handful of US jobs were created. However the GDF purpose was and is to fool US IBMers and the state and federal government. When Dubuque GDF was first announced some of us heard certain job categories would be moving there, such as "admin" activities. However, I only know of 1 out of 25 of these jobs in my organization really went to Dubuque; the rest went to unskilled, intern level India, Brazil, Argentina and other remote country resources instead. As for the GDF plans, moving US regional data center operations to Dubuque, we saw warnings that US SDC folks would have to rejoin an existing data center, then later take pay cuts and move at their own expense to the Dubuque GDF. Well, I saw lay-offs of delivery and data center friends but I've seen no evidence of a migration of existing skilled delivery folks going to Dubuque GDF. I expect Dubuque will remain a cheap skeleton of what a real IBM data center should be. IBM will not invest in you, sorry to say. If IBM is hiring cheapest overseas labor, not even skilled or even train them, why would they invest in a more expensive US resource? -Whoopee-

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Comment 12/22/10: To>>-Beat up- >> You seem to not know the complete rules. There is one small paragraph that may require many to be at least 55 at retirement to start using the FHA they are entitled to. **At termination they have attained 30 years of service (regardless of age) and were eligible for an opening balance on July 1, 1999, or have attained at least age 55 with 15 years of service.** If they were not eligible for an opening balance on 7/1/1999, then they MUST be 55 years or older to start using the FHA. -dum dee dum dum-
Alliance reply: No more discussions on FHA and pensions will be posted here. This topic has been beaten into the ground. This section is primarily for Job Cuts Reports. If you wish to continue discussing pensions and FHA, and the like, our suggestion is to become a dues paying member and join Alliance@IBM (here or here). You will then be eligible to have access to the Alliance Members Only Forum that includes discussions on pensions, salaries, raises, pollution, organizing, politics, job cuts, and member driven topics of all manner.

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Comment 12/22/10: FHA Eligibilty Everyone should go check Withdrawal Eligibility Date on Netbenfits under Health & Insurance Future Health account details. Many will be surprised -Jim-

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Comment 12/21/10: Looks like SpectraWatt is closing. http://www.labor.ny.gov/app/warn/details.asp?id=2966
They didn't last long., sounds like another tax ploy.-anonymous-

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Comment 12/21/10: "To Anonymous: You stated incorrect information about No FHA with 32 years of service. When you are retirement eligible, regardless of age, you get FHA. It may not be much but they get it. -Beat up-"
Wrong: If you weren't 40 in 1999 you do not get FHA until your 55 no matter how many years you have. -jim-

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Comment 12/21/10: Re: "To Anonymous: You stated incorrect information about No FHA with 32 years of service. When you are retirement eligible, regardless of age, you get FHA. It may not be much but they get it. -Beat up-"
"No (pension) choicers" do not receive the FHA benefit unless they are age 55 or older when they leave IBM, no matter how many years of service they have."Second (pension) choicers", however, do receive the FHA benefit if they leave IBM subsequent to retirement eligibility. So, it is entirely possible that a "no choicer" could have 32 years of service and not receive the FHA benefit when they leave IBM. -anonymous-

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Comment 12/21/10: Here is the complete information on the FHA. http://www.endicottalliance.org/medicalstudy.htm
You have to be over 55 to "qualify" for the FHA if you "retire".. 32 years and can retire tells me the person is under the 'cash balance" program and is less than 55 years old. So yes he may not qualify for the FHA program. The money is just a journal entry and was never put aside; therefore if you don't qualify it's stripped off the books. -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 12/20/10: IBM loses another contract - yeah? so? They lose contracts all the time. If you really want to use the 'losing contracts' situation as a sign IBM sucks, you need to show a growing trend of it. Guess what? HP lost contracts, too. -anonymous-

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Comment 12/20/10: To Anonymous: You stated incorrect information about No FHA with 32 years of service. When you are retirement eligible, regardless of age, you get FHA. It may not be much but they get it. -Beat up-

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Comment 12/18/10: "IBM lost the BP Amoco account to HP"
Does this include the IBM GERS (Global Electronic Reporting Services) offering? -GERS_RAed-

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Comment 12/17/10: Sam's compensation versus Watson's. It truly is a smarter planet....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/just-released-irs-data-sh_b_797791.html -gadfly-

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Comment 12/17/10: IBM lost the BP Amoco account to HP - this is the US and Europe. Announcement made in a call earlier this week. Not good for all the fine folks working in that environment. -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/16/10: I hate to ruin your progressive tax theory. I help support MOM with my 2007 retirement because hers is too small. See, DAD was a municipal employee and therefore paid no Social Security. So he got minimal out. It didn't matter who else paid higher taxes because everyone paid their own way back then. Actually Social Security still works that way. Your check will depend on what you contributed, not what Bill Gates Contributed. He actually contributed half to his own government pension out of pocket. When he died of course Moms income was halved. No provision back then to leave whole pensions to your spouse. I am not sure what fantasy world you have been living in but the tax loopholes and write offs were so great back then the rich barely paid anything. There were just more better paying jobs back then with manufacturing jobs actually IN America and defined pensions and good benefits used as a lure to get and keep talented workers. And the government back then did not provide the expensive safety nets like welfare and unemplyment. If you lost your job you hit the pavement looking and took whatever jobs you could get. You didn't "Vacation" a few months on unemployment before you started looking. Yes I know that not everyone does that. But some do. In those wonderful 50's and 60's there were no 401k's either. Anything you saved you paid taxes on the interest. No pretax savings for medical either. No pension insurance either. When Rice's Bakery , A large local company that made breads and rolls etc went out of business in the1960's most of their workforce, people in their late fiftys and early sixtys who were getting ready to retire, lost their pensions completely. No company, no pension. My grandfather was 61 at the time. He never got a dime of the pension he worked over 40 years for. The now defunct company owners just kept the pension money. No laws existed to stop them then. Go on believing that things were tougher on the rich back then. When Obama signs whatever new tax law congress passes will it become the "Obama tax cut for the rich"? I'll bet the "Progressives" will be "Regressive" and try to blame it on Bush still. Unless Bush was named a dictator when no one was looking Congress was complacent in passing any tax changes. As I got my taxes cut and a rebate check as I am sure you did also does this mean we achieved the American Dream and we are therefore Rich? I think not. Do not become complacent wishing for things that never were and hoping for things that never will be. Things were better in America back then because more people had jobs and benefits. Derived from their own labors, not from a government handout. I joined and support this union because I believe the only thing that will save American workers and America is the American worker. Not government. Not charity. Self Sufficency. BTW, Glad you do not have to support you parents. Have a great day. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/16/10: I am suprised to see that the person from Dubuque posted a note on Craigs List, but this same person did not mention the Alliance, although they did mention Union in general terms. A food strike seems like a good idea to get attention, I wonder if we can get a few takers on this one? This approach seems to tackle things from the bottom up, how about cutting it off at the head? -Amazing-

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Comment 12/15/10: A little history for those who forgot it:
Motorola's Labor War
By SUSAN CHIRA
Published: February 19, 1989
Correction Appended

SEOUL - The violence is over at Motorola Korea Ltd. - at least for now. There are no more workers dousing themselves with paint thinner, barricading themselves in the computer room and threatening to die for the right to form a union. But the fledgling union and management are no closer to agreement than before.
The bitter conflict at Motorola is more than just a labor dispute in a country that has weathered thousands of strikes in the past year and a half. It is a reflection of South Korea's struggle to overcome a legacy of authoritarianism in labor relations, as well as in politics. When Motorola and other American companies like the International Business Machines Corporation set up shop here 20 years ago, they found an inexpensive, well-educated and malleable work force and a Government willing to use brute force to keep workers in line.
Now strikes are legal, the Government usually stays away, and workers demand more from both South Korean and foreign employers. United States companies face an added twist - if negotiations are faltering, unions can always appeal to swelling anti-American sentiment. Companies like Motorola and I.B.M. - which offer top salaries and generous benefits here and have staved off unions in most of their operations worldwide, including the United States - have been confronted by political and legal upheavals in South Korea that change all the old rules. Last year alone, the Ministry of Labor counted 1,873 labor disputes. Last month, for example, a small group of white-collar workers at I.B.M. Korea went on an eight-day hunger strike that ended only when their union was recognized.

Correction: April 23, 1989, Sunday, Late City Final Edition An article on Feb. 19 about United States companies in South Korea misstated the circumstances surrounding a strike by employees of I.B.M. Korea. Weeks of checking have established that the strike occurred several months after I.B.M. Korea recognized a union. The strike ended when both parties signed a basic agreement, which included a reiteration of I.B.M.'s recognition of the union.

Here's the story link:
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/19/business/motorola-s-labor-war.html?pagewanted=3RT -abottomfeeder-

Alliance reply: Thanks for your comment . I have shortened your post because the whole article took up too much room. other visitors can read the entire aricle from the link.

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Comment 12/15/10: IBM appears set to lose another hosting contract in the USA. Nothing official yet. -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/15/10: "I am a current employee of IBM here in Dubuque. I don't really like to brag much on myself, but it should suffice to say that I am a highly educated individual, with a very specific and valuable skill set. For those of you who don't know, many of us were lured here from other places around the country on the illusion of lower cost of living, and the out right lie of being that this is a new center there would be plenty of opportunity for advancement within the company. Before I accepted IBM's offer I (ignorantly) made the assumption that the initial offer was only temporary, and would go up drastically after a probationary period of 6 months or so. This was not the case. I have been identified by several of my colleagues and even my team lead as a top performer on my team, and still I am making about half of the average for someone in my role in the state of Iowa. While I suppose this is just a rant about how much my job sucks, I really hope people will read this and take some action. I hope the fine citizens of Dubuque will stand up for their new neighbors and protest the mistreatment that is taking place right downtown. I would like to see either IBM pay fair wages for the work people are assigned to do, or I would like to see people come out and protest IBM's false representations, and eventually drive IBM out of this city."
To my fellow IBMer in Dubuke IA. IBM did the same thing to IBM Endicott. They fired all of the IBM Personnel at building 18- and buidling 14, and they hired back IBM personnel at a lower wage and a lousy benefit package, and changed the name of the company for tax purposes. IBM goes into smaller towns like Endicott and Dubuke and treats their employees disrespecful because they know that they are the only game in town. What a company! Support the union. -Ana-
Alliance reply: Thanks for your comment and your support. There are some inaccuracies in your comment. IBM sold the entire 4,000 employee, Endicott site in 2002, to a group of investors. 2,000 IBM employees became employed by Endicott Interconnect Technologies.The new EIT employees wages were NOT lowered. The OTHER 2,000 employees remained as IBMers. It is not accurate to say they changed the name of the company for tax purposes. You are correct about the disrespect from IBM and EIT toward their employees. EIT immediately fired 200 of their new employees, 2 weeks after the sale of IBM was signed on the sale contracts. There were about 35 separate contracts that were signed between Huron Associates, EIT and IBM. EIT got millions of taxpayer dollars from NY State, thanks to the then-Governor George Pataki. EIT also got a significant break on their energy cost from NY State Electric & Gas. That agreement exchanges an enormous cost cut on 225 million kilowatts usage, for EIT's promise to retain 6,000 jobs at the site. The problem is, there were never 6000 jobs to retain in the first place! Secondly, EIT breached that agreement 2 weeks after the sale, by firing 200 of the 2,000 'former' IBMers that were forced to work for EIT or lose their job after the site sale, to begin with. Since then, EIT has reduced their employee number from 2000 to about 1100. IBM pays EIT/Huron to lease the former IBM buildings to house their remaining employees. The number of IBM employees that now work at the Endicott site is about 500. IBM continues to cut jobs there and soon there will be no more IBMers left, in Endicott NY.

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Comment 12/15/10: Received an organizational announcement today that applauds yet another transition offshore. TADDM group within Tivoli organization is moving to Poland. Employees in US are "looking for opportunities in various groups within IBM". -insideibm-

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Comment 12/15/10: Looks like IBM couldn't commit to jobs for Americans as they are not on the list of prominent leaders of US companies .....
http://blogs.forbes.com/brianwingfield/2010/12/15/obama-meets-with-ceos/?partner=yahootix
Looks like more of the same next year folks -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 12/14/10: http://dubuque.craigslist.org/rnr/2111093173.html  Check this out rather interesting !!! -NONAME@DBQIBM-

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Comment 12/14/10:
" Project Partners, DPEs Team,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently implemented a new fee schedule for applications and petitions with increased filing fees for new H1B, L1 Regular and L1 Blanket Visa petitions. As a result, the costs for new visas have gone up significantly (an additional $2000 for each new H1B and $2250 for each new L1 application) and will be borne by the respective Project / Account.
Our teams have completed an analysis of our demand against the GDC population in process for a visa and has made recommendations to withdraw or go forward the application for each of them. Project Partners and DPEs should support the validation of the visa application list based on critical demand / supply skill gap analysis. This is an ongoing process to support IBM's business needs regarding landed practitioners. Please be aware of and support the following measures, which will be in place to ensure cost control:
* IBM Immigration Services will evaluate the likely approvability of L1B cases based on the most current adjudication trends. As a means of controlling unnecessary cost, they will recommend against filing cases that appear to be at a high risk for denial.
Please support these recommendations.
* Ongoing revalidations regarding whether cases satisfy skill gaps and critical demand. To ensure appropriate cost controls, case requests will be subject to additional skill and demand validations on an ongoing basis.
* Timely and appropriate extensions. Extensions are not subject to the new fee, but delays on a decision to extend can result in unnecessary replacement or increased costs. Cases need to be authorized for extensions with the expectation that between internal and government processing, the timeline from initiation to approval can be more than six months.
Please also take into consideration whether open demand for landed can be moved offshore or if we can utilize our Michigan Delivery Center practitioners. In addition, let me take a moment to remind you that as part of the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines, it is incumbent upon all employees and management to ensure that information presented in any visa application is factual, and that any actions thereafter are consistent with the information as it was presented. Questions may be directed to Manishi Deva or Viswanadha Chekuri.
Your support to this endeavor is appreciated.
George Metz
COO and VP Operations, GBS Americas" -anon Ibmer-

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Comment 12/13/10: I heard from a close friend that their last day is December 31st. They were warned 6 months ago that there was very little work and they might be in jeopardy. They were an admin in STG Poughkeepsie. They are eligible for full retirement - 32 yrs service, but no FHA (too young).
"Assuming that the Clinton era tax rate is what the tax rate should always be is a bad assumption. Tax rates do change on an ongoing basis in America. Substitute the words "Current tax rate" for the rhetoric" Bush tax cuts for the rich"
Sorry I don't buy this. Rich people would need to move to the 3rd world to find lower tax rates than the USA. Did your dad and mom retire with nice benefits? You can credit smart and progressive taxes in the 50s and 60s that taxed wealthy people more than they are taxed today. I may end my life in a fancy cardboard box thanks to the "let them eat cake" attitude that prevails in this country; but at least I don't have to support my parents. They have pensions and social security. But with people supporting lower and lower taxes on the wealthy, where will our safety net go? Pension? I'll believe it the day the first check comes. Social Security? It's being raided and people want me to think like a 'Stepford American' with glazed over eyes and say: current tax-rates instead of "Bush tax cuts for the superwealthy". Well sorry, your koolaid isn't quite strong enough. Or should I say "Tea" instead of Koolaid.? -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/13/10: "Sam Palmisano is clearly BAD FOR AMERICA. He has created IBM India and is now stealing away more US jobs forcing more layoffs!"
But who gets all the good attention? IBM and himself always seems to get good spin and all the headlines.
Palmisano gets Bernanke's attention, he gets invited to give economic and job employment input to the President and then essentially insults the President and the office of the President when he tries to sell"free" services to the President for the USA government to clean up health care fraud, he sells IBM to USA customers as an unpatriotic outsourcing model, etc. And when IBM doesn't get headlines? They do when they execute an RA. Tens of thousands of USA IBM jobs just disappear without a mention in the news. The employees in IBM have to get some headlines. The employees can only do it with the Alliance so True Blue and the rest of IBM employees who have not been wacked with an RA yet this is your chance to take your IBM back from a despicable Gerstner robot CEO. Think Twice and make this your New Year's resolution. -IBMUnionYes-

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Comment 12/12/10: Internally, IBM is suffering and there is no doubt about it. The share price appreciation is notable and significant but it comes at a cost in brand and reputation. News on the State of Texas client they have and other states is a significant tarnish on what was once indisputable. By moving to offshoring as part of their DNA, IBM is commoditizing that which was sought after the most; their people!
Documented procedures, patents, innovating methods - all meaningless without the right people to perform that work. Its pretty telling at Alliance@IBM's web site that IBM is reshaping their DNA at the expense of their employees. And the stories are, shall we say, compelling.
Not so much each individual story but that they all show a clear pattern that executives are focused on short-term gains at the expense of clients and employees. About the only people making much on IBM is their shareholders. All 3 elements of a brand, employees, customers and shareholders need balance. IBM does not have it; and it is by choice, not necessity. -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/11/10: I am a former IBM'er. I had a good 10 years with Big Blue. I got hacked a couple years back in an RA. I found this board a very good source of information prior to the hacking, and after. As of late it seems to be a page of people posting links, links, and more links. Most do not directly relate to RA's or current inside IBM news. It seems to be a Sammy bashing board. Hey, I'm not a fan of the guy, most of us know how big company CEO's operate, enough said. It would be great if the board could keep the posts that contain useful info, and drop most of the links to what Obama said to Sammy, etc. Thanks, -Brian-
Alliance reply: Thanks for your comment. BTW.. did you ever join Alliance@IBM or donate to the cause before or after you were 'hacked'? If not, doing either would also be useful to continue the useful information that you have access to. Just sayin' :-)

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Comment 12/10/10: "A horror in Pittsburgh, IBM involved. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10344/1109632-28.stm -Barb"
Unbelievable! Not only is Sam Palmisano screwing US IBM employees by laying them off he is now screwing other companies by offshoring their jobs to IBM India. What a nightmare! You can't make this stuff up. Sam Palmisano is clearly BAD FOR AMERICA. He has created IBM India and is now stealing away more US jobs forcing more layoffs! -True Blue-
Alliance reply: Sam has been doing this for quite a while. The Hartford insurance company workers were outsourced to IBM and then the work shifted to India, Disney outsourced to IBM and did the same thing, Advanced Auto Parts and on and on.
You can not have an economic recovery for working people when CEO's like Sam work against the interests of the country.

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Comment 12/10/10: Check out this link about Corporate Globalism and global unions.
"From corporate globalisation to a global social solidarity unionism" http://tinyurl.com/3ykeqrg -abottomfeeder-

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Comment 12/10/10: A horror in Pittsburgh, IBM involved.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10344/1109632-28.stm -Barb-

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Comment 12/09/10: IBM Workers Could Lose Outsourcing Protection
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/hosted/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800056 -member-
Alliance reply: The Alliance is doing all it can to call attention to this and to convince our political reps to do the right thing and keep TAA benefits secure. We have an alert on our main page. But we need your help. Contact your congressional rep today and urge them to save TAA benefits.

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Comment 12/09/10: I'm not sure if this has already been posted here, but in case it hasn't; here' an interesting article on why Sam P should fire himself . It's based upon Sammy's argument for firing HP CEO Mark Hurd.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/226592-ibm-a-case-for-sam-palmisano-firing-sam-palmisano?source=qp_investment_views -4merBMer-

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Comment 12/08/10: Dear -hadit- The agreement would continue the existing tax rates for 2 years. Not provide a cut. It also imposes a NEW tax on the rich who inherit more then 5 Million dollars at a rate of 35 percent. that did not exist previously. As its corporations who create jobs and not the CEO's who manage them per se taxing inheritance is a fair way of getting the " Personal" wealth taxed without stifling the corporations profits that could be used for expansion. A corporation does not leave an inheritance to its heirs. It has no heirs. A CEO \'s wealth is no different then your wealth as an employee as it does not belong to the company but is derived from the company. A CEO is really only an employee albeit a very well paid one. It is rare that a CEO actually owns a company that is publicly traded. Sam does not own IBM. Jack Welsh did not own GE. Assuming that the Clinton era tax rate is what the tax rate should always be is a bad assumption. Tax rates do change on an ongoing basis in America. Substitute the words "Current tax rate" for the rhetoric "Bush tax cuts for the rich" and try to keep things in that perspective. Console yourself with the fact that taxes were raised on the rich with a new tax. Understand when Maryland tried imposing higher taxes on the rich and luxury taxes the Rich moved out of Maryland so Maryland's tax revenue actually dropped . I am sure if taxes go too high in America the rich will find a Banana Republic to move to and pay no taxes at all. They can afford to move. We cannot. Trying to make someone else poorer through taxes will not make you and I richer. If congress ever decides to function again it is really them who set the tax rates. Proof is that the Prez negotiated this deal but congress has to approve it. They may stab him in the back and make him look foolish yet . I hope they do not . I hope this compromise is a beginning in the return of actual governing instead of finger pointing . Real compromise to reduce spending and the national debt will do more to help the US economy then anything. We need to take away Congresses Credit card. Not keep extending their credit limit. Until the government fixes itself we certainly cannot expect them to fix private companies. We the employees of private companies need to fix our own problems. Organize. Join the union. Stop waiting for someone else to do it for you. Stop being a doormat. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/07/10: I was in maintenance. Got laid off October 4, 2010 due to lack of work in building 330 -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/07/10: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/07/ibm_sells_debt_for_acquisitions/

IBM gorges on cheap debt for share buybacks, acquisitions
7th December 2010 16:26 GMT

IBM sometimes behaves like a bank, and sometimes like a private equity firm. Sometimes it even behaves like an IT vendor.
This week, in selling $1bn in debt for doing acquisitions, Big Blue is behaving like a private equity firm. The debt is being sold between Monday and Thursday this week and pays out 2 percent on 30 November, 2015, which is 0.55 per cent (or 55 basis points in the financial lingo) better than bonds of similar term being sold by the US Treasury.
The reason why so many private equity firms can run roughshod over the global economy is that interest rates are about as low as they can go. This means investors backing these equity firms, who want a better return than is possible in the stagnating (but recovered) stock market and who are not stupid enough to put their money in the bank with its piddling interest, are willing to give them big bags of money to sniff out attractive and profitable software companies that can be milked for even more profits. With interest rates so low, it makes very little sense to blow your cash hoard on acquisitions when you can borrow to do it. IBM will do a bit of both, it looks like.
According to another filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, IBM sold $1.5bn in debt in the first week of August at a mere 1 per cent payout three years from now, which according to a report in Bloomberg is the lowest interest rate ever paid for debt sold into the market. IBM sold just under $2bn in notes in November 2009, â?¬750m worth in October 2008 into the European debt market, and $4bn in October 2008 here in the US. Another $1bn was floated in July 2008 and $3.5bn in January 2008. Clearly, with IBM having such a high credit rating and a low cost of borrowing, the company could borrow a very large amount of money from the bond market during the Great Recession.
Unlike the days of old, you might get fired for buying IBM iron these days, but you are probably not going to get fired for buying IBM debt.
As IBM ended the third quarter, it had $9.86bn in cash and equivalents, $1.22bn in marketable securities, but $5.56bn in short-term and $21.9bn in long-term debts. Most of that long-term debt is associated with the money IBM loans its channel partners to acquire its hard and soft wares and the leases that it creates for direct customers. So IBM's net cash position is closer to $5.5bn. In today's IT market, where feisty and threatening startups are selling for billions, that is simply not a lot of money. And that is another reason why Big Blue is borrowing.
Of course, if IBM stopped buying back its own shares at such a crazy pace, it would have cash and would not have to borrow at all. But as IBM's president, chief executive officer, and chairman Sam Palmisano explained back in May, the company is engineering itself to double earnings per share to $20 or more by 2015 (double profit levels in 2009) and plans to spend $70bn on share buybacks and dividends in the next five years. There's another $20bn in acquisitions over those five years, with $8bn of that coming from cost savings and the rest apparently coming through cash flow and debt. -Anonymous-

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Comment 12/07/10: Palmisano has cut thousands of jobs yet the Republicans and some turn coat Democrats want to give him and other wealthy CEO's a tax cut because they are the job creaters? In India maybe. Working people sold down the river again. -hadit-

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Comment 12/07/10: IBM Workers To Receive Federal Aid. DOL says Big Blue services employees who lost jobs to offshoring can receive benefits under the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
By Paul McDougall,
InformationWeek
December 6, 2010
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/outsourcing/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228600060 -Outsourced-help-
Alliance reply: Be aware that the new TAA program for service workers was created in the 2009 stimulus bill and lasts only through this New Year's Eve. Unless Congress extends it in this short December session, it will wink out on January 1st. Services workers then lose their chance for help altogether, and workers in manufacturing and resource industries will see training budgets shrink and support for health insurance drop sharply. Never a good idea; especially damaging when hiring is so weak and the value of new skills and training so high. Note to Congress: Act now Contact Congress through this link:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

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Comment 12/06/10: re: -little elf- Since they have to give you 30 days, I would think any layoffs won't be next year. Maybe because they took some stimulus $ this year, they had to wait until 2011. -qtr_century-

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Comment 12/06/10: -True Blue- I disagree with what is wrong in America. CEO's of companies have ALWAYS been greedy. What's wrong is the American workers no longer care enough about their jobs to stand up to the greedy bastards . One would think that the worse the CEO's get the stronger the Unions would get in response but the opposite seems to be happening. Has the mentality of Americans shifted from having a good career to a job is just a job. I have to work so here is as good as any place? Unions began when greed pushed companies to overwork employees and shortcut safety . Near slave-like existence coupled with extreme hazards are why the coal miners and steelworkers banded together initially. Auto workers due to the unrelenting pace and dangers of the assembly lines. Pick any union you want and you can pretty well trace its roots back to some intolerable working conditions. Corporate greed drove most of these intolerable conditions and the workers reached a point where they could not tolerate it any longer. When life hands you a shit sandwich and you just accept it whose fault is it that it becomes the only thing on the menu?? I can only hope that folks reading this who have not joined a union realize its the only counterbalance to corporate greed. I know you ask yourselves why are Government workers and teachers in unions. Surely the working conditions in schools and Government buildings are not that intolerable, The reason is that no corporation is more greedy then a Government entity. Most states and cities in fiscal trouble today are looking for ways to renege on teachers and Government workers benefits and retirements. Just like IBM did to us. And other companies without a union have had it done to them. With no contract you can bet the pensions would already be gone. Pay slashed and Medical cut. Because of that thing called a contract the only way the States can renege is to declare bankruptcy. That's why we need contracts at IBM. So the Multi Billion dollar company would have to be bankrupt to renege on us again! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 12/06/10: Interesting tidbit about the assumed "older workers on the old pension plan get out or get converted"... Heard this from a well informed person (even tho I'm ex-IBM, I still have some good friends on the inside) that IBM backed off this plan primarily (solely?) because when they looked at the targets, they saw that doing this would crater GTS because of the massive number of "older" workers there and would kill the GTS business. So you want a powerful group to help form the core of a union IBM would pay attention to? Focus on getting GTS workers signed up!
To: I Won't Be Invited - 500 employees along with the other luminaries to be invited? So in other words, it's a full US workforce party then :-/ Sorry, just HAD to get that in... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 12/06/10: -Shocked-: Yep, seen a quick image of Palmisano on 60 Minutes tonight about Bernanke. It's enuff to make anyone familiar with the situation in IBM in the USA sick. Palmisano has done NOTHING to help the USA economy since he has unemployed tens of thousands of IBMers in the last few years. If Bernanke is looking for employment and economic answers from Plamisano he will only see unemployment rise past 10% since you can bet Palmisano has another USA RA primed and ready to execute. -anonymous-

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Comment 12/05/10: What a touching letter to the editor I read in Poughkeepsie Journal yesterday. It tells me IBM does not give a damn care about us devoted IBMers. Dont be too naive because it can happen to any of us!:

To get ahead, IBM jilts loyal workers

I am writing in response to the article "IBM gets innovation award" (Nov. 4). Based on the nearly 5,000 patents that IBM got in the year 2009, IBM was granted this award. The article also states, "IBM's senior location executive at Poughkeepsie said local IBMers play a 'tremendous role' in that patent production." Ironically, less than a week later, two articles were published in the Poughkeepsie Journal, the first saying that IBM was going to be laying off 299 people, and another article following, saying that it would actually be only 11 people. I guess it is better that they are only planning on ruining 11 lives, rather than 299; at least it looks better for them.
My father was once a valued employee who devoted 29 years and 8 months of late nights and weekends "on call" to working for IBM. As a result of hard work of employees, IBM broke a revenue record in 2008, yet my father was let go, after nearly 30 years of loyal service, in February 2009. I had to see the disappointment in his face as he announced how the company that he was so proud to be a part of, for over half of his lifetime, had left him unemployed and unable to celebrate the retirement he was so looking forward to. So congratulations, IBM. I hope that as you accept these awards and recognition, you remember all of the people that you have stepped on while making your way up to the top. Enjoy the view! -ANON-

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Comment 12/05/10: What is wrong with America today? Very simple. Greedy CEOs like Sam Palmisano. Sam has systematically destroyed a great American company. He has layed off IBMers and offshored our jobs driving the unemployment rate up to 10%. There is no end in sight. Sam will continue his destruction until the employees unite and support the Alliance and get a Union going. -True Blue-

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Comment 12/03/10: Sammy is sitting in his big office in Armonk plotting new and better ways to screw IBM employees. I'm sure there are more job cuts for the Holiday Season. Sammy is the Grinch that stole Christmas. Happy Holidays to All. -Santa's helper-

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Comment 12/03/10: Curious why Sammy-The-Grinch has not revlealed the RA for Christmas 2010 yet. -Little-Elf-

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Comment 12/02/10: FightOn... as far as I know, IBM does not use independent contractors. All the contractors I've ever worked with work for CTG, Ciber or ZeroChaos -Anonymouse-

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Comment 12/01/10: -To Shocked.....talking about the fox in the hen house, I couldn't believe when I learned this.
IBM will mark the 100th "Century" anniversary next year 2011.
Sam is throwing a big ever in IBM's history lavish and expensive party for his senior executives, executive retirees, vice presidents, VIPs, outside associates and families, and about 500 IBM employees who will receive an invitation for an all expense paid trip to.............. the United Arab Emirates. Why in the world would IBM want it's special 100th celebration in Dubai, when it should be taking place in IBM's birthplace, of course, in Endicott, New York which is also home to IBM Alliance office. -I won't be invited-
Alliance reply: Thanks for the reference, but the Alliance@IBM office is no longer in Endicott. This is interesting news though.

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Comment 12/01/10: This is my wish for this Holiday Season that IBM does not execute another RA before 2010 is finished. Nothing is gained by another IBM resource action (RA) in the USA.. I wish I was still an IBMer (I am an Alliance member since 1999 and was RAed back in 2009) so I could continue to support my union and get IBM to play more fairly in the USA workplace and economic recovery by not cutting, but growing, real honest USA paying IBM jobs. Sadly, I don't think Samuel Palmisano or his hand picked IBM board of directors is interested in hiring. Sam and the board are only interested in their own self interests. Hence the execution of continued USA RAs to IBMers with >5,5,10,15,20,25,30+ years of experience. I need you and others still in IBM to take up the fight to have IBM ADD real USA jobs at competitive wage, instead of outsourcing them abroad. -sby_willie-

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Comment 11/30/10: TSA has the right idea. The difference between IBM and TSA is there is a union presence at work. If you want a Union in IBM you need to get some active reps in major offices. Put up posters send out e-mails to co-workers. Having a web site for people to complain is fine but the majority prob doesn't even know this site exists. -whatever-
Alliance reply: The Alliance has done a lot of outreach to employees over the years, from emails to work, snail mail to homes, leaflets in breakrooms and cafeterias. Our members and reps have talked to co-workers. But we are limited on how much we can do if we don't have enough participation in outreach and we need financial help to afford mass mailings, mass flyers etc.
The outreach has been going on. It is up to every employee we have contacted to get off the fence and build this union.

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Comment 11/30/10: Finally got an update regarding my trying to get benefits from TAA petition number 73593. They say I'm not on the list and IBM is not quick in giving an updated list when they ask for it. RA'd 3/31/10, POK NY, STD -another-

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Comment 11/30/10: Just saw that Ben Bernanke is speaking in Columbus, OH. about improving the nation's unemployment. He has several business leaders on the podium w/him in a town hall format. One of the business leaders speaking with him on this subject is none other than our illustrious CEO, Sammy. Between questions, I think I saw Sam get on his cell phone and (from what I could lip-read) say 'go ahead and RA/offshore a few thousand more...' Talk about the fox in the hen house... -Shocked-
Alliance reply: I wonder if Sam ever got that $30B in stimulus he requested from the president, to create "900,000" IT jobs??
Sammy and his ilk are always looking for government hand-outs from taxpayers...they will never change. Forget about what these corporate jerks are doing and organize IBM workers. It's really the only option left for US IBM working people.

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Comment 11/30/10: -Newnews- It sounds illogical and not possible but madness prevails in this IBM so anything is possible. Why do you think we need a union for? -IBMsux-

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Comment 11/30/10: Here is an interesting article about the IRS forcing companies to re-classify contractors. Specifically mentions Microsoft: http://tinyurl.com/2uvlppd -Fight-On-
Alliance reply: Thank you for the link. It was a long address, so I shortened it, using TinyURL.

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Comment 11/29/10: To -Act Now- -that's the take home message. I was just reading this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-elk/electoral-defeat-shows-it_b_787997.html
which posted around the same time as yours, on Huffington Post. I joined recently AFTER being laid off, and had been wanting/thinking about joining for years. I'm sure there were thousands like me. I don't know why I didn't act on my intentions, but that's all water over the dam now. We've all got to move forward and do what we can NOW... I encourage any who were like me to act on those intentions, now -Union-U Bet-

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Comment 11/28/10: TSA workers want to unionize.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/24/news/economy/tsa_screener_union/index.htm
but, somehow, beamers don't. I don't get it... -Neal Watkins-
Alliance reply: There are many IBMers that want to unionize; however, many are not willing to take the steps needed to "get 'er done". It's no secret what needs to happen. Fear is what stops people from stepping forward and making contact with their co-workers. Despite what our detractors say about us, Alliance@IBM continues to stay focused on organizing US IBMers. We continue to provide information about organizing; we continue to confront IBM through our web site; and we continue to make our nationwide representatives aware of the alternatives to offshoring US IBM jobs. There is, and continues to be, an onslaught of anti-union sentiment throughout the corporate world. That's because Corporations want total control over the world economy. Working people must not let that happen. Organize and don't give up.

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Comment 11/28/10: Has anyone heard of a person being given the axe and then a year later made a manager? This might happen after year is closed out -Newnews-

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Comment 11/25/10: UK Employees should consider joining UNITE. I've joined the union as a protection against IBM. Sadly this has been the first time in my career that I've thought I've needed some backup because I have no trust in my employer!! -UK Employees-

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Comment 11/25/10: -Tom Watson III- I have heard of people with top secret government clearences being given a 10K retention bonus as it is so costly and time consuming to pass someone through the clearence process. Maybe this is the case. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/25/10: : retention bonus' are not new and are used to keep specific skills/people in the business. The most I have given was 20K but there were also various stock option packages.This has been going on for years. have a Happy Thanksgiving -was1stlinenowra'd-

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Comment 11/23/10: With all the continuous job cuts in IBM I found this to be very interesting. I PERSONALLY know two employees in BVT manufacturing who were each given a $10K retention bonus. This occurred in the past month.Should they decide to leave the company within 2 years of receiving the bonus it must be paid back. I was NOT privvy to the number of employees who were given this bonus but management has not mentioned this to the general IBM public Not sure if IBM BVT is trying to prevent a mass exodus to the new GLOBAL FOUNDRIES FAB in Upstate NY or if there is some other reason. Anyone else heard about this ? Is this happening at other sites? -Tom Watson III-

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Comment 11/23/10: -Act now!- has pretty well nailed it. Folks. The rules and laws needed to create a Union in any company in America have existed for decades. The Parties have NOTHING to do with it one way or another. All you have to do is get a majority to join. The shocking thing is if it happens it will be a conglomeration of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Communists, Anarchists et all , all joining together to better their workplace experience. The sooner we stop playing the blame game and work together the faster we can help ouselves and America. It is NO Political party's fault that IBMers have not united. It is no other countries fault. It is no Religions fault. It is OUR fault. Its way past time to put aside our ego's and our stereotypes and unite for the common good of us all. One day we can argue politics over coffee at the union hall if we just stick together. Lets Roll People, -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/23/10: Look, BOTH parties are to blame for taking money and corporate favors for their campaigns. BOTH parties have corporate-interest leaning representatives that shill for Big Business, instead of the majority of the voters they are supposed to represent. BOTH parties are corrupt to a certain level. BOTH parties have dragged their feet when it came to passing bills that would benefit the many working people. The bottom line is money....lots of it. Working Americans have only one advantage over those who are out of a job: They have a job. Beyond that, ALL working class people (working to pay for basic needs to survive) have the advantage to vote for candidates that represent the working people's interests. The problem is, that nearly ALL of the representatives will find ways to take money from Corporation and Wealthy donors. Working people cannot not afford to donate millions of dollars every election cycle to out-match the corporate money being poured into elections. All this continues to cycle through, year after election year and working people today still think that there will be change to the system. There will not. Yes, countries like China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, etc., ALL have internal problems; but their economies are BOOMING. Global Corporations have a much longer timeline built into their plan, than every election cycle here in the US. Big Corporations such as IBM, control the world economy. So instead of complaining here on this board, who is to blame, get busy organizing and build a union movement within what's left of IBM here in the US. Don't sit back and wait for someone else, like the Government or the Tea-Party to do it for you. Get off your podium, stop making speeches and start contacting your co-workers. Develop simple goals...like print out some flyers and put them in your break areas. Work from home? Find out the phone numbers of the people in your dept., that work in the US. Call them and start a conversation about forming a union. Little steps. Simple goals. That's how you start. We have to start from somewhere. It's not called a "Labor Movement" for nothing -Act now!-

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Comment 11/23/10: I think the all hands meetings were more related to the Semiconductor industry and future investments (with China?) than anything else. Purely my speculation. What is insane is investing so heavily in areas of the world that are increasing becoming politically unstable, Military buildups in China, North Korea, and Pakistan with weak leaders. Well played IBM. Well played. Idiots. If or when IBM starts hiring in the States then perhaps it will have a Unionized workforce to reckon with. Although our elected officials tend to be Union busters there is always hope. -Economic Insanity-

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Comment 11/23/10: To "I'veBeenMarooned", you are correct, the GOP does not give a crap about anyone who cannot lobby millions a year. IBM plays the politics well, and they hire attorneys to play against unionizing as they are well aware of the potential we would have as a union. One of the diversity factors to hire people from different generations plays towards their benefit immensely. People who are in their 20's versus people in their 30's versus's people in their 40's, etc, etc all have different interests in what they define as important in a job. If we were to unite we would all benefit though. -Alli-Member-

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Comment 11/23/10: To -I've been Marooned- Not sure how to get this to you, but there are contractor jobs in Dallas, Austin, & other. contact
http://www.mustangtech.com/
I was RA'ed at the same time as you and it is really rough to find work of any kind. I am sorry to say I do not see it getting better in future. -Gone 2009-

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Comment 11/23/10: Oh please! Don't start in on the Republicans being to blame for this outsourcing. I was RA'd 7 months ago, WELL ONTO OBAMA'S WATCH.....a while after he entertained Sammy at the White House! -Oh please!-
Alliance reply: There is plenty of blame to go around for both parties. If you lose your job to offshoring/outsourcing contact your congressional representative. That way they can't claim they didn't know what IBM was doing.

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Comment 11/22/10: "-IBMer-, did your 'reliable source' tell you when this 'conversion' might occur? According to my "reliable sources", there has been no off-site meetings in RTP and other sites. Maybe just New York employees affected. -ScrewedBySammyBlue-
Sorry, no more info. But given the trend of IBM you can bet they are working on ways to continue to cut costs. When IBM can hire an engineer in India at a fraction of the cost of a US engineer you better believe they will continue to erode your benefits. Support the Alliance and get a Union going to protect your rights as an employee and get get IBM to honor their commitments to you. -IBMer-

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Comment 11/22/10: THANKS to all those that voted Republican this election day. It's clear the new Congress cares less about job cuts in companies like IBM. This Congress is more concerned in extending tax cuts for IBM middle and upper and executive management. I was RAed in 2009 and still can't get another IT gig and not even a oart-time or contract work one. Now my unemployment benefits of $275 a week run out just after I eat the last of turkey leftovers. It makes me more dismayed that those still in IBM sit by and do nothing or for that matter offer any real support for those that were selected for RA. We used to be your brothers and sisters in IBM. Now we have been cut off and cast aside by all at large. Please unite and stop further RAs and do it for yourself and fellow IBMers or you might soon be just like me now with nowhere to go or to turn to in this over outsourced economy. -I'veBeenMarooned-

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Comment 11/21/10: Manager confirmed Friday that there will be more headcount reduction in IDR in 2011. Sorry, he didn't indicate which departments or which locations. We have seen an enormous amount of our work going to China over the last year. I'll let you know as I find out more towards the end of the year. -anonymous-

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Comment 11/17/10: -IBMer-, did your "reliable source" tell you when this "conversion" might occur? According to my "reliable sources", there has been no off-site meetings in RTP and other sites. Maybe just New York employees affected. -ScrewedBySammyBlue-

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Comment 11/17/10: Health plan open enrollment for retirees is confirmed to be, per letter received - Dec 7 to 22. The brief link on NetBenefits was an error that IBM admits happened when open enrollment for active employees began. If you did anything during the mistake, return Dec 7 and check it all out to be sure of the details and change anything then if you want to. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: Thank you for this info; but no continued discussion of this topic will be posted, following this comment.

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Comment 11/17/10: -Something Stirring in E. Fishkill!-: It's T-minus 45 days and counting... I reckon this is to announce another cost cut action of some kind. Whatever this meeting is about it will not be good for the IBM employee. -trexibmer-

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Comment 11/17/10: About Health Care Open Enrollment being delayed for retirees: Might have something to do with the latest health care legislation but other than that the timing of this is, to say the least, curious. Don't be surprised if IBM tries to wiggle out some more from not offering decent retiree health care benefits, e.g. making you cost share more. IBM executives are in full spring to make the most lofty EPS they can so they care cash out their options and become even more filthy rich. Retiree health benefits only put a drain on reaching that lofty number. -anonymous-

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Comment 11/17/10: So what's the word on that all day meeting over at the Holiday Inn in Fishkill? Any rumors circulating? I'm guessing if there is absolutely no rumors floating around, that all participants had to zip their lips or lose their jobs. -dun-4-

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Comment 11/16/10: RE: Health Plan enrollment. I called The ESC and asked about the enrollment period. They told me that it has been pushed back due to passage of the Obama Healthcare Bill. They said something to the effect that they wanted to make sure everything with regard to benefits was in order due to the new healthcare bill. At a later date I received a letter about it. I was told by The ESC that enrollment will begin the first week in December and close a few days prior to Christmas. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/16/10: "Today at the IBM East Fishkill NY plant all managers were told by site executive to attend a mandatory all day meeting at the Holiday Inn in E.Fishkill .. -Something Stirring in E. Fishkill!- "
I heard from a reliable source that this meeting is to prep managers to handle the conversion of employess on the old retirement plan to either a 401K conversion or cash payment. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be. Without a union the IBM company can do what ever they want. Are they looking out for your best interests? Absolutely not. Folks, the longer you wait and sit on the fence the more benefits will be taken away. Unionize now!!! -IBMer-

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Comment 11/15/10: Today at the IBM East Fishkill NY plant all managers were told by site executive to attend a mandatory all day meeting at the Holiday Inn in E.Fishkill .. -Something Stirring in E. Fishkill!-

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Comment 11/15/10: Anyone have news on the ALL HANDS MEETING many locations are having tomorrow ? Is it the one for OLD PLAN conversion t's & c's ? -no_ky-

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Comment 11/14/10: Health plan annual enrollment: Don't know if this is an IBM problem or the fault of Fidelity Net Benefits, but enrollment for 2011, for retirees at least, has been unavailable. Then flaky; then unavailable again. What's going on here? -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/14/10: Dear -Anonymous in RTP- of 12 Nov > Point Well Made and Well Taken. Reality Bites and thankfully i believe i am getting closer to it by visiting here and having an insight into Reality and the views of other IBMers. Dear Anonymous of 12 Nov > Thanks much for wishing me well. You have been compact in judging things and presenting it. Appreciate it. The management always lives up to an old adage - Managers are Damagers - that is just why having a good manager matters. While i wish to work genuinely well and seek fitting benefits for the same, i have to come to terms with the flip side of this newfound opportunity. And yes, i will do my best to never become complacent or dependent on IBM. God bless all. With love and respects, -BRIC IBMer-

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Comment 11/12/10: Dear -ibm canada- and other Canadian RA's dont feel bad as I was cut (consultant not renewed) in IBM Canada ITD Nov 8th. I too knew with GDF it was a matter of time and yes this place has changed for the worse... Funny thing is my group has been so cut that now they are hitting high rate consultants such as myself who billed more then IBM willing to pay. Thankfully I saw the writing on the wall as FTE's were walked out the door over the last year and had a gig lined up... It was only a matter of time before consultants got it too when there was no longer any FTE's left... -Buh-bye-

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Comment 11/12/10: Dear BRIC-IBMer, although you work for a low-cost "growth" country, you are still one of us, in my view. I experienced a rapidly growing, hiring IBM in the early-1980s. Just as you are experiencing in your country now.
You are still new at this, and who knows if in your likely long career, you will (after I'm long gone) probably experience in some way or other the selfishness, greed and poor decision-making by management. I've separated the world of upper-management from my day-to-day excellence. As costs go up in growth countries, due to inflation, competition for jobs and a more savvy workforce, other countries may become the new growth hotspots that eclipse your country. Always know that while you may be a loyal employee, the management - the kind we have today - will continue to show contempt for the loyal sacrifices of its employees. We only have our combined strength in a union to force management to make and honor commitments to employees who've given - many of us - more than 1/2 our lives to working hard for IBM. That's a long time, and leaving with few benefits after a long career and being forced to throw ourselves back into the job market in our 50s is stain on our management and corporation that is awash with billions in spare cash. I wish you the best of luck in your career and never become complacent or dependent on IBM. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/12/10: -BRIC IBMer- I do not think you will have a long a career with IBM as you believe. At some point IBM will determine that there is another country with lower costs than yours and move your job too. This is one of the major flaws in globalization's search for the lowest cost. It continually results in the destruction of the middle class in every country at some point. The only way to limit this is unionization and/or government controls. -Anonymous in RTP-

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Comment 11/12/10: I have been visiting this space for sometime now, ever since I joined IBM about couple of years ago. And, I have always felt sad for those American IBM brothers who faced the firing squad and ended up uniting at the alliance. As much as I agree with -sourcethese-'s words said on 10 Oct, I also believe that I joined IBM only to see and contribute for the Good it offered the planet over a century, the reason why it stands tall - of course, US IBMers were a major factor for this - and that I could also make a living out a genuine well made career. The sufferings of US IBMers is on par with that of the world itself. So, if there has to be a healing touch, it has to come from above in the form of superior human effort and supreme divine justice. I will want to aid and see just that. God bless all. Wish you the very best. With love and respects, -BRIC IBMer-

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Comment 11/11/10: @titanic - that just goes to show that performance, for the most part, means absolutely nothing when it comes to RAs....so if the company needs a yellow male in their 20s from dept XYZ to layoff, and you're the only one, sorry Charlie.....sure does suck. -Follower-

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Comment 11/11/10: Outsourcing can probably not be made illegal, but it can be made more expensive. Severance packages in Europe are larger for long-term employees. I've even heard as much as 2 years pay for some countries. Both EU rules and UNIONS work to protect worker rights. You can bet that Sam and his cronies would layoff very few of us if it cost them 2 years pay. He's looking for the quick turnaround... and you can't get short-term cost savings from laying off a European. That said, more contractors are now being hired in Europe because THEY still can be laid off with relative impunity. So much that Sam does is to tweak short-term profits... afterall he and his cronies reap millions off the misery of thousands of the 1st world IBMers without Union or government protection. Meanwhile he's got billions in spare cash he absolute fritters away on frivolous tricks like buying back shares of stock. WE the employees, the real creators of value, are the rightful heirs to these billions that were stolen from us over the years. And now we're told that that new class of superwealthy - all the new VPs and upper-echelon managers - should have their tax-break because otherwise they won't grow jobs. That money for their obscene salaries was stolen from you. Getting it back through expiring tax-cuts on the wealthy is not socialism. It was our money, our benefits, our raises, our pensions to begin with. A Union is our only chance to force IBM to honor its obligations to employees. Wasting 10 billion on buying back shares may not even raise share price but it doesn't matter to Sam - as long as no union stands in his way, he'll keep stealing our money so he can have more billions to waste on buybacks. And the board is only too happy to enable him in his extreme greed. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/11/10: To those about to be RAed or thinking that being RAed is not that bad: Open enrollment for medical COBRA after your severance is over is over $1000 a month for a family of four or more. But IBM can't afford to pay in any more since they need money for executive bonuses and stock buybacks. IBM is sick. It can make you very unhealthy too. If you have a union contract it would be less per month. -beamerhealth-

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Comment 11/10/10: Was notified 09/11/2010 that I was RA'ed. Was not given a opportunity to find another job within IBM. Mgr said it was I was not contributing as much since GDF came into effect and our roles have been expanded to take on more work without the training needed. I was doing fine in the previous role where my skills was utilized in the area I was trained and had experience. GDF is really a bad idea that will be the down fall of my unit. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/10/10: Dear -Alliance-Member- I never said either party would do anything functional. I say quite the opposite. We are nothing but the ATM's they live the big life through and they pretend to notice us when they are up for re-election. They create issues and pretend we care about them to use as a tool to get re-elected. I look at London today and see people taxed at 45 percent or more and now they will have to pay double or triple for tuition for college. Bet they wont get a tax break though. Thats why they are in the streets. We better stop this slide to a socialist state like Most of Europe or we too will be taxed 45 percent or more and get piss poor Medical and retirement for our taxes. Then get the rug pulled from under us also. I wonder why IBM can apply for a tax break because they provide healthcare to people who are " Early retired" and then tell retirees the children to age 26 rule and cost reduction parts of the bill don't apply to them. Yet another take from the old folks game it sounds like to me. I no longer trust any of them. Especially IBM and all the corporations who actually run this country. I do not know if a union is anymore trustworthy; but at least you can vote them out if they are not. As America descends into chaos the organized will have a better chance. Live better/ Work Union. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 11/10/10: "Found out this AM in PBC discussion with mgr that HR is present at the final department wide rollup. Why? -Anon-
Alliance Reply: Can you say 'RA List'? "
The Alliance reply is right. IBM has had several age discrimination lawsuits in the past with these RAs and as far as I know settled out of court. The problem was the distribution of RAed employees was skewed to the older employee population. You better believe that HR will be scrubbing the numbers to make it a normal "bell shaped curve" distribution. Sick, I know. But IBM has become a sick company. Each time IBM has an RA those are people they are putting on the unemployment line. The US economy is already in an economic crisis. Don't let IBM fuel the fire with this abuse and misuse of power. Sammy is doing it just to make the quarterly bottom line look better for Wall Street. A union would help put a stop to this insanity. -on the Titanic-

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Comment 11/09/10: Hi I am an IBM contractor, and I am sorry for all of you guys, but you should get organized and pass a law saying outsourcing should be illegal, should be treated the same way as hiring illegals -forzan-

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Comment 11/09/10: those "chosen" today and yesterday, what LOB are you? ITD, SWG, Research, IGS? please give details -anonymous-

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Comment 11/09/10: Found out this AM in PBC discussion with mgr that HR is present at the final department wide rollup. Why? -Anon-
Alliance Reply: Can you say 'RA List'?

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Comment 11/09/10: Another 300+ employees were RA'ed in the USA. You can bet this is not the end of RA's despite IBM having a record stock price. So when are you IBMers going to finally do something to STOP an RA? Stop your bleating and bahhhing and DO SOMETHING. I give sheep more credit since they at least know how to flock to try to protect themselves. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: "...you IBMers..."??? Are you an IBMer? Are you a member of Alliance@IBM? Teach by example. If you're an IBMer, then put your words into action. How about YOU do something that will be recognized as moving forward and organizing? You can't organize people if you berrate them. Leave that to the IBM managers. They have experience in berrating their employees.

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Comment 11/09/10: Was cut today in IBM Canada. Part of GDF, manager didn't say much. Indicated HR took PBC into consideration. 2 years ago I disputed my PBC result....was told just to accept it, wouldn't matter....guess it came back. Anyway with GDF knew it was a matter of time. 12 years with the company....but it has changed for the worse...not a good or productive workplace any longer. -ibm canada-

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Comment 11/08/10: Dear -Alliance-Member- This is exactly what I have been saying for years. Stop allowing the Polotics to play us against each other and lets get moving -Exodus2007-

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Comment 11/08/10: Folks, if you don't like Working Mother magazine giving IBM one of their top ratings, do something! Write to their editor in chief here: Suzanne.riss@workingmother.com -Think-

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Comment 11/08/10: I was told this morning by my manager that I got cut. Worked for IBM 7 years with numerous OT, hardwork. -7-year IBMer-
Alliance Reply: We are sorry for your job loss. We've seen so many good IBMers fired, just like you. Are you an Alliance member? If not, did you ever think being fired, couldn't happen to you? This is why we continue to repeat ourselves, ad nauseam: Organize organize organize! IBMers need to join Alliance@IBM and then get to work gathering your co-workers to join. Organize openly, publicly. Show IBM Executives that there ARE many IBMers that want a contract and a voice in the workplace. Grow the membership, grow the numbers until we have a majority. It is the only answer, other than quitting or letting them fire you. If unions go away because no one believes in a contract for employees; then there will be no way for employees to ever truly have a voice in their workplace. Who here thinks that will be good?

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Comment 11/08/10: I was just called, I've been cut. Between GR and GDF, I figured it would happen eventually. -John-

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Comment 11/08/10: Hey Doyathink, Do you realize that by design we have a completely dysfunctional government. The fact remains that there is never anything productive for people who are considered average wage earners by design, because people do not stand up for themselves. Yes, I agree we need to unionize, I don't agree that either party will do anything functional, unless we stand up to them, the Government. The Majority think is it one party or the other, GOP Versus Dems, so by design, we have finger pointing to blame one party over the other and nothing ever is for the good of all or the good of the majority. I have never witnessed any functional advances with our government for the working class. Never. Because they are ANTI-UNION. The greedy bastards have the public fooled into thinking it is one party versus the other while they milk us for our way of life, where Neither party gives a damn about you or anyone else. I doubt you will see anything good out of the GOP history proves it. I equally doubt the Dems will do any better, again, history proves it. All you will get is lip service with no results. We sit here and focus on little tiny IBM when we should be focusing on the entire USA. -Alliance-Member-

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Comment 11/08/10: My manager called to say that there is a Resource Action taking place today in ITD. I work in a dept of project managers. I was not selected, but he said that some people in our dept are. The cuts are across ITD. He would not give any numbers or percentages. -anonymous-

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Comment 11/08/10: It is sad. Now that Republicans control the House they can be blamed for everything. It can't be IBM employees own fault they did not organize and demand their pensions back in the resulting collective bargaining that would have followed. Instead they waited with bated breath while SOME employees sued and took IBM through the legal system. They rejoiced when the Some appeared to have won something for the MANY who did nothing. Then when the courts sided with the corporation as courts tend to do (This is why corporations spend more money on Lawyers then on employee relations) the Many blamed those pesky Republicans. Damn them for not letting us get something for no effort on our part. Had the MANY joined with the SOME and the FEW and formed a union it would not be up to any court anywhere. Are any non members ever going to realize you must stand up for yourselves? Understand that the PERFECT business climate is Corporations competing against one another with MInimal Government intervention and the employees protected by THEIR union of choice. No one handed the UAW or the USW or the coal miners or the Teamsters or any other union a contract. They STOOD up and fought for it. Because of their efforts we probably wont be beaten to death with clubs for trying to organize. Our biggest danger is losing our jobs which is happening anyway so what are we really risking? We CAN organize successfully under existing laws without card check, Without congress and without the court system. But WE have to do it and stop waiting for someone else to save us from ourselves. When a Democrat says blame a Republican or a Republican says blame a Democrat what they are really saying is just don't blame me. Its all about holding on to power. Their power. Not yours. If they can make you hate someone, or fear someone, or love someone to get your vote they will do it. ALL of them. Stop falling for the game Politicians play. If you are not happy with your lot in life it is NOT someone else's fault It is yours. You have not done enough to change your lot in life or it would change. More education, A different job, Organize your co workers, Etc. Maybe all of the above. The right to pursue happiness is guaranteed. Not the achievement of happiness. The achievement is up to you. While I suppose its nice for non members to come here looking for warning signs that disaster is coming for them I do not see what purpose it serves when you do not heed the warnings year after year after year and actually do something other then kiss more butt at work or try to work 24 hours a day without charging overtime to impress bosses who just laugh at your efforts and line their pockets until they are ready to dump you no matter how hard you work or how good you are at what you do. Read the archives and see the people post every year how they were Golden Circle or a one performer or just won an award and still got dumped. Every year since Black Friday when the first Firings occurred. It does not stop. It does not end. It never will until we have a contract. It does not matter what division you are in or what business unit or if you play golf with your manager. When your time comes it comes. Surviving this year in a department hit by RA\'s means more work and longer hours for you next year. If your answer is I just wont do it then thank you for volunteering to be next years cannon fodder. Its IBM's game and IBM's rules without a contract. Substitute ANY corporations name to that statement for visitors from other companies. Stop waiting for the Government to get us out of this mess. Remember. Every dollar the government spends was taken or will be taken from a taxpayer. The government creates no wealth of its own. It just takes ours through taxes and fees. Lets PUSH our union forward and be masters of our own destiny. -Doyathink-

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Comment 11/08/10: IBM is hiring people for mainframe sales, and the only requirement is a GED.

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=PIKGM&ff=21&APath=2.21.21.0.0&job_did=J3I1R26H1K3K74TG8YF Company: IBM USA Required Education: High School
Job Type: Consultant
Entry Level Required Experience: Not Specified
Base Pay: N/A Required Travel: Not Specified
Other Pay: Location: map it!US-NY-Poughkeepsie
Employee Type: Full-Time
Manages Others: Not Specified
Relocation Covered: Not Specified
Industry: Computer Hardware
Computer Software
Consulting
Reference ID: STG-0358553
Job Description
General Other Consultant Job role skillsetGeneral Job descriptionSTG Lab Services and Training is looking for highly motivated individuals to be mainframe consultants. The role will be responsible for implementing in-depth technical solutions to address the most complex issues of a customer and may require periods of heavy travel (60-75% travel). The role will provide consulting assistance to customers in the areas of z/OS and Linux for System z systems in areas such as middleware and security. Experience in application development or systems is preferred. zMastery certificate a plus
Job Requirements
* High School Diploma/GED
* Readiness to travel up to 75%; travelling 5 days a week, home on weekends

Preferred
* Information Technology
* Certified in zMastery certification
* English : Fluent
Additional informationIBM's Systems & Technology Group (STG) develops and implements a full range of technologies that power many of the worldâ??s information systems, including servers, semiconductors, storage devices, and networking components. For more information please visit www-03.ibm.com/systemsIBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. -NotSmart-

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Comment 11/07/10: -RAed in 10- I hear ya! Let's see if the new Republican controlled House passes a bill cutting H1B visas. That will be the only way to preserve more jobs in the USA. Sammy can't outsource all of the USA IBMers just yet. -anonymous-

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Comment 11/07/10: Is this true?
http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/ibm-denies-that-it-will-cut-75-of-workforce-by-2017 --

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Comment 11/07/10: I know this isn't a job cuts comment.. but if that ERISA law is in effect it sounds like you get a chance to keep your current benefit if you leave by date X. And then of course no severance, no year of medical, no education money. If that is a misinterpretation of the ERISA law please let me know. Because getting a new lower paying job and leaving IBM to save a puny pension would otherwise be my choice. Then of course, collect immediately, start the stream of payments flowing. All I read in my pension plan is that the plan can change and you may not be able to go back. I am not angry at Sam, I think he suffers from a sociopathic condition. Meanwhile folks, get online and see if you can learn as I have done to Buy American. I've glued my sneakers back together with American shoe-glue rather than buying Chinese. We need to do what it takes and of course, join THIS Union. My manager when hearing that I was a member of this union said... that's protected, on your own time of course. He's all for it, and I even had to explain to him that his cash balance plan has an annuity (at the moment). Despite his high-level, his cash-balance is pretty small. So do not be afraid that your manager will find out, there's no point in offering up that you are a member but many managers were burned too, and respect the work the Alliance has done. The first lines and second lines are basically worker bees, I don't feel sorry for them of course! -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/07/10: "I just saw the following report and am disgusted that IBM is considered in the top 10 of working mother-friendly employers. This is far from the truth. What a joke!"
I would agree with you. The working moms that I know all hate their jobs at IBM and are worried about getting laid off. Frankly, the way the mom is holding her baby in that pic as she fiddles with her cell phone makes me think that I would not want to be on this list. That poor kid looks like he/she could fall any moment. It reminds me of the pic of Britney Spears holding her kid while she fumbles with her Starbuck Vente Latte. What a joke is right. -Shocked dad-

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Comment 11/06/10: My ties to IBM are 22 years of loyalty, and living by the old-school basic beliefs that were the culture and backbone of something spent BUILDING a respectable IBM, along with the friends who remain at IBM. Despite getting shafted myself, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the entity that is IBM, and believe there are still good people there, who need to, unlike many of us did, face that the seemingly unbelievable is certainly possible, and history has shown us where IBM has kept taking and taking what was part of the total compensation that we thought they never would, such as medical, retirement benefits and so on. My intent was never to create FUD (and BTW, read up on what the purpose of FUD is, it's not "scare tactics" but rather a business tool to freeze a market) but rather I spend my time and energy reading and posting here to hopefully raise awareness to those who (like I did) live in denial of what IBM is doing, and get them to do something about it, like join this alliance. Attack all you like, but history has shown that IBM is legally maneuvering to skirt the letters of the laws to take away jobs, benefits and if you assert they are not working on more, well, you need to get with reality. -RAed in 09-

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Comment 11/06/10: Hope everyone seen this? Obama calls India creator, not poacher, of US jobs: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama_asia
Does he know what he is talking about??? He does not know what is happening in IT companies, This is Crazy !!! I pity on us what kind of President we elected. In spite of so many Letters and Faxes sent to WH, Congressman and Senators Office about our JOBS, this guy talks like this. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/06/10: """Otherwise please refrain from creating FUD. And besides, if you left in Jan 09, and moved all your money away, you have no ties to IBM any more, so why are you here posting baseless nonsense? -Anon-"""
To me this is a classic example of attack the messenger...typical busting tactics.. Read the book when ya have a chance, "Confessions of a Union Buster'. RAed in 09 has every right to post his views and concerns as he is a member of the Alliance, are you? I have been from the beginning and ya know what? Almost every inconceivable 'rumor' has in one way or another been true. Based on this, one should, if possible, get your 'house in order' so that when the rumor becomes truth, you will be in a better position to cope with the decision to stay or leave the company. - Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 11/06/10: I just saw the following report and am disgusted that IBM is considered in the top 10 of working mother-friendly employers. This is far from the truth. What a joke!
http://www.theworkbuzz.com/employment-trends/the-best-companies-for-working-moms/?cobrand=msn&siteid=cbmsnhpbuzz>1=23000 -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/06/10: Sammy and all of the other greedy CEOs should be put on trial and sent to jail for running the US economy into the ground. How did they do it? By offshoring our manufacturing jobs. The root cause of our economic crisis is due to the fact that there are no more manufacturing jobs left in the US. These idiot CEOs have run this country in the ground for their own personal gain and wealth. Does Sammy care? Hell no. He has his millions. I say make him pay for the damage he has done to the US economy. Will there be more job cuts? Of course. Job cuts will continue until the employees band together with a union and stand up and fight these greedy bastard CEOs like Sammy. -RAed in 10-

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Comment 11/06/10: Notice that IBM is no longer in the top 100 companies to work for as per Money Magazine.
Also notice that several companies that contract IBM to provide support services *ARE* in the top 100.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/full_list/
Netapp at #7
Cisco at #16
Amongst others I'm sure. IBM is selling their soul to servicing other companies while at the same time ignoring their loyal and core business customers. There was a time when IBM was in the top 5 and surely #1. -Habib-

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Comment 11/05/10: There is nothing besides an old court case and penalty to deter IBM from converting our traditional pensions to a cash-balance again. In fact in 2006 our conversion was ruled as legal afterall, but the original judgement was allowed to stand. Under the low interest rates prevalent now, that may be more expensive. Also the cash-balance plan *has* an annuity option which my friend chose. His annuity is nearly as good as my traditional pension annuity, since mine was frozen as a"fairly young" pension (if you consider 23 years a newbie, I've 26 yrs now. My plan is to see if I make it past the next rounds of RAs. The idea of using the pension as a carrot to get the under-60 folks to leave was tried with success in the UK. Cash-balance plans are still legal and a Republican congress controlling the House Subcommittee on Pensions is likely to rule in favor of IBM, in favor of cash-balancing, just like they did when they controlled the Congress in 1999. You can bet anyone of Justice Roberts ilk (or should I say inJustice), would sooner trample the rights of millions before ruling against US Billionaire corporate interests, all the while maintaining exemplary church attendance. So once out I won't defer, I'll take the annuity immediately and it will be less but once you start collecting it, they can't cash-balance you, as far as I know. But yes my friend is receiving a $1500.00 a month annuity from his cash balance. A bitter pill for him since he missed the age 40 cutoff in 1999 only by weeks. Unions are the only answer, the Europeans are laughing at all the Americans reciting Karl Rove's rehash of Reaganomics with their half-glazed over eyes. Meanwhile German factories are running full tilt and with only 7% unemployment there. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/05/10: IBM will offshore 8K-10K more US based Software and Support jobs to three locations in China and India by March, 2011. IBM will hire 2400 pure sales jobs in the US by June of 2011. Sales and pre-sales jobs will be 80% of all jobs left after 2013 at IBM with a majority in low cost locations. Do forget that IBM's calculations are as follows - US Job = 145K fully loaded. India = 59K fully loaded, China is 42K fully loaded. Its simple math -Bob-

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Comment 11/05/10: RA'ed Jan 09, your comments, while grounded in some history, are essentially speculative scare tactics. If you have any facts on lawyers trying to surreptitiously conver existing pensions to the cash balance plan, let us know. Otherwise please refrain from creating FUD. And besides, if you left in Jan 09, and moved all your money away, you have no ties to IBM any more, so why are you here posting baseless nonsense? -Anon-

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Comment 11/05/10: I had high hopes in the Employee Free Choice Act, but according to the "SinkHole" article on the Alliance's front page that is just another example of how effective our government is. We will continue to witness one party blaming the other with barely any progress at all, finger pointing, lies, greed, corporate control. We really do not have a two party system, it is controlled by the corporation's lobbyists. It would be nice to see a gain in membership here so we can actually do something to protect our jobs, rumors just don't cut it. "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent" -Thomas Jefferson- -View-from-the-two-way-mirror-
Alliance Reply: You are absolutely right. Here's the skinny:
Step 1) Join Alliance@IBM.
Step 2) Get your co-workers to join. We will help you.
Step 3) Form a committee and begin to canvas your work site, if you are on site, or email/fax/phone other IBMers and tell them about Alliance@IBM and let them know that together we can organize and fight back.
These 3 steps are difficult to do. Many people shy away from being public about wanting a union. Our point from the beginning has been that without being public and standing up for yourself and your co-workers, the union is less effective. To organize workers to fight back against a corporation of IBM's size is a monumental task. Easy to talk about; extremely hard to do.
Alliance@IBM has been doing it for 11 years. We refuse to give up. We refuse to count on the Government's help (other than the current labor laws). We refuse to be shouted down by people who are trying to destroy the will and the energy it takes to form a union in IBM. Join us and never give up. It IS the answer to your voice in the workplace.

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Comment 11/05/10: I was at a meeting this week where Global Services Canada just announced a call to arms to raise their Q4 numbers. All employee's must work Remembrance Day (a national holiday in Canada where we honor those that have lost their lives in war) AND they must work an additional 2-4 hours per week. Here's the best part - if you cannot work the holiday you must explain why. Just when you think this company has gone the lowest it can go they drill beyond the depth at which the Chilean miners were trapped. -Roboto-

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Comment 11/05/10: to ibmsuks: -no_ky- is absolutely right. -RAed Jan 09- is also absolutely right too.
To add with a bit of history which could be of interest to you:
IBM pulled the old ESTIMATR tool off of VM systems in the summer of 1999 and when I asked IBM HR why they did it was "....since this tool no longer applies to you now in regards to the pension plan. . Wait till the new tool becomes available..."
My management at the time could not understand why I called HR about this. Of course the pension change didn't apply to my management. One manager tried to convince me it was a fair "enhancement" for my pension. IBM did this so me and others forced to the cash balance plan couldn't easily compare what they lost in the "cost neutral conversion" from defined benefit to cash pittance plan. But I had a copy of the old DOS IBM pension program I kept and found out why IBM disabled access to ESTIMATR to me. 46% of supposedly IBM promised deferred retirement benefits I lost in a supposedly "cost neutral conversion". After 25+ years of service and being RA in 2009, my frozen cash balance is only a little over $100K and will only get 1.4% interest for this year. Social Security will be a windfall compared to the cash balance pension. Yes, RAed Jan 09-, my FHA balance must have paid for my severance since my FHA is now zilch. I sure wish IBMers would learn that the best way to stop history like this and other travesties like IBMers not even getting a pension (though all IBM execs sure will) and job cut RAs from happening is to join the Alliance. -sby_willie-

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Comment 11/04/10: To RAed Jan 09, here in Canada / Ontario IBM has tried to do the following recently, convert the cash balance plans (DB) to a value or time based plan (DC) or retire in X number of days in order to keep the cash balance plan. IBM was turned down by various government agencies but I bet they were told they could do it if certain conditions were met. So they will try again for sure, we also heard they were going to do this in the US soon. Join the union asap please. -Still Hanging On-

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Comment 11/04/10: To: no_ky and RAed Jan 09. I don't doubt pension changes are forthcoming. However, it has been rumored all year and so far nothing. Also, they cannot change it overnight. ERISA law says there must be a prior notification period to allow affected employees to make a decision on whether to leave or stay and accept the new plan. I do my homework, would suggest the same. -ibmsuks-

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Comment 11/04/10: Yes, the old pension plan is frozen and not being added to any longer. However, nothing is stopping IBM from converting that to a cash balance plan with value or time based credits rather than the lifetime annuity. THAT is where y'all on the old plan need to worry. That is exactly where those who got shoved into cash balance got hammered. It's there, and it won't disappear, but it may well change (and don't think there's not a batch of IBM compensation lawyers working on it) to a cash balance. And you may not even get a "retire in 30 days or we convert you" - you may just get told that it is now converted; tough. Nothing is guaranteed here. Me? When I got my RA, I took my cash balance and 401K and rolled it into other qualified plans (no penalties) because who knows when, where or how IBM would figure out a way to scam me out of it. After all, you're retirement health account? What do you think they used to pay our severance with? IBM is nothing more than a financial manipulation center now. Not products; not services; just a money churn, from customers, skimming off a little for lower paid country employees, and the rest to the execs. See the stock price lately? That's because Sam is cutting costs - you. Oh yeah, do what I failed to do before I "got it". Join the union... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 11/04/10: TO>>>-ibmsuks->> Where have you been ? The OLD PLAN is already FROZEN. How you will be able to access it, is where the next step hits. You won't have to wait past JULY 2011 to find out what will happen; probably sooner. Only 20% of USA resources left in 2012 and over 50% of that will be HDQ of IBM HOLDING COMPANY. You would already know now, if IBM LEGAL didn't throw a wrench into the works. -no_ky-

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Comment 11/04/10: To anonymous: there is nothing in your statement to give your comment credibility: "the decision has already been made to offshore HQ to China." -anonymous-

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Comment 11/03/10: "IBM slave: you say "The next to go is the old pension plan for employees who earned it? Really? When? Lots of unsubstantiated mis-information posted here. -ibmsuks- "
I cannot tell you when. I am not privy to that information. However if the employee's don't unite and form a union it will happen. It is only a matter of time. -IBM slave-

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Comment 11/03/10: -Whoopee- Which is why I said enough quality. As in JUST enough, Or Barely enough to just hang onto the contract. At no point did I say top quality or better quality. Unethical and larcenous? No shit Sherlock. Where the hell have you been for the last 11 years. Please tell me your a new hire and not someone who has been here over 12 years and is just noticing this. As far as where HQ is. Unless you work at HQ does it really freakin matter? You're a mindless work widget to IBM as long as you do not have a contract. With a contract you will still be just a mindless work widget to IBM but you will have a contract that must be honored. I think capitalists learned in the 1950's about building infrastructure in Communist countries. Everyone who invested in businesses in Cuba lost all because Castro nationalized it all. I doubt that Supercapitalists like Sammy would be STUPID enough to move HQ to China so it could be nationalised. The Caymens maybe, or the Bahamas where a dollar can still buy a government official . Remember the executives are smart enough to have contracts. They don't quibble with each other over moot points. They just take every dollar they can take off the table and line their own bank accounts with it. Yes it will take Many to the many power to join before our voices are heard. If everyone who joins gets someone new to join once a month we double our numbers monthly. Of course if we do it weekly or daily, so much the better. The German Jews in the 1930's took a "wait and see" attitude. They waited and you don't want to see what they saw. Had they banded together and fought or ran like hell, there may be a lot more of them around today. Had more IBMers banded together in 1999 or since, there would also be a lot more of them around today. America and IBM would have been better off if they had. I fear we will be too late if we don't get it done soon. If the American worker does not wake up and get organized soon it may be Congress that will be moving to China. Think life sucks now? Anyone who wishes to discuss this further see you in the Members only forums . -Doyathink?-

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Comment 11/02/10: to "doyathink?", the quality factor is not there when existing service is moved to global resources, especially as IBM jumps from one country to another now, constantly trying to lower their costs. for one service, they moved resources from india to eastern europe back to india to china to argentina to brazil to manila in two years!!!!.
Frankly, my theory is that IBM does not care if they lose the contract after the first year. they make a big junk of transition dollars up front, hold back as much US resource expenditure in the first year as they can, and then hand-off contract services to cheapest global labor they can get without proper education, job coaching, contract knowledge exchange, etc. then quality and service completely break down. for customer that have explicitly demanded US resources, IBM has the US resources in place but delegate as many activities and administrative stuff to GRs while appearing to be responsible for the whole job, maintaining appearances. IBM doesn't care about the customer - it's all about bait and switch to get that down payment. this has caught up with them. Also, yes, IBM is a business, and its employees cannot expect any relationship, trust or honesty, but on the whole what they are doing is unethical and larcenous. -Whoopee-
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"Job Takeover Shadowing" - new illicit KGB practice to ensure services fulfilled by global resources. Has anyone noticed that there are GR resources in monitoring roles who seem to have no purpose except to supervise their western co-workers and report back to management whether the job, service, or new service can be moved to a GR country? Seem to be appearing on meetings and have nothing to contribute - silently doing the underhanded job of taking business and jobs away from US/Canada long time employees. Also, seem very ignorant as unable to answer questions - just note takers who can't even speak intelligently, probably reporting to some backroom group. Even executives are unaware of the purpose of these people, blind sided by the resulting decisions, and have no authority, influence or to overrule. Why aren't our managers and executives speaking up??? Who, who, who is responsible for peddling GR, forcing it down executives, employees' and customers' throats. WHO????? -Whoopee-
Alliance Reply: Your question "Who?" is a bit misguided. You lump employees and customers in the same group with executives. Executives ARE responsible for "forcing it down the throats" of employees and customers. Executives are NOT "unaware of the purpose...". If you believe they are, then you have been severely misinformed. Translation:Lied to. Your only choice is to Organize and fight back. Join Alliance@IBM and work toward an employment contract. There is NO OTHER CHOICE, besides leaving the company.

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Comment 11/02/10: In response to "doyathink?" - the decision has already been made to offshore HQ to China. Yes there will be another RA on 12/1 and yes prior to being downsized I did join the alliance and although I believe in the cause, it will take many, many, many more to join before any real and vivid leverage will come from it. -anonymous-

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Comment 11/02/10: Just got hit today. 17 years with SWG. Always a 2 or 2+ review. Told this year my job is being off-shored. I don't know if it is IBM's fault or America's. All I know is iBM's bottom line seems to be better than America's, but IBM doesn't seem to give a damn about its roots. -Anonymous-

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Comment 11/01/10: IBM slave: you say "The next to go is the old pension plan for employees who earned it? Really? When? Lots of unsubstantiated mis-information posted here. -ibmsuks-

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Comment 11/01/10: I said this years ago; Somebody in management had told me the plan was to cut 80% of the American work force. It looks like they are still hard at work at that goal. You all need to join Alliance now and stop asking when the next RA is. I'm long gone, and have not been woken up in the middle of the night by a pager in over 3 years now and I don't mind that at all. I'm out of there, but the rest of you need to stop asking if there is gonna be another RA. There is, until you are all gone, so get on it and join Alliance and do something about it. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 11/01/10: "hmmmm- I hear a rumor that more and more IBMers might join the Alliance in Nov. I would find that more interesting than worrying about the next RA if it happens in Nov. -anonymous- "
It's about time. IBM continues to chip away and erode employee benefits. The next to go is the old pension plan for employees who earned it and were counting on it for retirement. Without a union IBM can do whatever they want to the employees. Let's see a union to protect the employees! -IBM slave-

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Comment 10/31/10: It always amazes me how someone always has to post that I am wrong and then agrees with me in general. The urge to play one upmanship is so strong even people who agree have to find a way to disagree I suppose. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 10/31/10: To "da-facts": you also forgot to mention that being selected for an RA largely depends on how well you get along with your 1st line and maybe your 2nd line. Kissing ass is key here. My last manager before I was RA'd in 09' managed to trash my reputation in 6 months. So, it was easy for her to make a decision to ax me. You know what they say about Karma, and I completely believe in it. I wouldn't kiss her ass, so.... -Glad2BGone-

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Comment 10/31/10: IBM Canada (MKM) is hiring back IBMers who left the company for other opportunity due to bad management for huge salaries and high band levels, reason is customers are ready to work due to the lower skills IBM employees IBM is sending to replace the ones that left, -IBM Candian-

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Comment 10/29/10: Working with a number of clients, I am starting to see the development, management, and 2nd lines being assigned to visa resources. Actually, I've started to see this on multiple engagements (60%+ onshore) I have been on. Unfortunately not only is this happening within IBM but outside. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/29/10: Let's see if Sam leave when he turns 60. If he does then we'll know the company is about to totally implode. His inside knowledge of things to come will have told him to take the booty and run to the rich pastures. If he stays on then he is going to go for ever more stock buybacks, more bonuses and stock options for his execs and himself, ,more cost cutting and RAs to boost the EPS and boost his own wealth which is not still good enough for him. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/29/10: -hmmmm- I hear a rumor that more and more IBMers might join the Alliance in Nov. I would find that more interesting than worrying about the next RA if it happens in Nov. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/28/10: -Doyathink- said "IBM is not evil. IBM is a corporation. It is not a person."
A U.S. corporation IS legally a person and often is an evil person. See the 2003 movie, "The Corporation":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corporation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225
I agree that we must have a contract to deal with such an entity. -Gorya-

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Comment 10/28/10: To try to better understand the randomness and insanity of RA selection, read or see the short story called "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. IBM RAs are very similar to getting the paper with the black dot. It does not matter what awards, patents, sales record, PBC, job skills, etc. you have. IBM RAs USA employees to shed operation costs so IBM has more money in profits for stock buybacks and to make Sam and his cronies richer. -da_facts-

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Comment 10/27/10: To -justanumber- Project Managers have been outsourced to Argentina. And I know first hand how skilless & annoying they are to deal with. My team leads & collegues pretty much all agree that it was a retarded move. But on a more serious note, there are plenty of folks that turn down Service Delivery Manager roles, project roles etc because they dont provide any monetary benefit & the workload quadruples. So who gets the jobs, you guessed it, offshore folks. Just to give you an idea of how people internally regard offshore replacements, I persoanlly trash every email I get from them asking me for anything. When they sametime me, I may or may not reply. They have ZERO power & nobody takes them seriously. But the backside of doing that is of course, that an exec will shit talk you behind your back to your manager, but if you're a contractor like me, who really gives a shit? -anonymous-
Alliance reply: We suggest that the most constructive way to changes things for the better is to organize and negotiate a contract.
Working conditions in IBM are such because workers have no say and no power. That can be changed. The Argentina IBMers understood that and formed a union. And yes we do care about what is happening to contractors.

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Comment 10/27/10: So, many here say a company wide RA in Nov. How wide? Anyone have insight into LOBs? Div? Our department has been pinching pennies tighter than I have ever seen it before... -hmmmm-

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Comment 10/27/10: IGF, what group are you part of? There has been rumours of RA, but it has all been quiet. Any other groups getting hit? -Confused-

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Comment 10/26/10: 10 years, solid sales record, Golden circle, numerous other awards. 2+ rating 2009. Got a package today. What a joke! -IGF-
Alliance Reply: Sorry for your job loss. When you don't have a contract, then IBM plays the 'joke' on you. Others should learn from your experience; but it seems to continue to happen. IBMers trust IBM with their careers and their life. That's their first mistake. Organize and fight for a contract. It is THE only pro-employee option.

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Comment 10/26/10: Any news in regards to RA in Canada? -1984-

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Comment 10/25/10: Software distribution Montreal - IBM just converted 6 contractors into permanent IBMERS. Obviously they have their 8 or 9 month trial ahead. Some accounts that went to Argentina are coming back, so maybe thats why -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/25/10:to: (Dallas) -anonymous- Question: Was any reason given for asking for the PBCs to be turned in early? -anon-

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Comment 10/24/10:To anonymous who said "The plan is to offshore jobs to whomever will do them the cheapest with enough quality so IBM can keep contracts. It does not matter to IBM where in the world that is. The name after all IS International Business Machines. They will remain a " US " corporation on paper" ----
You are wrong about one thing. Quality does not matter. It's the perception of quality, what they can make customers believe and buy into that matters. What you need at IBM now are good powerpoint skills and the ability to pinpoint who has the power, and the lack of spine that is necessary to agree with them (lest they crush you). There is a serious degradation in quality. Most people are doing precisely what is needed to keep their jobs. Make no mistake it is no longer a career but a job. The only jobs left that are NOT in third world countries will be: SALES - PROJECT MANAGERS - and EXECUTIVES. Every other job has been divided and categorized into a massive "jobs" schema. The demise of IBM ultimately will be that the best people have left (or will leave) either by their own choosing or through RA's. Once employees cease to value anything but their paycheck, quality will suffer greatly (already has) and once the economy turns around the substance of IBM will be gone (only sales people left). Someone will write a book about the failure of IBM, and the executives will leave with their golden parachutes. Save your money, kiss your kids, pay attention to your own life, get out while you can. -justanumber-

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Comment 10/24/10: "How did ibm become so evil? EPS? Sam's greed? -wake up world!- "
IBM is not evil. IBM is a corporation. It is not a person. It is strictly a business. Working for IBM is a business decision you have made. You have done so because you wish to get something from this business relationship you have with IBM . A paycheck, benefits, an entry on your resume' that may get you more things down the road with another company. Doing so without having what you want defined by a contract is a poor business decision we all made. All except the executives who due to their Business Degrees understand the value of a solid employment contract with all their wants including severance packages when they leave clearly defined. I am very glad IBM is a strong corporation with record profits. When we achieve our goals and organize IBM workers into a union there will be a VERY thick and Juicy pie to get a piece of for ourselves. A poor company that is unprofitable would barely provide a crumb to be divided amongst the workers . We should learn from our knowledgeable executives like Sam and get our own contracts in place . At the very least we would know what severance will be available if we get terminated because it would be one of the things we would vote on in our collective contract. Remember that YOUR relationship with IBM is a business relationship. It is not a friendship. It is not a love affair. Isn't it time you treated it like a business? You do not buy a house or a car without a contract why continue to work without one?? In your lifetime you willingly give others the protection of a contract yet do not insist on one for yourselves. Its amazing isn't it? -Doyathink?-

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Comment 10/24/10: Sam's SmarterPlanet forgot about Africa as he races us back towards world slavery. Why pay anyone anywhere a living wage when shareholder value can be maximized by free slave labor? As people in India, Tawain and China begin demanding to be treated with dignity, fairness and respect, there still remains one place in the world where people live on less than $1 per day -- Sub-Saharan Africa. Time to step-up to the plate, Sammy and finally enslave, exploit, and outsource us all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Percentage_living_on_less_than_$1_per_day_1981-2001.png -Joe Punchclock-

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Comment 10/24/10: "Palmisano has sure visited India though." He visited China as well. IBM is planning to treat Ireland just like the USA. So much for the smarter planet. Some countries on the planet are not to be included. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/22/10: -anonymous- The plan is to offshore jobs to whomever will do them the cheapest with enough quality so IBM can keep contracts. It does not matter to IBM where in the world that is. The name after all IS International Business Machines. They will remain a " US " corporation on paper, regardless of where they employ the most people to keep any advantages that being a US company brings them. When being a US company no longer provides enough incentive (Read that as revenue) then they will dissolve the corporation in America and reform it in the next beneficial country. They have already passed a resolution allowing them to do so a few years ago. They will continue to slash more expensive jobs wherever a contract is not in place to stop them. Today jobs move to Asia and India. If Libya becomes the cheapest provider of what they need the jobs will go there . The game is called how low will you go to just have a job. A sweatshop to workers is maximum profits to stockholders. All over the world by the way, Not just in America. -Doyathink?-
Alliance reply: You've summed it up perfectly. This needs to be communicated to all IBMers, until they understand that it is IBM's strategy, world wide. The only tool available to workers is organzing to fight back. It has worked before; and it can work again.

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Comment 10/22/10: The TAA report #73593 can be read here: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/taa/taa_search.cfm
Do these certifications get restricted to any particular job role? The reason I ask is because they spefically mention "The workers provide software asset management services for various external customers." -TAA-Report-

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Comment 10/21/10: To "doyathink" - are you aware that the plan is to offshore jobs to the degree that Asia is the largest workforce for IBM for the future? To include HQ? Obviously the US gov't contracts aren't the primary driver here. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/21/10: Thanks, -Bond James bond- and two -Anonymous-es, for posting links on 10/20/10 about the offshoring from Ireland to China. Here are more:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/20/ibm_ireland_server_cuts
http://postbulletin.typepad.com/kiger/2010/10/ibm-gives-out-staff-cut-numbers-talks-outsourcing.html
http://www-src.nowpublic.com/world/ibm-moves-jobs-china
I'm personally interested because my own job was offshored from the U.S. to Ireland in March. I was told then that IBM had had to expand its Irish operations because more-stringent Irish labor laws require IBM to keep a minimum number of jobs in Ireland to get tax breaks (I responded that I admired the Irish government for taking better care of its workers than the U.S. government does).
I would guess now
- that Ireland-IBM employment has edged up above that minimum and this RA will reduce positions back down to it
- that IBM is pre-announcing the RA to follow yet another pesky Irish labor law(IBM conducts U.S. RAs in secret so we can only find out about them here) -Gorya-

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Comment 10/21/10: Answer to TAA question TAA petition#73593 has been certified (approved). You simply make an appointment to go to a one stop career center. (http://www.servicelocator.org) and apply for TAA using petItion #73593 . The process takes about an hourWho is covered by the certification - Generally the certification covers all members of the worker group who are laid off or threatened with layoff during the three-year period beginning one year before the petition was filed and ending two years after the date of the certification Each certification specifies the beginning and ending dates. This petition includes WFH employees that reported to Boulder. -I'mDONEw/IBM-

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Comment 10/21/10: Wasn't it just a few years ago IBM said they were committed to growing business in Ireland due to a vibrant, young, and talented workforce there? Has Palmisano ever visited IBM Ireland? Palmisano has sure visited India though. Just another country IBM along with the USA wants to abandon. Are they calling it a RA there as well? -anonymous-

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Comment 10/21/10: -Concerned- Only for those still employed after Jan. 1.But I wouldn't be surprised IBM denies transition payments for those getting the RA package and leaving shortly after 1/1/2011 since IBM always says that the severance package is the compensation for getting chosen and selected for a RA before 12/31/2010 who lose the GDP (Growth Driven Pay). If IBM can save a few pennies and dollars on the backs of an RAed employee you can bet the ranch they will.-transitioned_out-

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Comment 10/21/10: to Anonymous, Sorry to hear about your demise. That is unfortunate that you would be willing to work for such a small amount of money. I think the executives know this, that is why they continue this debilitating approach. Someday when things are so bad, people like you will take a stand for what they deserve. It may take some sacrafice of which no one seems to want to give because people are either too greedy to sacrafice a little to gain some respect and stability or people are afraid of taking a risk. My personal opinion, is that if you hang on too tight to what you own, you will lose everything in the process.By the way, I heard a couple of days ago that GTS will be cutting 5%. Merry Christmas from your buddy Sam. -Too-Little-Too-Late-

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Comment 10/21/10: To -wake up world!- A. Gerstner planted a nanochip into Palmisano. Sammy is programmed to get fatter both figuratively and monetarily. Sammy is an IBM cost cut and burn RAing cyborg. -da_facts-

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Comment 10/20/10: Does anyone know particulars regarding the transition payments that begin Jan. 1? If we get RA'd at the end of this year, will the payments still be paid? -Concerned-

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Comment 10/20/10: Hi All, I am interested in filing for form for TAA. I was laid off on 03/31/2010. My work originally went to a CDI contractor and an IBM\'er. However, I heard from the CDI cont I trained that the IBM\'er never was involved in the job function, that she had been performing it almost entirely, and then she was laid off w/2 hrs. notice. She stated that my job function did transfer to India, but in this round about way so it would not be obvious to me and others in the dept. I worked in div 07, SDT, Oracle dba group but was involved in management of software (installation, licensing, etc.) which seems to fit the TAA #73593. My work location was Boulder, but I was a WAH employee. I tried to obtain a position as a contractor at $35/hr, no benefits, in Unix system administration. Multiple openings and I was groomed by IBM for 16 yrs. I was shocked to read about the supposed skills mismatch. I\'m trained in AIX, willing to work for a lot less money, willing to report to the plant, etc. I am 10 minutes away and they will not hire me. Then I heard the bit about my job beingtransferred to India. In any event, any assistance on what I can do to contact 2 others, please hook me up! -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/20/10: "In order to prepare your manager for these meetings regarding performance, contributions and accomplishments, you should submit your 2010 PBC results in the PBC tool by November 5, 2010. If you need to modify your objectives, please ask your manager to return your PBC objectives so you can update them in the tool."
Be careful what you write. This tool can be used to screw you. Make sure you exagerate your accomplishments and inflate everything about you. Make sure you make yourself look like Superman. Management will use this tool to kick you out the door. -Clark Kent-

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Comment 10/20/10: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/IBM-to-cut-190-jobs-in-Dublin-apf-4047346412.html?x=0&.v=3 -Bond James bond-

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Comment 10/20/10: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1020/breaking41.html -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/20/10: IBM is cutting 6% of the workforce in Ireland: http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/news/blogpost/8482767/ -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/20/10: Software Group - my dept had to submit our PBCs by 10/1. I am currently applying for a job in another dept. My avail date is in January and my manager keeps asking me when I will "know" about the other position, like 10./30? I believe that something will be happening Nov 1. -15YrIBMer-

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Comment 10/20/10: IBM is looking for help in renovating Watson? Why should NYS help IBM out when NY IBM full time employee jobs are still declining? How about a tax break for those that got whacked from IBM? For those who can only get part time contract type work? I'm SICK of corporate welfare and the obscene tax breaks IBM gets. I write NYS reps. but they could care less now since they are spending 100% of their time trying to get re-elected to this crooked, broke, and corrupt state government. Does IBM pay ANY rreal taxes? They got billions in profits and still have their hand out for a break. They don't serve any tax breaks! It's time to get tough with this IBM. Pay your fair share IBM! -taxed-

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Comment 10/20/10: Please know that stealth RA's are still going on. They are like getting snipered, one or two get picked off at a time, and yet no one really notices unless they get selected. Since IBM services (the outsource biz) has disappointed based on 3Q results (signings backlog is still down) one can only expect more RA "drive byes". -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/20/10: Server manufacturing gone from dublin, announcement coming today. Jobs moving to china. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/19/10: How did ibm become so evil? EPS? Sam's greed? -wake up world!-

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Comment 10/19/10: This just in. IBM has announced its f--- you planet initiative and needs 10000 employees in the country of Chad. It hasn’t yet figured out how to successfully complete a development project, but it is in need of level 2 support to divert attention away from its lack to development skill. -anon-

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Comment 10/18/10: "IBM Yorktown PILOT". Perhaps the town should look into that is about the number of jobs that will move back to Yorktown when the lease on Research's building in Hawthorne (19 Skyline Drive) ends in a year or so. The Hawthorne site part of Research lost over 50 people due to RA's in Jan 09. http://www.watson.ibm.com/general_info_haw.shtml -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/18/10: "This exercise, called "team-based decision making," will help IBM to achieve fair and accurate differentiation of performance and pay. It is intended to reinforce IBM’s culture of high performance, strengthen credibility in the process and build trust in relationships between employees and managers."
Good grief! Do they actually believe that? Nothing short of new management at the top, and a clear and decisive abandonment of the wholesale offshoring of jobs could possibly do that. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/18/10: Sorry Folks, Take it from a second line manager who has left the company, the PBC process is a joke in IBM. Upper management already knows who will be RAed by Christmas. Its all based on politics within the organization, not performance reviews. The tool is the political tool. -Ana-

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Comment 10/18/10: Just received from H.R. The process for documenting all employees 2010 Personal Business Commitments (PBC) and RSM Ranking results is underway. This note will provide information to you regarding the 2010 PBC / Ranking cycle. Beginning in November, first-line managers will meet with their own management to review employees' individual performance against PBC goals. During the meeting they will evaluate impact and relative contribution to reach consensus on which employees are the top and lowest contributors for the year. This exercise, called "team-based decision making," will help IBM to achieve fair and accurate differentiation of performance and pay. It is intended to reinforce IBM’s culture of high performance, strengthen credibility in the process and build trust in relationships between employees and managers.

In order to prepare your manager for these meetings regarding performance, contributions and accomplishments, you should submit your 2010 PBC results in the PBC tool by November 5, 2010. If you need to modify your objectives, please ask your manager to return your PBC objectives so you can update them in the tool. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/18/10: IBM is looking for help in renovating Watson? So governments are going broke; IBM is reporting record profits, IBM is laying off ALL over INCLUDING Watson (I know firsthand), and IBM wants a hand-out to improve it's own property? Gee, town council, I want to do some improvements to my house, can I get a tax break? I'm gonna hire come contractors to do the work, I'm gonna buy things at Home Depot... -RAed Jan 09-
Alliance reply: You and other IBMers RA'd in the Watson area should write or call the councilman and offer support.

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Comment 10/18/10: -sourcethese- I am just curious. How have you asked IBM and the board to do this? Have you sent them a letter? An email? A telegram? Have you submitted it as a stockholder resolution for a vote? Or did you post it here on the UNIONS website where IBM Management is not allowed to be by law and feel like you accomplished something. I am not posting this to put you down in any way. I am just using this as an example to folks who think posting a gripe here reaches IBM Managements ears. In theory it should not. You mention that hardly anyone has joined and I ask, have you? If so, great. Now how are you working towards getting others to join with you. Do you say positive things about the Union effort or do you belittle it among your coworkers then secretly post here so you feel like you have done something? If you are as frustrated by managements actions as you appear to be then join with us. Be with us. Stand up with us. Make something good happen for yourself and your co workers. By the way, IBM will NEVER change its board or its US Corporation as it relies way too much on federal contracts and Department of Defense contracts that would not be available to foriegn companies. As long as there are Billions to be made from them IBM will stay an American company on paper. Even if they did as you ask how would that improve your lot in life?? If all board members and Sammy died in a plane crash it does not mean anything would improve for you. Their replacements would be out for themselves just like them and you would still be screwed. Management will not suddenly see the error of their ways no matter who or where they are. They do not believe what they do to be an error. They consider it good business. Only a union can start to counterbalance their greed. Live better, work union, -Doyathink?-

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Comment 10/17/10: Dont Join IBM Dubuque, IA It is Dungeon not a Office. People and Managers there talk so proud there - still they are putting glossy cream on rotten cake. -Frank-

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Comment 10/15/10: to Uncle Fuster, Do you know how many jobs are in the US compared to BRIC counties? Your comment was either wrong or it is misconstrued, because there is a huge number of IBMers over in BRIC as to when compared to IBMers in the US. Security has nothing to do with it, the bottom line is money. -USA-Small-Potatoes-

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Comment 10/15/10: http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_news/article_f083feb4-d7d3-11df-b22b-001cc4c03286.html

YORKTOWN - Looking to renovate its 875,000-square-foot T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, IBM is seeking financial assistance from the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency in the form of a sales tax exemption for the purchase of materials, fixtures and equipment.

The county agency sent a letter Oct. 1 to Town Supervisor Susan Siegel notifying the town that in order to provide assistance to IBM, the agency must hold a public hearing in Yorktown regarding the project.

The issue was discussed at the Oct. 12 Town Board work session meeting when Siegel told the board that if the county grants IBM's request, IBM may then come to the town for a PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, program.

IBM is considering bringing 450 jobs to this area, said Theresa Waivada, executive director of the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency. There are 100 offices in that building that are over 50 years old and in need of renovation, and that is where the agency may help, she said.

The agency gave IBM preliminary approval for the sales tax exemption and is awaiting confirmation from the corporation, which it expects in November, Waivada said.

The board agreed to wait for the county's final decision before discussing plans with IBM. The corporation has not yet contacted the town, Siegel said.

Yorktown entered into a PILOT program with IBM nearly a decade ago when the research facility promised to bring jobs to the area. In exchange, the center received a property tax break and a decrease in its property assessment value after 10 years.

The PILOT program with IBM locks-in the company's property assessment preventing it from filing a tax certiorari (tax grievance), which is advantageous to the town, Siegel said.

After contacting IBM regarding the number of jobs it has created over the past 10 years, Town Councilman Nick Bianco said he could not find one job the center has brought to Yorktown during the decade-long program. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/15/10: -Doyathink?- Yes, I agree it would be better for folks to join the Alliance butever since the cash balance conversion, and the birth of the Alliance, hardly anyone has joined. The employees who want to join have no excuse. Being scared to join is just a lame excuse. And this is sad! I'm asking IBM to do the ethical thing and make the composition of their board and upper management from where they have the most employed people which certainly will never be the USA ever again. -sourcethese-

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Comment 10/15/10: Has anyone gotten help from IBM with TAA?
LOL>>LOL>>>LOL!!! You think IBM CARES? Gosh. They still deny the very fact of any TAA rulings are "without merit" anyway. IBM doesn;t outsource and offshore jobs and doesn't lay anyone off, they just "rebalance" their workforce based on inane reasons -anonymous-

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Comment 10/15/10: I was laid off from IBM 3 yrs ago. Got hired back 2 months later as a contractor. Nov 2009, I got transferred to a Transition & Transformation project & had to work with a person who was just totally impossible. I found another contract gig closer to home & quit. BEST THING I ever did. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/14/10: SSO is still dropping headcount, lost 2 in my department in the last six weeks (around 5%). Accounts are being pushed to lndia, but India is unable to provide qualified entry-level employees, much less skilled ones that can do the job.SSO is still dropping headcount, lost 2 in my department in the last six weeks (around 5%). Accounts are being pushed to lndia, but India is unable to provide qualified entry-level employees, much less skilled ones that can do the job. -Frank-

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Comment 10/14/10: After being at IBM for almost 17 years, I was let go on March 31, 2010 as part of the RA. My salary nor my work performance was any reason for this, but was told that it's part of the RA. This has really put a bad taste in my mouth after sacrificing all these years for IBM. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/14/10: Anonymous10/04/10 I just saw your TAA comment and that might be the decision number I've been looking for!!! I called the TAA and they are allegedly checking into it... hope they actually do something this time.T H A N K S!!
Hey Alliance , I need your help. I've been trying to get TAA for months now. Just called and this time they started contradicting what I was told earlier. I was part of the 3000 laid off on 3/31 - and somehow need to find 2 other people that were related to my area, which was div 07 and the group was STD (or SDT?). Is there anyone out there from this group? or anyone know how to find 2 people?Has anyone gotten help from IBM with TAA? (At this point I hesitate to put my trust in them.) Has anyone gotten TAA without finding 2 other people? THANKS! -another-
Alliance reply: Are you a member? Contact us at ibmunionalliance@gmail.com so we can help you on this. We need your contact information.

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Comment 10/13/10: Management came through today, telling select employees they need to have their PBC in by no later than October 22nd. (Dallas) -anonymous-

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Comment 10/13/10: "Sam basically asked Obama for $30 Billion in Stimulus funds to"create" 900,000 IT jobs."
You think if Sam was given Fed. money for stimulus he could have "saved" the USA jobs RA'ed last year? Basically he could have asked for 'only' about $366B for the 11,000 RA'ed using the same average. Of course Obama knows Palmisano is not intent on creating any real substance of IT jobs in the USA. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/12/10: I doubt Sammy can move government jobs to BRIC countries en masse due to the security concerns, but the bottom line is IBM's recent record of failure and lost accounts would not make it a top choice for that work. -Uncle Fuster-

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Comment 10/12/10: Hey -sourcethese- Isn't it high time employees joined the union and forced IBM into a contract to stop outsourcing?? Sounds even better to me and far more likely then Sammys cronies on the board voting to replace themselves. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 10/12/10: Sammy doing something for FREE? LOL There is nothing free with Palmisano's agenda. He is a first class hypocrite. For that matter he is a jerk since he appears to insult a standing President of the USA with his words. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/12/10: to IBMer, I find it pretty funny though that Obama snubbed Sammy. Even after Sammy offered it for free.
I would not think that Sammy is offering anything for "Free". I am reading between the lines here, but cheers for Obama if he can see through Sammy's beer goggles. So, hypothetical example: Sammy offers to create 1000 jobs in the US and over the next 2 years after he has reaped the benefits, those jobs will become BRIC jobs. -Rose-colored-glasses-
Alliance Reply: Good point. In Jan 2009, Sam P. attended a White House conference with CEO's, USCOC, and Organized Labor. Sam basically asked Obama for $30 Billion in Stimulus funds to "create" 900,000 IT jobs. He 'implied' those jobs would be and stay mainly in the U.S.; but as you pointed out, the likelyhood of that being the truth, is extremely improbable. It's good to hear that Obama did not take him up on the offer. Thanks for your comment.

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Comment 10/12/10: TO >>>-IBMer->>>The president was smart enough to know that IBM does NOT give anything for FREE and was afraid of the hidden attachments. -no_ky-

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Comment 10/12/10: I'm pretty far --in time-- away from IBM now, but we always took the personal choice holidays first and vacation days afterwards, as a hedge against losing them if we were forced out. -SOLZHENITSYN-

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Comment 10/11/10: "Another example of arrogance of Palmisano and political hypocrisy."
Hmm I'm not so sure I would agree. While I dislike Sammy immensly this could create jobs for IBMers. I find it pretty funny though that Obama snubbed Sammy. Even after Sammy offered it for free. -IBMer-

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Comment 10/10/10: By Sending all Govt Jobs to India, Brazil and China he will save money????
Comment 10/06/10: Just heard on Kudlow that Sam Palmisano has proposed to the Federal government that he could save a trillion dollars a year by cutting waste out of the IT budget. We all know what sam is talking about. Do we deluge Congress now, or do we wait until after the contract is signed and the work is in progress? -John-
Alliance Reply: Thanks for the information, John. Here's the link that we posted on our front page:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-06/ibm-s-palmisano-says-new-technology-can-save-u-s-1-trillion.html -John-

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Comment 10/10/10: If IBM is outsourcing USA workers then it is high time to outsource some of the IBM Board of Directors and executives as well to better reflect a global corporation. Replace USA IBM board of directors and IBM execuitves with more Brazilian, Russian, Indian, and Chinese directors and IBM executives. For you BRIC IBMers when are you realizing IBM is using you. They don't respect you or your leaders; they only want your cheap labor to make their USA executives and board members richer than rich. -sourcethese-

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Comment 10/09/10: Ref: -Flew the coop- Yes - all accrued vacation is paid. Not personal choice holidays though. Take all of those before you leave. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 10/09/10: Another example of arrogance of Palmisano and political hypocrisy.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/08/fnc_did_white_house_snub_fraud_fighter.html -HR_says_Disengaged_from_Workforce-

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Comment 10/09/10: Aren't we getting a little of topic when discussing ECC? -xIbmer-

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Comment 10/09/10: I thought this forum was about Job Cuts or RA information??? Who cares about the IBM ECCC stuff. Enough of it already. Let's get with it beamers and stick to the important issues at hand! Why not sign a PLEDGE CARD saying you are interested in joining this union as an associate member? It's $5 a MONTH, for an Associate's membership. It definitely will be a contribution of less than 1% of your present salary! -RA'ed-

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Comment 10/09/10: -Flew the coop- The answer is on the w3.bm.com HR site. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/09/10: Dateline Whitehouse. Per a Whitehouse Spokesman The current dismal jobs report is mainly due to a skills mismatch in the workforce. Where have we all heard this line before folks?? It sure sounds like ole Sammy is advising on more then technology. Yeah Yeah, it must be the unemployed peoples own fault they are unemployed, yeah, thats the ticket, yeah. Don't blame me, because its YOUR skills mismatch! Yeah Yeah. That will get us reelected. Yeah, so stop whining and vote us back in. Yeah yeah. Wake up folks. Stand up for yourselves. The government is NOT here to help you. They are here to help themselves right next to corporate America in the buffet line . So nice of you to keep the buffet tables full for them to gorge while you starve. It has never been more vital to America then now to organize for your own safety and security . If you feel that having a decent job is an essential part of your lifestyle then you better do something to protect it. The speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, thinks foodstamps are the governments best bang for the buck and helps the economy. I think having a job is much better for the economy. What do you think?? Join the Alliance and protect YOUR job as best you can. Or go beg Nancy for some foodstamps. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 10/08/10: Stock buybacks and the constant dumping of North American employees is certainly a great way to spike up the share price... in the short term. Of course, by the time the rent comes due, Sam and others will be out the door with their guaranteed packages worth many millions of dollars. How can IBM be exhibiting record profits and have giant cash reserves on hand, yet they are unable to keep their employees on the payroll? How can so many people go without a pay increase for years while the balances on the corporate books get so high? IBM is not interested in helping you. -He Who Carries the Pickle-

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Comment 10/08/10: In today's Boston Globe: Investors like IBM chief's strategy as shares reach new high
http://www.boston.com/business/markets/articles/2010/10/08/investors_like_ibm_chiefs_strategy_as_shares_reach_new_high/ -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/08/10: To -I ALWAYS Support Charities- Don't regret or call yourself a sucker for supporting the charities, that's a wonderful thing. Just do it on your own going forward. As far as falling for IBMs ECCC campaign, and whether or not we should even respond, it's too late for me since I returned it thanks but no thanks, to get them off my back. Wonder what others think of the silent protest approach? I'd do it (or rather not do it?) next year if we coordinated it before the campaign started. The more I think of it though, I'm sick that I unwittingly supported IBM by being a 1%er and a coordinator in past years, that is until IBMs cold hearted actions made me suspicious of even what on the surface seems to be philanthropical. But I will never regret giving to the charities. -Critical Mass-

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Comment 10/07/10: To -Critical Mass and Gorya - Wow, I knew I was always an IBM ECCC sucker. Now the question is should we return the pledge to attain 100% employee response? -I ALWAYS Support Charities-

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Comment 10/07/10: As to the ECCC as a past manager I would get 100% participation every year. All I did was ask all to sign the card at 1% and after the 2nd month pull out of the plan. I would get credit for 100% and people would end up doing their own. -wasa1stlinenowra'd-

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Comment 10/07/10: When you terminate your employment with IBM do they compensate you for any accrued, unused vacation time or is that lost? -Flew the coop-

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Comment 10/07/10: To -Spare Change - The word "boycott" is a bit harsh. Spin it like this, what is the "E" in "ECCC"??? Employee? Dunno about everyone else posting here, but I am no longer an E of IBM, therefore, why would I give to the ECCC so IBM can claim their great community generosity, when they are destroying communities with their offshoring? Donate what you want, to who you want, how you want, when you want. You want to give to one of the organizations that are on the ECCC list? Go for it! But do it on YOUR own and don't let IBM take credit for YOUR generosity, and the charities still get your donations. Just sayin'.... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 10/07/10: To -Ich Bin Muede- Yes, I know IBM colleagues who were RA'd and brought back as contract employees.
To -Spare Change- Yes, BOYCOTT ECCC! I had been a 1% contributor to ECCC through 2007.
Then - big RAs started hitting my group;
- I found out that executives' bonuses were based on the amount of employee contributions;
- I regretted every ECCC contribution I had made;
- I vowed: not another penny;
- I made up the difference privately; and
- I joined the Alliance. Let's all do the same. -Gorya-

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Comment 10/07/10: To Spare Change - I decided several years ago that there was NO WAY I was going to let IBM take any credit for my charitable donations. I give to the charities of my choice, and it's none of IBM's business to take credit for my personal actions of giving (especially when they enjoy being so cheap with raises)! Frankly, I have no idea why so many employees want to support this corporate giving (= IBM EEEC) when they can do exactly the same thing on their own without IBM getting the credit. -Agree with Spare Change-

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Comment 10/06/10: Just heard on Kudlow that Sam Palmisano has proposed to the Federal government that he could save a trillion dollars a year by cutting waste out of the IT budget. We all know what sam is talking about. Do we deluge Congress now, or do we wait until after the contract is signed and the work is in progress? -John-
Alliance Reply: Thanks for the information, John. Here's the link that we posted on our front page:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-06/ibm-s-palmisano-says-new-technology-can-save-u-s-1-trillion.html

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Comment 10/06/10: -Spare Change-: I agree, we give and then IBM gets bragging rights, that's why they make such a big production of getting 100% employee response every October. I used to think it was easier to give thru payroll, now I just donate on my own. Added benefit is that I can give to whoever and whenever not just the ones on their list. I also don't acknowledge my volunteer work through their system either. Why should I? so that IBM can suggest that I volunteer because they encourage me to? The workload they hoist upon me certainly does not allow me much time for it... but one way or the other that will soon change. And YES I am an Alliance member. -Critical Mass-

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Comment 10/06/10: -Spare Change- Right on! How about asking IBM to start an ECCC charity for those IBMers they unfairly RA'ed? A lot of them have not found decent re-employment and can use some charity in these hard economic times. Charity should begin at home. -anonymous-

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Comment 10/06/10: Ref: -Ich bin muede- I'm tired too. Same old...same old. It's a win-win. IBM wins, the govt. wins. Oops...so sorry... not you -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 10/06/10: http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/06/news/economy/temp_jobs/index.htm?cnn=yes&hpt=T2
I'm sure that is what is happing at ibm. Fire the workers, then rehire them as temps. Then take the gov. money for creating new jobs and run to the bank... -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 10/06/10: Ok, I'm all for charity and give generously, but is there any point to contributing via ECCC? So IBM takes YOUR hard earned, no thanks to IBM, contribution, lumps them together, sends a check which no doubt says IBM in bold letters, and then executives get big community bragging points about how IBM is helping communities. Would it make sense to BOYCOTT ECCC, but still contribute on your own? I mean, with pay cuts, GR, benefit cuts, no raises even in good times, my charitable contributions would be hundreds of dollars higher if IBM treated employees well. Why give IBM and the greedy executives any credit where its obviously not due. -Spare Change-

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Comment 10/05/10: To -longtimebeemer-: IBM is approved for the early retiree insurance program in NYS because their headquarters are located there. -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/04/10: -Longtimebeemer-. The Early Retiree reinsurance program is a program that pays the EMPLOYER a rebate to offset the EMPLOYERS high cost of insuring their retirees who are not Medicare eligible. It does NOTHING for the retiree directly but is in theory supposed to lower the retirees costs because it assumes the EMPLOYER will pass on their savings in some part to the retirees. In IBM's case as they already pass on the entire cost of healthcare to the retirees, IBM will just pocket the government money and continue to rape retirees for every penny they can. As nothing forces the company to pass anything on to the retirees you can bet few companies that sign up will pass all the savings on. But the retirees who of course are taxed are in effect paying for the companies savings. Chalk up another win for the new healthcare bill... NOT... -Doyathink?-

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Comment 10/04/10: Anybody have any information as to why IBM applied for and received approval to participate in the "Early Retiree reinsurance program" from the US Goverrnment? http://www.healthcare.gov/law/provisions/retirement/states/azcompanies.html
And when it shows the approval being in NYS does that cover all of the US employees? -longtimebeemer-

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Comment 10/04/10: TAA NOTE: I was RA'ed from Boulder last April 2009, second quarter...My whole depatrment in software asset management went to Argentina. Myself and two other former IBMr's started a petition for TAA and after more than a year, (IBM is REALLY hard to prove the off-shoring apparently), we were certified. It states that ALL workers of Global Technology Services Deleivery Division who were RA'd on or AFTER February 2009 through TWO YEARS from the date of certification are eligible to apply for TAA assistance....TAA petition number: 73593
I received a letter, but I am sure that thousdand of people do not realize they are eligible ... so get the word out if you know anyone that was RA'd after 02/09...Thanks and good luck...IBM totally blows!!!! -Anonymous-

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Comment 10/02/10: Get ready for 7 LEAN years, lean also being the name of the company' latest 6 sigma/quality circle HR slash and burn plans. Here's the basic plan for the company employees as accidentally laid out by a Senior HR VP in England not long ago: Cut 75% of current employees and hire them back as contractors, vendors, partners and such. Currently over 1/3rd of the US workforce are already partners, contractors or vendors and if the rest of the country is like Fishkill are having employees replaced on a daily basis with various visa labor/PCV's (Partners/Contractors/Vendors). Local politicians are clueless to this based on recent statements they've made when contacted. The only direct employees will be executives, management and project managers. Anyone actually doing any work outside the profit, directions, paperwork zone will be PCV's. By the time the politicians have a clue about any of this their constituents will be working for half pay with no benefits and the pol's will be wondering why they can't meet their budgets and will be wanting to lower taxes further for corporate thieves and raise taxes on the working stiffs even further to "keep jobs here". A third world lifestyle awaits employees who continue to think they can do nothing, say nothing, keep their heads down, work harder, and somehow it will all work out. It will work out, you'll live as an impoverished slave and so will your children.
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/04/23/55343/ibm-crowd-sourcing-could-see-employed-workforce-shrink-by-three-quarters.html -third_world_Calling-

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Comment 9/30/10: IBM lost 8 Mil Order to CA in DC area. IBM losing its charm slowly.-Ramki-

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Comment 9/30/10: To -paranoid_gopher- COULD be perhaps four things:

1) If you are a salaried worker your manager is planning to change you to hourly.
2) Your band has changed. Particularly if you are made hourly.
3) You are going to be promoted! Well, this is unlikely pipe dream these days in IBM.
4) See if you work location code has changed. If you work at home in your state and your IBM home office is in another neighboring state your manager might change the work location code so you will receive less unemployment benefits if one state pays less in unemployment insurance if the ax does fall.

The About You update might and probably is nothing at all.

Remember, IBM management and IBM HR does what is best for IBM. They couldn't care less about you. -IBMmgmtsux-

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Comment 9/29/10: All who have been R/A'ed from IBM. Go to careerbuilder and type in Dallas,Tx. There are several positions located in Dallas,Tx for IBM -Anan-

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Comment 9/29/10: Of course! And when you have run the small businesses out of business you can get a list of all the companies that use IBM Mainframes and boycott all those companies....or...here's a wild idea....join the Alliance and act rational instead of acting like shorsighted IBM management. -NotRationalAtAll-

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Comment 9/29/10: to paranoid_gopher, don't sweat the small stuff, you can look in Blue Pages- "About You" and there are several fields on that page that can be updated. -BAU-

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Comment 9/28/10: Not Long before we may see support from here:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Even-before-take-off-jail-BPO-bags-2nd-project/articleshow/6648386.cms -Anony-

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Comment 9/28/10: http://www.ipe.com/news/burdensome-psv-levy-drives-ibm-germany-to-set-up-pensionsfond_36959.php
'Burdensome' PSV levy drives IBM Germany to set up Pensionsfond GERMANY - IBM Germany is planning to set up a Pensionsfond to evade high pension solvency levies. The company wants to transfer funds and members from its Unterstützungskasse, a pension support fund, to the new Pensionsfond. -Ach Yah-

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Comment 9/28/10: Interview with James Gosling - The father of Java http://www.basementcoders.com/transcripts/James_Gosling_Transcript.html .... I eventually graduated in '83. Went to work for IBM which is, you know, is within the top 10 of my stupidist career decisions I've made... -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/28/10: re:paranoid_gopher - ditto on the about you update, I doubt it means anything, -qtr_century-

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Comment 9/28/10: The jobs outsourcing bill only addressed MANUFACTURING jobs that really left America due to NAFTA the first year of the Clinton Administration, They way it was written it was about 18 years too late to do any good and did not address todays outsourcing of technical support and programming jobs that were touted as the future of the American worker instead of those nasty dirty manufacturing jobs sent away by our government with NAFTA. We have all been emailing our representatives about outsourcing for years through the Alliance and have been largely ignored, I find this phoney token effort to be insulting and arrogant in light of the non responces we have all received up until now. We damn sure better stand up and be heard soon or non of us will be left to stand up at all in America. One cannot stand when one is starving to death. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 9/28/10: Interesting article... Not surprising this didn't fly in Washington (or w/the Republicans)...
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/28/gop-blocks-democrats-jobs-outsourcing-bill/ -anonymous-

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Comment 9/28/10: Just received this automated message: "An About You form has been processed by your manager or other authorized person." It was a Review Dates form, but I don't know any more. Should I be looking for falling axes? No response from my manager about it. -paranoid_gopher-

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Comment 9/28/10: It doesn't surprise me that IBM has found a new way to renew the workforce with younger, cheaper labor from NYC. Some of my mid-Eastern friends have told me that everyone but, Indians are laid off in some areas so they become a target. There's nothing like making people fight each other to break a union. I think a union needs some political clout to insure some ability to have teeth. Right now the work force is not represented. Many people feel their success depends on reacting to IBM's tactics. Instead we should demand a public entity to protect the US work force. We have a little support in government, we need a lot more. If IBM wants to corrupt the public school system, we need to articulate why that is bad for students, the schools and society. I think its the fact the work is so un-inventive, future-less and dumbed-down is a major cause for concern. Making sure the education these kids receive enables them to intern at multiple companies, and different jobs would prevent IBM from employing the public schools to feed its temporary workforce machine. If the current workforce had a voice, I'm sure the public would see the flaws and question the greater good. -DungeonReaper-

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Comment 9/27/10: I have to agree with Zion about IBM Canada...managed by such short sighted people...they can't even see their noses.Everyone I know is on the lookout for other employment..the OT cut was the last straw for most... -another drone-

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Comment 9/27/10: Oh, I think everyone will enjoy this rabid rumor floating around. Apparently, plans exist to "transition" every hourly employee to an external contracting company. Then tell the contracting company which of the hourly employees MIGHT be eligible to be assigned at an IBM facility. Target date: 1/1/2012 so perhaps this puts the proper focus on the recently eliminated "premium pay." Anyone else hearing this? -guess who?-

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Comment 9/27/10: Want to hit IBM where it hurts, start shopping at stores that do NOT have IBM cash registers and other out in the open IBM equipment. Tell the retailer why you will no longer shop at the store when you see IBM machines. It will not take long before you know what stores to avoid. With retailers scrambling for customers, now is the time to tell retailers that you will not support stores that help export U.S. jobs overseas. Retailers will listen now but when things improve they will close their ears. -NO_Longer_Rational-

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Comment 9/27/10: Oh, wow. New IBM initiative to train - hire high school graduates in NYC. Here is the newest IBM source for cheap labor. Mayor Bloomberg just loves it. (What about those they LAY OFF?) http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100927/UPDATES01/100927028/CUNY-IBM+to+open+unique+school+in+NYC+ -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/27/10: To -gettingworseallthetime-: I loved your post and you are right on the mark. American research invented the first transistor and transistor radio. And when we couldn't compete to manufacture it with Japan we gave them the market. The same thing keeps happening over and over in America. How many times do we have to get hit over the head? It's all driven by GREEDY executives. See Money Never Sleeps - Wall Street Part 2. IBM management has the Gorden Gecko mentality. They couldn't care less about your job and american manufacturing jobs. It's all about short term profits to make themselves look good. A union would put some balance back into the equation. Go Alliance!!!-IBM Deadwood-

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Comment 9/27/10: to -gettingworseallthetime-, Michael Douglas sum's it up pretty well in the movie Wall Street, he said; "You are all F-$%#" By the time the people do something about a Union, they will be out of severance and un-employment benefits and they will be wondering what hit them. -Money Never Sleeps-

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Comment 9/26/10: To Concerned: No, I have not found another job yet. Rumors are that we will be told we are being RAed in 4Q 2010 which begins on 10/1/2010. I am in Shared Services and my position is a Business Analyst working on one of the Commercial Accounts... -LadyDi-

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Comment 9/26/10: To GDF Workers: Isn't it time your concerns were listened to by managment?
Join with the Alliance in the fight to improve working conditions at GDF's!
To become involved or to share your concerns about working at GDF's contact us at: ibmunionalliance@gmail.com -Alliance-

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Comment 9/26/10: IBM sinks to new low: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/24/cia_netezza/print.html

CIA used 'illegal, inaccurate code to target kill drones' 'They want to kill people with software that doesn't work'

The CIA is implicated in a court case in which it's claimed it used an illegal, inaccurate software "hack" to direct secret assassination drones in central Asia.

The target of the court action is Netezza, the data warehousing firm that IBM bid $1.7bn for on Monday. The case raises serious questions about the conduct of Netezza executives, and the conduct of CIA's clandestine war against senior jihadis in Afganistan and Pakistan. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/26/10: FYI - Lots of IBM Canada employees are leaving IBM for more stable / better positions at our vendors / partners / competition, these folks are from all over IBM (GTS / STG / IGS) etc. I personally know of 9 people who left in the last 6 months and heard of another 12 via co-workers, these folks are all top performers, the tides are changing in Canada. SSRs are already started to look outside IBM since IBM cut pretty much all overtime for SSRs, no more incentive for this group to stick around seeing that the only way to supplement their minimum wage was overtime... If this continues IBM Canada will start loosing major customers, these customers are being affected when Highly Skilled face to face IBMers quit and Low skilled contractors are being hired to backfilled these position. IBM will reap what it sows.... -ZION-

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Comment 9/25/10: To -LadyDi-, is Shared Service the same as IGS CMS (contract management)? interested what your role is/was and whether you found another job or have you been offered an RA package. I saw a report that showed US names/jobs "leaving" and Argentina and Manila resources transferring in - all in phases and complete before end of 2010. Not fair, if you don't get an RA package. -concerned-
Alliance reply: It would be 'fair', if there was a union contract for employees. Then, "layoffs", benefits, pensions, and salaries would be agreed to in writing so that there are no surprises. But first, IBMers need to organize.

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Comment 9/25/10: Re: The previous article link - It appears that the comments coming from Japan, in the late 1980's about the USA's people being "Fat & Lazy", and being avid consumers; but not strong industrially, was on the mark.
We should have listened, and not just been offended by the comment. IBM was too busy being the first "Global" company and didn't care, so
they decided to get rid of their "deadwood" MFG. divisions with tens of thousands of employees they hired in the 1970's and 1980's
...and we didn't see that coming because IBMers have an innate bias toward unions... elitist, really.
"Blue collar and white collar together in a union? That's silly! No IBMers would ever do that. We don't need a union."
After all the time that has passed, and all the jobs that were lost, and all the lives that were ruined; IBMers still don't see that they were had and are still being had. Can you say " we are screwed" in Chinese? Here it is: -gettingworseallthetime-

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Comment 9/25/10: > During previous R/As they were not told until a few days before the R/A although they had an inkling perhaps. The second lines did know and were not allowed to tell the first lines.<
This is absolutely true. In one of the R/As in 2009 period, FLMs were initially involved in the selection for about 24-48 hours. After that, it was all moved up a level to the 2nd lines and the FLMs had ZERO involvement/input and were not told who was selected until the day before. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/25/10: If I was the IRS. I would asked to see all the names of the people handling their account. I know for a fact that some of the employees and most of the backups have not completed a background check or completed training. Especially for the system administrator to the security support teams... -Waiting for my RA in CO-

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Comment 9/25/10: Please don't rail on those reporting truth here. We can't post FLM names and some here seem to expect that level of information. I am part of the most recent RA and reported it here the day I was informed. I was also told it was not for performance or redundancy. If you don't have new business......then who needs employee's however good they are? it was also said it ain't over not by a long shot so next Q expect either a miracle or more RA. Also take the time to read the quarterly reports for if you do, you will know who is next - that's how I was certain ours wasn't over by what was included in the 2nd Q report. -freeatlast-

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Comment 9/25/10: This article lists "19 Facts About The De-industrialization Of America"
Some are redundant; but the message is clear. The US will be a '3rd World' nation very very soon. Anyone learning to speak Chinese?? http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=10688&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter -gettingworseallthetime-

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Comment 9/24/10: There has been a GDF in Montreal for over a year. It's the new GDF in Africa that you should be concerned about. -AnotherCanadianIBMer-

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Comment 9/24/10: November RA's. Everyone on here acts like they are surprised to see November RA's happening. I am not surprised at all. I have been reading this board for at least 5 years and have seen that there are RA's every November. It frustrates me beyond belief that people don't remember this pattern and either join The Alliance or find another job. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/24/10: IBM is all about Southeast Asia now. It doesn't matter how critical you are to the business. As long as you live in the United States, you are a sworn enemy and will have to train replacements who probably eat dogs. If this keeps up, we in the US will be the ones who will have to eat dogs just to survive. -anon in RTP-NC-

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Comment 9/24/10: My team of mostly work-at-home employees 95%, have been selected in August to go through the GDF. Do layoffs always accompany GDF upon a team? We have been told that GDC's are opening in other CDN cities (MTL, Calgary etc) and satellite centers and everyone would have to go to either a GDC or the nearest IBM location. Which doesn't make sense for some of us, as there are people that are just 1 person in a city. Not much is being communicated and from my understanding, co-location is a major factor in GDF and as a result there will be layoffs, and most likely be those that are location in cities where they are the only one. -CanadaIBMer-

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Comment 9/24/10: @Scratch on her head - FLM = First Line Manager -Bobb Sledd-

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Comment 9/24/10: FLM = First Line Manager. If you're an IBMer, add whatis@us.ibm.com to your Sametime list for instant access to acronym definitions -IBMers Anonymous-

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Comment 9/24/10: I am part of the recent RA (informed late August), that went from a total of 26 to less than 1/2 that number. I guess since it is such a small number its gone un-noticed as I have not seen any reports here. I was a remote employee in ITD. -Got the blues from BigBlue-
Alliance reply: It may be a small number; but this is the kind of information we have needed, from the beginning. You have not seen reports, because IBM won't report them. It's up to the employees to report them here, so that everyone can see the aggregate number of people being fired by IBM in the US. Thank you. Good job. Please email the RA pack you received to ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 9/24/10: Great article on I/T workers mobilizing. I think the IBMers training Chinese replacements still believe that these workers are just going to "augment" the workforce, not replace them. "Nobody is going to lose their jobs" in mainframe software development. I'm itching to get back out on Route 9 with a placard: Trained your 3rd world replacement today? And then a website in bold letters. But making national news - now that would be something. Isn't there a march on Washington in October? -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Yes. It is the One Nation rally: http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/Countdown_to_Making_History_in_DC

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Comment 9/24/10: Another Public Sector Train Wreck:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/23/3050167/californias-ailing-34-million.html -Barney-

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Comment 9/23/10: Please, would you care to spell out what FLM is? -Scratch on her head-

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Comment 9/23/10: I can confirm that GDF is in fact in Montreal. The second line manager responsible for this crap has been hanging around for the last few weeks. Nobody seems on edge, but him being there is a sure sign that layoffs are to come. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/23/10: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/23/3050167/californias-ailing-34-million.html
IBM screws up California's ailing $34 million student database project, is a year behind California's statewide data system tracking student information was to be fully functioning by now. But CalPADS - the state's $34 million student database project - is a year behind schedule. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has threatened to pull the plug if the new system can't reliably relay data by the end of the year. The failed California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System is cited as a key reason why the state has twice failed to qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top funds. ....
In December, an assessment by Folsom's Sabot Technologies - contracted by the state - called for an immediate shutdown of the system to fix abnormalities. It "discovered significant issues with the system and project, representing a threat to the success of CalPADS," according to the report. It said IBM, which is being paid $13.9 million to develop CalPADS, had understaffed the project, and that the team wasn't experienced enough. -Anon-

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Comment 9/23/10: My news is dated but I was laid off right before Christmas 2007 because I was "redundant." I was a band 10 with a performance rating of 2+, and almost 52 years old. I came to IBM as part of the PwC consulting purchase. No warning about the layoff, no indications, no nothing. I don't know how I went from a 2+ to redundant without without any input or suggestion that this was in the works. I feel sorry for anyone still there. -JR-

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Comment 9/23/10: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-conroy/west-virginia-it-pros-mou_b_721011.html -Just Say Now to the Alliance-

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Comment 9/23/10: Received an 'urgent email' from a body shop that an undisclosed employer in Dubuque Iowa has 20 open slots for Intel administrators. Be interesting to see how many IBM Reg SAs are RA'd in November because their skills are no longer needed. I've also heard that Iowans are unhappy with the influx of H1B workers and the spike in housing prices in DBQ. Who could have foreseen this? -TJ Watson-

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Comment 9/22/10: An R/A is certainly not a surprise to anyone in this organization, and some of the rumors like the huge R/A's of 2009 turned out to be true, but there were others that didn't pan out. Sam needs to show short-term profits to coincide with his probable departure. I think a lot depends on the economy, and IBM doesn't want to even take the chance that another downturn will occur. Sam would probably stage a pre-emptive layoff. This is the guy who barely got through basic programmer education so you can bet he holds the most contemptuous views of technical people. The board is clueless that the amount of churn in the company personally created by Sam is causing a loss of revenue.
The only problem with the memo to first line managers is that they are generally kept in the dark about R/As, according to several trusty FLM friends (I know there are 2 oxymorons in there.... and a recursive joke as well. During previous R/As they were not told until a few days before the R/A although they had an inkling perhaps. The second lines did know and were not allowed to tell the first lines. Any R/A would typically be finished by November 15th. If there is one. And if you survive that one, you bought yourself Christmas and New Years and maybe 3 weeks after that. That was the pattern 2008-2009. So there may be a problem with that rumor, or not. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/22/10: '[A]sked whether in hindsight he would have preferred Sun having been acquired by IBM (which pursued a deal to acquire Sun and then backed out late in the game) rather than Oracle, [Java creator James] Gosling said he and at least Sun Chairman Scott McNealy debated the prospect. And the consensus, led by McNealy, was that although they said they believed â??Oracle would be more savage, IBM would make more layoffs.' -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/22/10: Mandatory meeting 9/30 for Integrated Competencies... any ideas? rumors? I am a member of the union, are you? why not? -just want out-

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Comment 9/22/10: Told last week that IBM is setting up GDFs in CAlgary, and Montreall in addition to exiasting one in Toronto. Satelite ones in Edmonton and Winnipeg. People to start moving in on Oct 18. Soon all employees in these cities will be in GDF. No more working from home. Contractors initially then the remaining employees. If outside 80KM radius you are exempt. This would appear to be the precursor for more staff cuts. GDF being implemented on a number of accounts, once people are up to speed on multiple accounts there will be more staff cuts. Time table for various grouipings of accounts to be GDF model already in place. -Concerned in Great White North-

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Comment 9/22/10: to-i am gone...i do not have the email as i am not a FLM. i am not scaring people..i am stating a fact..this one is going to be company wide and it will happen. is this such a surprise? do you think this is going to stop? this corporation is going to exceed it's 2010 EPS roadmap at the expense of the us workforce. the question is going forward is.....what qrtr will the next r/a take place in...not....will there be another one...i only hope folks still around do something abt it in terms of a union.... -soon to be an ex-ibm'er- (thank goodness)-

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Comment 9/22/10: To: -soon to be an ex-ibm'er-thank goodness-
If you have a copy of the email then publish it. Otherwise stop with the sky is falling note which does nothing but scare people. Alliance these rumors don't help the cause it just ruins the credibility of the site. -iamgone-

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Comment 9/21/10: nov r/a is coming-verified from a FLM..email was sent to mgrs. a few days ago. looks like the big blue pig will be giving a thanksgiving, xmas, and new yrs present to some folks all at one time!!!! glad i was given my get out of jail card!!! -soon to be an ex-ibm'er-thank goodness-

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Comment 9/21/10: The TAA# is dept/location independent, but the # I used is 071373. I recommend you try using any that relate to your group or location. -Noworries-

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Comment 9/20/10: To the person asking about disability versus sick-leave. In 2008 I was warned I might be R/A'd in 30 days. That was nice of them. Then I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer and had several months of treatment. I found a job though it wasn't the best of jobs, and was able to go through the surgery and early treatment. I felt OK, just tired but pretty alert for 4-5 hours a day. So I came back to work as quick as I could. It was a new job and I was struggling a bit and working alone on an assignment. I'd been back to work for 2 weeks but then had radiation and many many appointments. So the surgery was late April, June was radiation and scans, and July I was feeling better. I missed some work but really toughed it out. What happened was I should have sat out a ranking cycle but they ranked me because my attendance was good enough that I was considered "Not that sick". At my August pre-ranking, I was told I was at risk for a 3 in January 2009 if I didn't improve. I immediately ratted out my management to HR and that might not always be the right thing to do but it was my own fault for not staying away from work more. I had cancer and I only missed 4 weeks of work but somedays I was marginally functional. It was still useful for ME to get onboard and learn parts of the job but career-wise it would have been a lot smarter to have taken more time off. I am exempt and my management told me I needed to enter some days in eTotals as official sick days to document my illness. I was spared the 3 in January 2009. I also worked hard the rest of 2008, of course. The moral is don't be a hero if you are sick. Don't come into work, don't login, or at least, stay off S/T and don't send e-Mails. And you don't need to explain the particulars of your illness to management, have a doctor write an excuse if that is needed. When you are truly better, and had some time to get your home affairs in order, come back to work. I know it's tricky because like you I was able to work despite being ill, and the treatments just made me tired, not deathly ill..except for a few days. However this was the lesson I learned and I'm still here, biding my time, waiting for an R/A. But I did join the union! -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/20/10: Our Department just lost 7 contractors including my self. Last day 24Sept2010.
As a DBA I have seen hundreds of USA based IBM's become contractors or leave the company and a continuous stream of Argentinian and Indian contractors convert to Regular employees. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/20/10: Got laid off about 3 years ago after years of of wondering not if, but when it would happen. I'll be an RN in May and will be making about the same in salary and benefits that IBM paid me for less hours. Also, no more of this keep your skills updated and if your lucky you can keep your job. Where is the incentive in that? -Hagbard15-

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Comment 9/19/10: Well, a show after our own hearts! Outsourced on NBC. http://www.nbc.com/outsourced/ -AnoninRTP-

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Comment 9/19/10: TO -Confused RA in NJ- You obviously don't understand the politics (ie. cost analysis of an SSR vs EXECUTIVE bonuses).
In their view, the10+ year experienced person COSTS too much. Replace you with 2 to 3 new hires and their bonus goes up. Replace you wilh 1 to 2 new hires and their bonus goes up a lot. Quality of Service; Do you hear them laughing??? -no_ky-
Alliance reply: To paraphrase the movie line: "We don't need no stinkin' QoS, man!"

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Comment 9/18/10: I was RA'ed on 3/31/2010. I was a deskside support tech working in NJ. I have yet to find a job. I receive a daily job search report from the NJ State Dept of Labor and Workforce Development and in today's search there are TWO deskside support job in NJ listed with IBM for full time employment. I did a quick search and found that in Sept alone there are 4 of the same jobs and over 20 more posted in the"work in any city" category. What is the deal? Why would they let go of techs with 10+ years of experience and then go out and look for more full time people. I would have preferred to have taken a pay cut than get laid off. I know IBM is not a great place to work but being unemployed is even worse. -Confused RA in NJ-

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Comment 9/17/10: As usual, people don't have all the facts before they post on this forum. Yes IBM got the Lenovo contract, No, IBM is not hiring back 300 techs -SSR in PA-, it's hard to get my facts straight when I don't work for IBM anymore due to layoff. I also said I would like confirmation, meaning I do not know if it is true. And Duffy, I don't appreciated the implications that the SSR's lost the contract to Qualxserv and the new techs, if any, that would work with me would be a bunch of bumbling idiots. -SSR in PA-
Where did I imply that the SSR's lost the contract to Qualxserv? I was an SSR of 10+ years and I know we did a fine job on Lenovo. I think IBM puts a big dollar on the cost of an SSR, and that had something to do with it. It is quite funny how we had to follow up often on calls Qualxserv did that they could not fix, and often enough, it was a simple fix. This, of course, could of been just the Qualxserv techs in our area were not sharp, but I have heard plenty horror storries from SSR's across the US about 'em. -Duffy-

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Comment 9/17/10: LTD is if you can not work and will not return to work. Tough to get when you consider most IBM jobs are desk jobs. Medical leave is if you are getting treated and cannot work but expect to return at some point. If you can work and get treated at same time, do that. -qtr_century-

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Comment 9/17/10: The source of this rumor has been historically reliable. I did not get it from my neighbors friend at church, etc. There will be a company wide RA in late November and the long awaited pension change (buyout, conversion) will be announced in December for a 2011 departure. -Joe Shmoe III-

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Comment 9/16/10: to anonymous, I am sympathetic towards your medical condition as I have had close people whom have had medical conditions. Unfortunately, without a Union, you are at the mercy of the almighty dollar. I am sure you can do the math here. Personally, I have known people in IBM that were dropped in a heart beat after extended medical leave. However, on the flip side, I have seen people retain their positions, so flip a coin or join a Union and hope for the best. -Unionize-

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Comment 9/16/10: I am not sure if a pre existing medical condition will allow you to go on IBM long term disability. Check the fine print conditions. Keep them honest. Good Luck! -UhOh-

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Comment 9/16/10: @noworries- Can you tell me the TAA decision # you used? I am tried to get TAA and was also RA'd 3/31. Thanks! -another-

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Comment 9/15/10: Got to talk to a couple of people on the State of Texas account telling us during a meet up about how badly IBM Screwed up including asking any and all for 35% cuts in hours and pay on acct to having Arch's working 30-40 jobs at one time and all with one week turnarounds including cutting more PM's and sending all possible work to Dubuque GDF. Fun part was telling us about the GDF PM's working for less than 44K a year and one PM Contractor asked to come back at $ 22 a hr after working for $ 44 a hr before being RA'd. One of the GDF PM's was from Russia and barely spoke English and didn't even know a single thing about her job or even what servers were but took over for a Senior IT PM who got yanked and had the DIR people asking what happened. IBM said to cut more over next couple of months on the account as SoT starts talking to DELL and HP mostly to get other work done away from IBM, way to go for screwing up an account. -IBM UC'd-

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Comment 9/15/10: I am wondering whether I should opt to go on IBM long term disability than return to work since I heard that IBM lets go those folks that were on a leave once they return to work. I have a pre-existing medical condition that requires long term treatment. Any advice on what to do? -anonymous-

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Comment 9/15/10: There you have it. A pay cut coming soon. If you had a union contract right now you would assure yourself of getting premium pay and AWS. Do something now folks. You have waited too long but it is not too late. Join your union or have IBM continue to chop you bit by bit. -chopchop-

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Comment 9/15/10: I'm in ITD/SSO and nobody has mentioned or scheduled such a meeting. Could you people please remember to identify what sectors/areas of IBM you are in? Now, this latest cost cutting doesn't surprise me one bit. IBM has been LOSING money every month since Feb 2008. What happened? They reclassified 8000 employees from exempt to non-exempt and cut their pay by 15%. Due to standard OT time, 2nd and 3rd shift premiums A LOT of those employees earned back their 15% PLUS a whole lot more. Taking their word for it, one employee boasted he went from making $85K at the exempt level to making over $100K at the non-exempt level. I'm also guessing that there is a lot of 2nd and 3rd shift premium pay tied up in GDF staffing. By eliminating this, IBM will save loads of money. And no, they don't care how it effects you. -anonymous-

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Comment 9/15/10: Think about it folks. Whenever you are called to a meeting, is it EVER good news? EVER? Why live like this year after year? You have 2 choices. Get out, or get organized. Without a union you have nothing. I have to say I'm glad I'm gone, and don't think about big blow very much anymore, but stop by here to see whats going on once in a while, and it's always the same old thing. 3 years after I'm gone, people are still complaining about rumors, pay cuts, layoffs. Stop complaining and get organizing. Otherwise, you are just a puppet in the IBM comedy show. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 9/14/10: In the continuing saga of" What will they take away next ?" The answer becomes obvious. Whatever is left to take away. Hate the way everytime there is a change you lose something? Wouldn't it be nice to have shift premiums and AWS defined in a contract? You can bet Sammy' contract defines every penny he will get. . Why don't you have a contract also? I know. Its too much effort to sign up for the Alliance as even a free member. It may take a few keystrokes on your own time to join with others who are tired of being cheated. There will never be a union vote if YOU do not sign up in some fashion so the abuse will NEVER end for you. I know. Maybe you can pick a benefit you really like and start an office pool to guess when IBM will take it away or charge so much for it you will be better off without it. The one who comes closest to the date and time splits the pot with you. Better hurry though because the benefits you could bet on are leaving fast! Remember the old joke about the beatings will continue untill morale improves. Looks like it wasn't a joke. Live Better. Work Union. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 9/14/10: IBM has topped itself once again. Officially have cut all 2nd shift premium pay, 3rd shift premium pay, and any AWS pay. Thanks IBM for another swift kick to the nuts. But don't worry, we have until July 1, 2011 until much changes. Happy times at IBM. -Happy IBM Worker-

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Comment 9/14/10: The mandatory meeting was about the gradual removal of AWS for people working odd shifts. -ratcage-

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Comment 9/14/10: IBM's employee's everywhere do not have a voice in decisons made by IBM that effect the employees. 100 years ago, that's what unions wanted. To give employees a voice. That's what The Alliance is trying to do, give IBM employee's a voice. While it's true that modern unions have somewhat moved away from that premise, it's very clear that IBM's employees desparately need a voice. It's sad that IBM employees cant hear that very simple message. -Union Yes-

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Comment 9/14/10: The big announcement was no more AWS for 2011. Only overtime will be pay, in CO by law overtime is paid anything over 40 hours and/or 12 hours a day. No even shift premiums for second shift and weekends. What else is next? who knows... -Rocky Mountains-

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Comment 9/14/10: @waiting for the other shoe: rumor is they're doing away with off shift premiums.-mehibmer-

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Comment 9/13/10: I worked for IBM as a contractor for 2 and a half years. Worked for the ITD. Job was moved to Dubuque Iowa. I even had to go out there and train my "replacements". They dont know jack out there. They are hiring people directly out of college and sometimes with no college whatsoever. Finally found a way out and I have never looked back in regret. Took a pay cut but its totally worth it. Only reason I stayed on was because they kept dangling the full timer carrot in my face every few months. If you can, get the hell out of there asap, not worth it at all. -Former IBM Contractor-

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Comment 9/13/10: Mandatory meetings are scheduled for Tuesday 9/14/10 in many departments. Rumors run from job cuts to pay cuts to vacation cuts, the only thing my manager will say it that nobody is going to like what is going to be announced. STAY TUNED.........
-waiting for the other shoe to drop-

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Comment 9/13/10: Moffat Sentenced to Six Months in Galleon Case: http://bit.ly/avUoIk -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/13/10: To -newjob- At the new job, a smaller engineering firm, there is no union. They have however fared well, given the economy, and focused on keeping their employees happy, because they see the employee as the key to continued success. It's that old school employee / employer view that used to be IBM's view as well. It does stick in the back of my mind that there's no union here. But then again there's no disregard for the employees either. And my manager is my engineering project lead. I suspect if the environment started going downhill, I and a lot of my new colleagues would simply move onto another firm. Key thing (though sometimes challenging to do) is keeping a portable, flexible, ever expanding, skill set. -Anon-

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Comment 9/12/10: Anonymous - Check Yahoo's ibmemployeeissues board. There is an excellent discussion regarding collecting UI and an IBM pension going on at this very moment -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/12/10: Thanks for the tip darth. Now that you are happily employed we'll miss your posts. -MayTheFarceBeWithYou-

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Comment 9/11/10: Check in arkansas as wal mart is also hiring deep and fast. sacrifices have to be made but if willing to move you can make more money and save more money. ibm sucks and you do not have to feel guilty when a company shows you no loyalty at all. it's a 2 way street and if they puke on you then you have the right to puke back on them. -darth vader-

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Comment 9/11/10: I was RAed 3/31/10 have not found a job, but I did apply and have recieved a determination for extended unemployement and additional resources for retraining. Also under the Trade Act Benefits program I receive a health coveragr tax credit. Check out to see if your former job at IBM qualifies. http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/determinations.cfm-noworries-

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Comment 9/11/10: to anon who would not like to tell where he went : what I would like to know is; do you belong to a union at your new place of work? -newjob-

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Comment 9/11/10: In regards to UI pension offsets in NC. The case that the other boards are referring to is applicable to NY state. UI law and rules are determined at the state level. You would need to look up the NC laws regarding pension offset calculations or talk to an attorney familiar with NC labor laws to see if there is an exception for the frozen pension plan. Given that NC does not allow you to collect UI until any severance pay has been used I doubt they have an exception for the pension offset. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/11/10: Lawbreaker - I'm not sure I understand what the table is showing, if I think I read right, Massachusetts can only pay weekly and biweekly? What about a state that's not on the table? Is this just for Goverment contracts or all jobs? -Critical Mass-

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Comment 9/10/10: Look in mooresville, North Carolina :-) where plenty of jobs are available -darth vader-

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Comment 9/10/10: I was laid off in March 2010 and filed for unemployment benefits. Because I was able to retire from IBM and receive a small pension, my pension amount is being deducted from my UI benefits. Someone wrote an article on the site entitled....Unemployment Insurance (UI) and the IBM RA program. This article stated that the IBM Prior Pension Plan is an exception to the normal way UI payments are calculated if you receive a pension. Per this article, the IBM pension plan was frozen on 12/31/2007. IBM made no further contributions to this plan after this date. So if your UI BASE PERIOD falls after 12/31/2007, UI may not deduct the pension payment from UI payments. Can anyone comment on NC unemployment laws? I talked to an UI manager in Raleigh and they are not aware of this ruling. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/10/10: *** WHERE THOSE "JOBS" ARE ***

From Bloomberg: Everything Is Made by Foxconn in Future Evoked by Gou's Empire

On a crushingly hot mid-August day at Foxconn Technology Group's Longhua factory campus in Shenzhen -- where a dutiful army of *** 300,000 employees *** eats, sleeps, and churns out iPhones, Sony Corp. PlayStations, and Dell Inc. computers -- workers indulged in a rare moment of celebration.
...
The need to do so became apparent after 11 Foxconn employees committed suicide earlier this year, most of them by leaping from company-owned high-rise dormitories. ...
...
For the image-conscious companies with which Foxconn does business, including International Business Machines Corp., ... , the suicides were a public-relations nightmare and a challenge to offshoring strategies essential to their bottom lines. , the suicides were a public-relations nightmare and a challenge to offshoring strategies essential to their bottom lines. -Gone fishin'-

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Comment 9/10/10: Problem with releasing the company I went to, is... there are pissed off managers I left behind at big blow, that didn't want me to leave... and would know who I am, if I posted what company I went to. I guess they don't like losing the slave labor THEY WANT to keep around. Best bet... get on sites like Monster.com or Linkedin.com, post your skill sets... and let the TONS of head hunters that browse sites, those find you. TBH, it's not like I targeted the specific company I moved onto. They simply had the need for my skills and were absolutely happy to pay for them. That was a couple years ago. No regrets. Expanded, industry standard skill set + an IBM pedigree = win. Of course, it would have been nice to stick with IBM but, their treatment of employees (partly due to employees' ignorance that they deserve, and there is, better...) is bordering on outright abuse... I'm being nice in my description. I surely hope a union does form to counter what goes on at that company. In the mean time, if you're on the fence about leaving, that's the BEST time to passively look and let people who will appreciate you, find you. -Anon-

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Comment 9/10/10: to Law Breaker, The state's laws for paydays do not apply to private companies even if that company is doing business for the state. IBM is a private company. -IBMer-

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Comment 9/09/10: "To "darth vader": I have seen numerous postings on this board of people who have left IBM and claim to have found a much better job at a much better salary. However, there is never any specific info. Can you at least reveal the name of the company? It may help the rest of us who are still looking. -Anonymous-
"IBM will NOT release any other info than basic stuff (ie Confirm employment etc.). They are afraid to open themselves up to lawsuits. -SAMTHEMAN-
Alliance reply: I think you may have misunderstood -Anonymous- request to -darth vader-. They are not asking for IBM to reveal information. They are asking -darth vader- or others that post about getting jobs elsewhere, after leaving IBM; to reveal what company those people are referring to.

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Comment 9/09/10: Are you being paid in accordance with the laws? (Here's a little something Alliance can use but we're sure they know about it)
--- not paid weekly --- State Payday Requirements January 1, 2010 http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/payday.htm -Law Breaker-

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Comment 9/09/10:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/08/large-companies-hiring-leadership-careers-human-capital-10-jobs.html?partner=yahootix -ExIBMer-

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Comment 9/09/10: Heard from a reliable source close to site manager Steve Wildermuth that BTV will continue stealth layoffs throught the rest of this year triming headcount to cut costs. BTV is doing these layoffs quietly flying under the radar so as to not be detected by the media. Watch your back folks. -BTVer-

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Comment 9/09/10: Anyone can surf the internal job postings. They are not restricted. We were always told we could search the internal job posts but were not permitted to apply for the jobs. One of the many idiocies within the current IBM model. -AnyoneCan-

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Comment 9/09/10: Informing HR where they can stick their job is a little harsh and reveals a persons true character. Even if you hate this company and will never be back, be careful who you tread on, it may be that some day you will be working with the same individual that you spat on. Don't ever take a crap in your own bed, don't bite the hand that feeds you, don't burn bridges and most of all never treat anyone any less than you would want to be treated in return. If you like to be shit on and you act like the world is your toilet don't expect to be treated any better than your character displays. -Bridges-

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Comment 9/09/10: The reason IBM has fewer USA RA's announced this year than last is they realize they are below adequate staff in the USA now. IBM will have to drive profits coming from USA operations despite of this and this is what they will do: To maximize profits IBM will not hire or RA that much now but will lower pay across-the-board for non-management employees. Think pay cuts folks. IBM knows that the employees will not fight this. So they will soon do it. Stay tuned. -chopchop-

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Comment 9/08/10: I was a victim of sexual abuse at ibm back in the early 2000s. I reported it to my first line manager, but he covered it up at the orders of higher level managers. They actually made me rewrite a report of what happened so that it took out everything incriminating. I should have made the report public, but I was afraid I would get fired. Even after I agreed to change the report, I felt as though I was black-listed from projects. The 'joke' at the time was that I was on Busby's black list, and there was evidence to support this. I lived in fear of this for all these years. I thought it would eventually come back to bite me, and it did. IBM eventually always wins. After all it is the monopoly against the individual; the Sam Palmisanos and the Robert Moffats of the world against the rest of us. And, yes, I did sell my sole to the devil. They bought my silence with a severance package. But, I am having second thoughts. The world needs to know what kind of company IBM has become. -Naive ex ibmer-

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Comment 9/08/10: "I would like confirmation, but I heard that 1st level management was just informed that IBM/ITS is gaining back the Lenovo business that was lost to Qualxserv (not shocking)... Effective immediately, they are working on desktops, next phase mobile, I believe, then servers. This *should* create 300 jobs in the US. Go IBM for laying off talent and hiring new folks that will likely do worse than Qualxserv did! -Duffy-"
As usual, people don't have all the facts before they post on this forum. Yes IBM got the Lenovo contract, No, IBM is not hiring back 300 techs. IBM won back the Lenovo contract because they lowered their profit margin on the service contract. IBM management needs to bring in some cash since they are running out of things to cut. ( except their own bloated salaries). The anticipated workload will be increased by 300 techs nationwide. Some area will be overloaded and some area will still remain light. As with every other division in IBM, we will be expected to pick up the slack. And Duffy, I don't appreciated the implications that the SSR's lost the contract to Qualxserv and the new techs, if any, that would work with me would be a bunch of bumbling idiots. -SSR in PA-

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Comment 9/08/10: "I also told her that she could put what I told her in my HR file for good. -darth vader-
While it gives one satisfaction, it can shoot you in the foot later on. It was long held that IBM will only release length of service information to prospective employees checking up on you. IBM HR will lay out your entire jacket if there has been any negative input to reason for your RA, bad PBC's, and such it is shown. If you are going for Gov't security clearance, you're screwed."

My story with IBM HR and my HR file is when I was told I was RA'ed I was informed I was not allowed to report to the Southbury site where my work was if my IBM director was at the site(!). I was never informed of the reason for this. When I e-mailed IBM HR and asked them to see my HR file employee jacket to see the restriction IBM HR replied on the phone only (not in writing or e-mail) that they never heard of the restriction in affect on me. THEN a few days later I found I was allowed to return to Southbury by management. Also no reason for this given. Furthermore, I never got to view my employee jacket when I requested it from IBM HR before my 30 days was up before being RA'ed despite under Connecticut State Dept. of Labor rights!

IBM does a great job at protecting themselves and convincing the government and everyone else that they have integrity. All claims against IBM they (IBM) deems has no merit. IBM HR thinks they are always fair and in the right in all it's operations and dealings. If they get slapped by government, or any of their customers, they just shrug it off as having no merit as well. -sby_willie-

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Comment 9/08/10: U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers

Federally-backed program aims to help outsourcers in South Asia become more fluent in areas like Java programmingâ??and the English language.

By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
August 3, 2010 01:59 PM

Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $36 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/08/10: I would like confirmation, but I heard that 1st level management was just informed that IBM/ITS is gaining back the Lenovo business that was lost to Qualxserv (not shocking)... Effective immediately, they are working on desktops, next phase mobile, I believe, then servers. This *should* create 300 jobs in the US. Go IBM for laying off talent and hiring new folks that will likely do worse than Qualxserv did! -Duffy-

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Comment 9/08/10: Kinda funny article, cost of living has increased 30% in Dubuque, IA since IBM's move. So much for cheap labor. I can find plenty of apartments in Atlanta for much less than these poor folks are paying.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/06/02/ibms-move-dubuque-causes-housing-crisis/
-Anonymous-

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Comment 9/08/10: I got word last night that I was free to surf the internal job postings and job cuts were coming to SWG. No details yet but it is coming. -Worried-

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Comment 9/08/10: To "darth vader": I have seen numerous postings on this board of people who have left IBM and claim to have found a much better job at a much better salary. However, there is never any specific info. Can you at least reveal the name of the company? It may help the rest of us who are still looking. -Anonymous-

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Comment 9/08/10: "I also told her that she could put what I told her in my HR file for good. -darth vader-"
While it gives one satisfaction, it can shoot you in the foot later on. It was long held that IBM will only release length of service information to prospective employees checking up on you. IBM HR will lay out your entire jacket if there has been any negative input to reason for your RA, bad PBC's, and such it is shown. If you are going for Gov't security clearance, you're screwed. -Anon-

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Comment 9/08/10: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.html

Once a Dynamo, the Tech Sector Is Slow to Hire
By CATHERINE RAMPELL

For years the technology sector has been considered the most dynamic, promising and globally envied industry in the United States. It escaped the recession relatively unscathed, and profits this year have been soaring. But as the nation struggles to put people back to work, even high-tech companies have been slow to hire, a sign of just how difficult it will be to address persistently high joblessness. While the labor report released last week showing August figures provided mildly positive news on private-sector hiring, the unemployment rate was 9.6 percent. The disappointing hiring trend raises questions about whether the tech industry can help power a recovery and sustain American job growth in the next decade and beyond. Its tentativeness has prompted economists to ask If high tech isn't hiring, who will?

'We are talking about people with very particular, advanced skills out there who are at this point just not needed anymore,' says Bart van Ark, chief economist at the Conference Board, a business and economic research organization. 'Even in this sector, there is tremendous insecurity.' -Anon-

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Comment 9/07/10: I was laid off from IBM on March 31st and given a severance package. I also collected unemployment. In 4 months time I have been given the most wonderful position at a great firm with a large signing bonus, a great relocation package and great pay and benefits. I make 3 yes, 3 times as much as I made with IBM and cannot tell you guys how I feel. I will not miss IBM not my crappy ex manager who no one likes. BTW, always a great performer with evaluations as a 2+ or 2. No regrets and when IBM contacted me to go back as an employee again (Yes an an employee) I'd rather not repeat what I told the HR rep. I also told her that she could put what I told her in my HR file for good. -darth vader-

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Comment 9/07/10: I am simply amazed at how little people understand their life and or their jobs. To Anonymous, a supplemental employee has no benefits. There is No vacation, no 401K, no sick pay, not a thing. In fact, when IBM is pinching pennies during a quarter freeze, IBM, can, and will and has done it in the past where they will tell you to take 2 weeks off without pay within a 1 week notice. -Amazed-

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Comment 9/07/10: Lost - What kind of info has mgmt been asking for ? I have heard that Tivoli has been given a "challenge" to cut costs. -long_time_beemer-

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Comment 9/06/10: Thanks everyone for the responses. CO DOL agreed that IBM terminated my employment, but they will not start my benefits until after my separation pay has expired (they computed the weeks based on my previous salary). I will appeal and see what happens, but as Barb stated, may not have a leg to stand on in Colorado. I'm not bitter, just annoyed. Curious if other CO RA'd folks had the same thing happen to them. -Denied in Colorado-

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Comment 9/06/10: -Denied in Colorado- You made it sound to the State of CO DOL, like IBM gave you an employment contract settlement. You should have just said IBM terminated your employment. The RA package is just a severance, no more, no less. Good luck in getting your unemployment. Hopefully IBM will not challenge it, if the State of CO allows you to change your unemployment claim. -anon-

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Comment 9/06/10: To Denied: It appears you told Colorado you willfully agreed to leave IBM. You made it appear you agree with IBM's action regarding your employment. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: This is what IBM plans, will happen. They don't respect the employees intelligence at all. And since the employees are "At Will Employees"; IBM does as it pleases and the State gov't supports them all the way. YOU NEED A CONTRACT, PEOPLE! Organize! Fight back as group. It's your only option!

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Comment 9/06/10: I hope all remember that you would not have a "Labor Day" if it were not for the men and women that literally died so you could have a 40 hr work week, overtime, vacations, medical coverage, sick time, and every other "benefit" you enjoy today. So when you are with your family, remember those who did it for you even though they would never even know you. -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 9/06/10: To -ANONYMOUS-:
There have been hundreds of REGULAR FULL TIME employees FIRED and rehired as SUPPLEMENTAL employees in Burlington, VT. A supplemental employee has an employment range of 1 day to 24 months. Should business needs allow you to complete 24 months you are terminated at your 2 year date. After 6 months of unemployement you can reapply and start the cycle again. Should IBM hire you as a supplemental employee today they can fire you a week from now with NO strings attached(severance, benefits, etc) You are basically a day to day employee and expect to be treated as a commodity. I personally know a 20 years of service IBM'er who was RA'd and rehired as supplemental. He lost about 1/2 his salary. He was then converted to a regular full time employee at his current supplemental salary. He was even required to attend new hire orientation. Seniority/vacation were ALL reset to new hire status. Burlington has just converted about 50-70 supplemental to permanent employees. I suspect during the next slowdown they will keep the new employees and fire employees with many years who make a higher wage. By doing this they can continuously reduce their cost of labor. I would like to add that there are suprisingly NO supplemental managers. Should you decide to accept a supplemental position be aware of this. By the way the ALLIANCE is your ONLY voice. I would join if you haven't already. Good Luck -Tom Watson III-

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Comment 9/06/10: @Denied in Colorado. Yes, any type of separation pay (mine was a separation incentive to give up bumping rights as I worked for the state) will delay unemployment, as will cashing out any sort of pension savings account whatsoever. That's just how Colorado is. If a person doesn't report it and the state finds out, they call it fraud and want 150% of the unemployment payments to be repaid.
Colorado unemployment law is strict, and if you cash out even a portion of any retirement account, expect them to cut off your unemployment payments. Ditto if you get any kind of separation payment however it is classified. I know the law is different in other states, but that's how it is in Colorado.
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/sl2009a/sl_408.htm

http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=141537

-Barb-

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Comment 9/05/10: Colorado has denied my unemployment benefits for six months - the length of my separation pay. I reported the amount (did not lie) but placed it under the Other Separation Payments (not under Severance Pay). I stated the following "Lump sum payment for signing agreement to release IBM and related parties from any claims or legal action. Lump sum did not contain any benefits. As of mm/dd/yy (my last day with IBM) no longer on IBM payroll". But it seemed not to matter. Have others in Colorado faced the same issue? If so, were you able to resolve and start your benefits right away? Did IBM tell Colorado something else to avoid paying their share of unemployment? Or did I fail to correctly state my case? Obviously I would appreciate comments to help me out, but also to help my fellow IBM Colorado friends who will face a similar situation. Thanks. -Denied in Colorado-

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Comment 9/05/10: Now that it is 1.5 years on from my RA notice, IBM seems like a bad memory..... a bad memory that lasted over a decade. I suggest that those who remain look deeply at what has happened in the recent past and choose to walk out, stand with others in the Alliance, or be meek and ineffectual in driving their own future. Look at what has happened around you, read the posts here and in the archive, and decide what is the best way to celebrate this Labor Day. -1 2 X U-

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Comment 9/04/10: Mr. Zhang, thats all we need. Not only can you lose your job, benefits, life, but also your house. I saw another person who was let go. A year later is back. And to think of the emotion impact that had. Having him back is that really a good thing. But good luck figuring out the numbers. So, RAd people are back for sure. At least some. I can confirm 1 person, global sale. -Notaplan-

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Comment 9/04/10: I was a part of the layoffs in April and might have a chance to be rehired again. I believe they would bring me back as a Full-Time Supplemental employee. Can somebody please tell me the different of a supplemental vs regular full-time and how my vacation time will be assessed now (new hire date?) or if I would still have time worked for IBM honored? I would also like to know what my chances of hire on salary could be increased to what I used to make. Thanks!!!! -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Don't expect IBM to honor anything that you did as a former employee, or any salary you used to make, previously.

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Comment 9/02/10:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9183421/As_IBM_cuts_jobs_in_Vermont_others_hire
As IBM cuts jobs in Vermont, others hire Burlington officials, tech execs explain a shifting employment landscape
Patrick Thibodeau

September 2, 2010 (Computerworld)

IBM's shrinking U.S. workforce is particularly worrisome in Burlington Vt., which has long counted on the company to provide many good jobs for area residents. A decade ago, IBM employed about 8,000 people in the region; city officials believe the IBM workforce has since declined to approximately 5,000. City officials and business leaders say that the IBM job losses are being somewhat offset by new types of tech companies that are newly arrived to the Burlington area, or have been around a while and continue to grow. Many of these companies are focusing on providing electronic commerce and software as a service products. -anon-

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Comment 9/02/10: IBM paid Samuel Palmisano $21.1M, laid off 7,800 . Sam does not care about the employees. He will make sure his family get well taken care, while IBMers continue to loose their jobs to India and China so he can have a bigger bonus next year. -ana-
Alliance reply: The Alliance data shows at least 10,400 cut in 2009. That number is probably low. This number is based on RA packages we received. IBM also cut about 3000 this year.

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Comment 9/02/10: "5 IBM Samuel Palmisano $21.1M 7,800" I just got my pocket calculator out. Sammy earned $2,705 for each and every one of the 7,800 jobs he slashed. Not bad earnings. I wonder if Sammy will put this on his resume as a significant accomplishment? How pathetic. I despise working for this crook. -IBMer-

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Comment 9/02/10: So Mr. Zhang, now working for IBM, in China, is earning $1250/month or $15k/year. But his contemporaries according to the referenced article are less qualified because of lack of language skills, team interaction skills and they are theory-heavy with little practical applicability of what they have learned in their state-sponsored school. And this equals success for IBM or any company that offshores there why? You get what you pay for... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 9/02/10: -Gorya-, Try http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/executive_excess_2010 and click on the down-load link.-not surprised-

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Comment 9/01/10: No job cuts here, but there have been 4 people leave for other jobs recently. Jobs are starting to boom in Canada and people are getting sick of IBM's changing policies every year. IBM has actually started to ask the people who leave, what would it take to keep you here. Economy is starting to rumble/roar slowly and IBM is going to be on the wrong side of employee loyalty when jobs are plentiful. -IBMer-Canada-

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Comment 9/01/10: Anyone able fo confirm Hrly workers time cards are being scrutinized by states because the hourly workers are working more than what they are reporting on the time cards and management seems to be encouraging this? --- Short Changed ---

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Comment 9/01/10: Thanks to -Sad- and -exIbm-er 2010- for posting links about the report on CEO pay!
Yes, Sammy's in the top 10. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/01/ceo-pay-layoffs_n_701908.html

Rank	Company	CEO	PAID	LAID OFF
1	Schering-Plough	Fred Hassan	$49.7M	16,000
2	Johnson & Johnson	William Weldon	$25.6M	8,900
3	Hewlett Packard	Mark Hurd	$24.2M	6,400
4	Walt Disney	Robert Iger	$21.5M	3,400
5	IBM	Samuel Palmisano	$21.1M	7,800
6	AT	Randall Stephenson	$20.2M	12,300
7	Walmart	Michael Duke	$19.2M	13,350
8	Ford	Alan Mullally	$17.9M	4,700
9	United Technologies	Louis Chenevert	$17.9M	13,290
10	Verizon	Ivan Seidenberg	$17.5M	21,308

If you search for "The 10 Highest-Paid CEOs Who Laid Off the Most Workers" you will find this all over the web, but I have not been able to download the original report from the Institute for Policy Studies report. If anyone can find it, please post the link here. -Gorya-
Alliance Reply: Are they listing just the layoffs that occurred in 2010 or do they include end of 2009 also?

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Comment 9/01/10: Has anyone heard any layoff rumors? I'm getting requests from management that are just like what I got before the last layoffs. -Lost-

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Comment 9/01/10: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a1s6HPd_tiKY&refer=home
Workers are the winners in this competition. Zhang, who has been at IBM for a year, said his first job at a software developer paid 2,000 yuan ($251) a month. Within six months Citibank hired him away for twice as much. Now he earns 10,000 yuan a month.
"For young people today, job security is really not a problem,'' Zhang said. Not a problem there, where the education is "State sponsored" and the corporations provide free housing on site for the workforce -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 9/01/10: "Rounding out the top ten was [...] IBM's Samuel Palmisano, who brought home $21.16 million [...]"
--- from "CEOs that lay off workers earn more"
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ceos-that-lay-off-workers-earn-more-study-2010-09-01-Anonymous-

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Comment 9/01/10: I *heart* Joe Punchclock -Alliance member-

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Comment 9/01/10: This pretty much says it all - I'm sure Sammy is right up there with the rest of them:
http://wallstreet.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/01/ceos-cash-in-on-layoff-wave/ -Sad-

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Comment 9/01/10: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/01/layoff.ceo.pay/index.html?hpt=T2
I like to note the part that 72% of firms performing layoffs while posting profits....Just like what happens at IBM.
Been gone almost 4 months and no regrets. -exIbm'er 2010-

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Comment 8/30/10: IBM needs to pull the remaining trigger and incorporate in Bangladore, India. IBM is no longer a US company and it's executives should leave the USA and go live and rule in their new glorious Indian kingdom. They deserve no US tax breaks or incentives. They are not good citizens and hide the truth behind non-disclosure of their unseemly and employee-hostile actions. They deserve not to be your friend, neighbor, or countrymen. These greedy traitors lust only for short-term personal profit and should leave the country now, as soon as possible to prevent any further destruction of the US economy. Good luck training your replacements. IBM is abandoning the USA. -Joe Punchclock-

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Comment 8/30/10: To Confused - If you decide to take the job, remember to join the Alliance, and spread the word once you get to Iowa. Many of those people are new and may not have heard about it. -Anon-

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Comment 8/30/10: To Confused. If the terms are good, and it sounds like you like them, go for it. At some point you may face a severance, but that is probably a good ways down the road if they are offering you that position. If you end up hating it, you can look elsewhere while still having a job to pay the bills. Maybe in the new location, rent a small place until you decide how permanent it seems. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/30/10: A pal of mine was just offered a position at the GDC in Iowa, with a decent salary, not quite up to par with the market though. He is a hell of an Exchange technician and used to work for IBM, on an account they recently lost. Anyways, they want him to go in and save the other accounts they are losing. Of course that would entail him re-training the people there. He checked the position out with a few internal IBM folks and turned it down. -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/30/10: Confused, if a job with IBM is your best opportunity then take it, but don't quit looking for another job. Our technical team likes to tell us we are unqualified and too unskilled to get a job anyplace else. They do have a few young people who they training for minor code changes. I see no new development. That means that there is no need to support new development. Its a very short term future. Its unlikely you will learn anything on the job that you can use on a resume. A few young people are being given jobs covering areas that employed 200+ people at one time. They are not expected to understand the technology, and they need to sound sure of themselves. Its a nice paycheck for low skill work, but don't expect job security or benefits. I think its possible that working closely with large account might have some security if you are good at it. You didn't say how old you were or what type of work you would be doing. -DungeonDweller-

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Comment 8/30/10: Re:veteran programmer! -VMbmer-
What is needed, and a conserted effort should be made by everyone across the US, is to have a federal law passed that states "if a company is incorporated in the US then the number of direct US employees (NO H1B1 or any other visa based non US worker) has to be defined and published in a clear and open manner." Otherwise the company should incorporate someplace else and be done with all the US federal and state tax incentives... -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 8/29/10: "This seems like a good opportunity to me, with good pay, stability and comprehensive benefits... -Confused-"
"Stability...."?. Where? Show Me. -UnStable-

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Comment 8/28/10: IBM isn't admitting this but the USA headcount is definitely less than 100,000 now according to COLIS data, unless some data is missing. The number of IBM employees in USA is 93,458 as of last week, unless some data is not present or my REXX skill with COLIS is faulty. I know I could get in trouble for doing this but then IBM will probably lose a good old, veteran programmer! -VMbmer-

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Comment 8/28/10: IBM is going to break soon. Too many bad stories out there. Finding someone with any real authority is like looking for the ghost of Elvis. SVP's need to approve the most mundane requests known to man; all the while I remember Sammy-boy saying he wanted to lower the center of gravity and get more authority to the 1st line managers. What a farce. It will take 2 more years of this sharade before people see what is going on. -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/27/10: I have just been offered a full-time IT/developer position at a Global Delivery Center in the midwest U.S. Pay will be about $85K. Should I be concerned with all this talk about cuts and layoffs, when my recruiter even said they are looking to HIRE over 100 people at my location? This seems like a good opportunity to me, with good pay, stability and comprehensive benefits... -Confused-

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Comment 8/26/10: At least five in Lexington Operations center. Most of the jobs had been relocated to RTP so those who didn't move knew it was coming. -Nero-

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Comment 8/26/10: I heard from a mgr and a lead that more jobs are being cut. -xIBMer-
Alliance reply: Comments like this do not help us find out what is going on. We need details. Where are the jobs being cut? What business units? What job titles? When? Is the work being offshored?

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Comment 8/26/10: It's been too long since IBM has made an announcement that will adversely affect its USA employees: the USA economy is still a train wreck, companies are not hiring, and domestic earnings in all sectors of the economy are weak. IBM customer satisfaction has got to be low now as well. IBM is going to do something to offset this. The question is when. -IFeelit-

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Comment 8/26/10: BPD making cuts across the board with end date of 9/22 -anonymous-

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Comment 8/25/10: I read the article about the union settlement in Australia but don't see what was the outcome. maybe this site can explain what the results were and how did the employee's make out. -wasa1stlinenowra'd-

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Comment 8/24/10: Good source for the rumors that major benefit changes are coming in Sept. Get your wallets ready as costs for medical coverage are going to skyrocket. Other companies are already socking it to their employees and bigBlew won't hesitate for a second to shove every extra cost right down their compliant employees throats come new plan time so that the executive slime bonus earnings plans get covered. Of course layoffs might also be needed for executives to meet bonus targets so expect some of those also as the economy grinds down even further this fall. The sheep will get sheared so the master can afford his usual bonus. Any wish they had a contract yet? Keep ducking, you'll figure it out eventually if you even survive the next go round. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/24/10: http://www.zdnet.com.au/ibm-concludes-union-negotiations-339305468.htm
IBM concludes union negotiations
By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on August 24th, 2010 (7 hours ago)

IBM and the Australian Services Union (ASU) have concluded critical discussions, resulting in a number of formerly displeased IBM employees accepting common law contracts offered by the company. IBM confirmed that it had concluded negotiations and that the "interests of employees remained central throughout the negotiation process".

ZDNet Australia contacted the ASU and received a "no comment" from branch secretary Sally McManus. The controversy centred around IBM's Baulkham Hills facility, after unionised staff demanded better working conditions and protested at the plans to offshore staff. Staff also expressed a desire to be represented by a union in employment negotiations. At one stage, the ASU proposed an indefinite strike if the demands of staff were not met. According to the Australian Financial Review today, around 80 employees signed common law contracts last week. This had been enabled by a Fair Work Australia ruling in May that the union could negotiate on behalf of the IBM employees in question. McManus told the publication that it was good to be on a positive footing once more with IBM. -Anon-

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Comment 8/24/10: I'm on a job email list for government contractors and they have sent out this:
"IBM is Hiring! Do you think the world can work smarter? Join us.
Let's build a smarter planet. Interview with IBM at our upcoming open house on Wednesday, August 25th at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center. For event details, job listings and advance registration visit: www.IBMexpo.com/M -Barb-

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Comment 8/22/10: "India reportedly now has IBM's largest workforce"
Gee, why am I not surprised with this too. Sammy Boy clearly wants to make the IBM company Indian Business Machines. The low wages he pays the folks in India means more money in Sammy Boy's pocket. The greedy bastard. Now Sammy Boy is overworking his cheap labor in India? How can you respect a CEO like that? Expect more layoffs in the US as Sammy Boy = continues to ramp up the cheap labor in India. -IBMer-

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Comment 8/21/10: IBM accused of overworking staff? Gee, why I am not surprised? Overwork them and then RA them. Folks join the Alliance now or the abuse will be getting worse. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/19/10: -confused-, -engelfisch- Look up the term "constructive discharge" -Think-

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Comment 8/19/10: http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2268434/ibm-kicks-apprentice-sheme-uk
IBM kicks off apprentice scheme in UK
Big Blue looking to take on 20 students and turn them into IT specialists
Written by Dawinderpal Sahota
Computing, 19 Aug 2010
IBM has developed its first ever apprenticeship programme in England. The company is looking to recruit 20 "IT Specialist" apprentices and is offering roles across the UK for the two-year development programme. The news comes soon after BT revealed it is extending its own apprenticeship programme due to overwhelming demand, as the number of students studying IT at schools and colleges in the UK continues to fall. IT Specialists develop proof of concepts, design, develop, build, test and implement systems to solve our clients' business and IT problems, said IBM in its job specification for the programme. As an IT Specialist you will be a hands-on professional and you will develop an in-depth understanding of our products, offerings and services. -Anon-

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Comment 8/18/10: @-sept-slam-on-deck- this comment:
Comment 8/15/10: A VERY good source has relayed that major benefit changes are on deck for the fall. No details could be provided but it is likely that a big 'incentive' will be to force old plan employees into retirement, (where a very reduced number can be hired back as contractors at a very low price with no benefits or vacation to pay for). The US already has 27% of employees as contractors, with another 15% as partners or vendors and 10% management so less than half the beamers left in the US are actually 'workers' directly on the payroll. So the 80% contractor model the Sr. VP beamer from England let slip out is well under way. You can either stand up and fight or wait to be sheared like sheep. -sept-slam-on-deck-

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Comment 8/16/10: "Like ___, been at IBM _ years and I would love to get RAed, get my severance and move on."
Why not say:
"Like ___ I have been at IBM _ years and decided to join the Alliance and work toward making IBM a better place to work for me and __." -sby_willie-

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Comment 8/16/10: @B-Rad from Mali-Boo-"no idea who inserted this in the bill but I will vote for them forever." I believe that was one Charles Rangel... which may explain the sudden need to examine the ethics behind his activities of the past decade or so. -4merBeamer-

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Comment 8/15/10: Like Zak, been at IBM 10 years and I would love to get RAed, get my severance and move on. This IBM company really sucks! -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/15/10: question to all...i hear rumours of SDM's maybe moving to Dubuque, if that does happen and I turn the offer down would I get a RA ??...and would I be eligible for unemplyment for turning the job down???...im in NC so was curious if anyone else has experienced something simliar to this.. -confused-

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Comment 8/15/10: A VERY good source has relayed that major benefit changes are on deck for the fall. No details could be provided but it is likely that a big 'incentive' will be to force old plan employees into retirement, (where a very reduced number can be hired back as contractors at a very low price with no benefits or vacation to pay for). The US already has 27% of employees as contractors, with another 15% as partners or vendors and 10% management so less than half the beamers left in the US are actually 'workers' directly on the payroll. So the 80% contractor model the Sr. VP beamer from England let slip out is well under way. You can either stand up and fight or wait to be sheared like sheep. -sept-slam-on-deck-

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Comment 8/14/10: Heard from current Lotus sales folk that Lotus brand had the worst sales in history in 2009 and 2010 is looking worse. All the experienced technical people were laid off in 2008/2009 and so now they are scrambling looking to hire. One of my fiends who was let go in Seattle was called and asked if they wanted to come back and he said :hell no...IBM can rot in hell". I will enjoy watching them continue to lose market share to Microsoft and Oracle. -Ex-Lotus Software Group ITS-

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Comment 8/1410: I was RAed last year from IBM and found a great job working for Unica in MA. Life after IBM has been so much better for me. To my surprise, and now increasing chagrin, I found IBM has acquired Unica. This stinks. It sounds like I'm back in with IBM and wonder if I will be laid off again now. I have a friend who used to work for Lotus and IBM totally screwed with Lotus after the acquisition. Some folks in Lotus were soon deemed redundant and let go and I hope history doesn't repeat now for Unica employees. Please, Please, folks join the Alliance so you don't fall into the life raft I am in now. -unicabeemr-

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Comment 8/14/10: Hey guys, what's the best way to get RA'd? I've been with this pathetic company for about 10 years and each year it just gets worse and worse with their ridiculous cost saving measures veiled in some idiotic marketing campaign such as 'Smarter Planet'. I thought about volunteering to be RA'd. I've also thought about turning down all travel related jobs in hopes that would place me in the 'Stadium' for a long time and eventually get RA'd. Slacking on my job isn't an option because I work on customer sites so I could never compromise my professional loyalty to the customer just to get back at this discombobulated company. -Zak-

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Comment 8/14/10: SSO-ITD in Western Canada told today that ALL consultants (with few exceptions) must take 10 days "vacation" before Sept 15. One problem 98% of workforce here are consultants. Guess our clients will suffer needlessly until Sept 15...Twits -FewRemainingEmployees-

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Comment 8/13/10: Can anyone comment on whether or not a typical RA package is offered to people who's jobs are moved to a US based GDF location and the person can't/won't move? I'm curious because I'm one of the SDM's who will be affected the end of the year and wonder if I'll be forced to resign or get a pkg. Thanks. -curious-
Alliance reply: Please define what an SDM is and what the job responsibilities are.

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Comment 8/13/10: to -long time beemer-, yes I think I know that contract, a very close relative was involved on the State of North Carolina's side. IBM behaved like the skunks they are, tap-danced away with all our money, blamed us, and not even a "sorry". Better believe NC will not make THAT mistake again.. -Gone in 96-

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Comment 8/12/10: RE: 08/11/10 Anonymous translation - DPE - Delivery Project Executive, SDM - Servi ce Delivery Manager, PM - Project Manager. SVC Management is service management, AG is Americas Group. Specifically, it appears that all the DPEs, SDMs and PMs for the Americas will be co-located to a GDF (Global Delivery Facility) to implement LEAN within the next 6 months. The waves are stages of the LEANing. These DPEs, SDMs and PMs have been the last holdouts in dealing with the fallout and resulting poor quality/productivity caused by gutting the US experienced resources and offshoring to cheap, unskilled and inexperienced global resources in low cost countries such as China, India, Brazil and Argentina. Now they too will be LEANed - which means much of the experienced staff will be axed and replaced with low skill, cheap, inexperienced global resources from China, Brazil, Argentina and India. BTW, my DPE just quit and took a job outside of IBM. -Anon-

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Comment 8/12/10: An article on IBM "IBM Channels Exiting Workers To Public Sector". Newer effort for a former program I believe, along with helping channel all of us RA'd to be teachers and far less pay. http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/25/33/77/index.php -anonymous-

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Comment 8/12/10: RE:B-Rad from Mali-Boo- Jobs Bill? Does anyone have a link for this, especially what companies lobbied
against it? Has Obama finally made good on his promise to make off shoring unattractive to corporations? If so, this could be huge but I see nothing on the news about it. Links? TIA -wormser-

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Comment 8/12/10: To B-Rad from Mali-Boo, could you provide a link to the news article for the jobs bill you mentioned? Thanks. -News-

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Comment 8/12/10: Job cuts and RA's seemed to have slowed down. I am not naive enough to think they are over, but I do believe that the Alliance media work on exposing IBM's offshoring and job cuts had an affect. -member-
Alliance Reply: Whether or not you believe that there is a slowdown in RA's and/or Alliance@IBM's media work had an effect; we hope that you also believe that RA's will continue and that Alliance@IBM must continue to expose what IBM has done, is doing and will do to eliminate jobs in the USA and send them off shore. We need to keep what ever pressure we can, on IBM, to stop offshoring. The best way to do that is for those of you that believe in these actions and our resistance; to organize organize organize. It is, after all pundits have spoken, the best strategy that will work, if we all choose to take action. For those who are not yet members: Join Alliance@IBM :
Join page for voting members and associate members: https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4004/donate_page/alliance-join
Join page for subscribers: http://action.cwa-union.org/content_item/allliance-signup

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Comment 8/12/10: It may be nothing but I was chatting with a manager (not mine) the other day and after a rundown on how hard it has been for him to get enough staff to support his product he lamented "and now they've asked me to make more cuts". Just a heads up. -Anon-

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Comment 8/12/10: Re: the 8/11/2010 post from Anonymous - can anyone translate this to English???? -RAed in 2009-

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Comment 8/11/10: I confirmed 11 people recently hired to MD in Fishkill. 9 of which are supplementals. The new paradigm. Come on people JOIN. -ben_here_2long-

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Comment 8/11/10: GDF of DPE's, SDM' and PM's. 19-week GDF Wave, 3 phases. All-in, all-now, all jobs within SVC management in AG. Implementation is 4Q ('10) and 1Q ('11). The services arm that kept the other GR and GDF towers in check are now in the queue. 2nd lines are reviewing presentations with their staffs. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/11/10: Did anyone notice the closing of the tax loophole in the jobs bill? This should make offshoring far less profitable. Some major companies which lobbied against the bill included IBM, HP and MSFT.....no idea who inserted this in the bill but I will vote for them forever. -B-Rad from Mali-Boo-

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Comment 8/10/10: In my state, severance does not make you ineligible for (or delay) unemployment. One thing to keep in mind: Your severance package is actually a SETTLEMENT agreement. In exchange for payment from IBM, you agree to give up certain rights. In some states, I think, this is not even considered payment for work (or "wages"). -AnotherGoneEr-

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Comment 8/10/10: -soontobegone- I was RA'd in 2009 and received 6 months severance.For NC, as long as you are taking a class - any class either on-line or in a class room, you can get unemployment as long as you apply to to jobs during the week and show that you registered and paid for the class. Even on-line classes class count. I got 20 weeks of unemployment and then landed another job. Check with the NCESCto make sure that nothing has changed. But as long as you are attending classes and actively looking (2 job applications a week) you get unemployment. -Dave in NC-

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Comment 8/10/10: To "soontobegone": In NC, severance pay does not affect unemployment benefits, as of Oct 2009. I was RAed in 3/2009 and had to wait 3 months (the length of my severance pay) before I could get unemployment benefits. The law changed in Oct 2009, and now you no longer have to wait. In other words, you can apply and receive benefits right after being laid off, even if you got severance pay. -RAed in 2009-

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Comment 8/10/10: I remember back a few years ago, the state of NC also canceled a contract with IBM. IBM's response was very similar to what they are saying in TX. Basically, blame the customer. -long time beemer-

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Comment 8/10/10: Re: Sam's personal travel on company aircraft... Why is it that when I was on business travel with IBM, and I modified the itinerary to take a personal side trip, but the ticket was based on IBM travel, and had to be paid for on the IBM Amex card, there was a specific spot on the expense account form for "personal travel" that got deducted from my reimbursement, yet when Sam does it, he donates 20% of the monetary value of his personal travel to a fund that is TAX DEDUCTIBLE!!!!???? And I'm sure it gets doubly "un-taxed" because he gives it to an IBM fund that donates to another fund, so I'll be he deducts it off his personal taxes, AND IBM takes it off corporate taxes with its other charitable contributions? Anyone see anything legally questionable about this? Different treatment for different employees? After all, Sam is just an employee. Does his contract (oops, contract? what's that? none of us have contracts - JOIN THE ALLIANCE) say that he gets personal use and gets to deduct his"charitable contribution" for using it??? Sorry for the rant, but gee, $320k... Can pay for 2 fully expensed (including benefits, office space etc) programmers! How much more of this goes on??? -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 8/10/10: -TVwatcher- You assume wrongfully, that the bosses in IBM care about you in the least or would care if they knew of your suffering. They would not and do not. Sam and/or his henchmen would just RA anyone who "Complained" to them when they were undercover. Why put off till tomorrow what you plan to do anyway? A union is the only hope for IBMers because Management will never "see the error of their ways" as they do not consider making your lives miserable and stealing from you and your family an error. Its a cold and calculated plan to reduce you to third world wages and benefits and every RA or benefit reduction they achieve makes them richer and stronger and you poorer and weaker. A union and a contract will force a more level playing field for you. A contract will certainly not cause Management to admit any errors or apologize for their greed. They will resent every contract obligation they have to honor. Its money out of their fat pockets. Contracts are the only way to force corporate America to play fair. Thats why all the Executives have one and you should have one also. Even the executives no longer trust companies to treat them fairly. But they do trust the courts to enforce the contracts. Even the President and Congress could not stop bonuses being payed to people who had them defined in their contracts. A contract may not instantly reverse ALL the wrongs done to IBMers but it will certainly fix some and stop any further erosion of benefits and pay we all so desparately need. I personally would love to see a reversal and have a rank and file employee with hidden cameras etc sitting in some executive meetings and hearing what the fat cats have to say. THAT would be an eye opener I am sure. The next best thing will be to listen to the negotiations when enough IBMers wake up and join the Alliance so we can vote in a union. Hearing Managements offers and whining when they have to give up stolen benefits and pensions and so on will be music to my ears. Please join us if you have not. You and me. Working together ARE the union. United for the good of all IBMers. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 8/10/10: can someone update me how severance packages affect unemployment claims in NC?... -soontobegone-

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Comment 8/09/10: To -Barb-: Severance is not a reward for former employment. You need to write your state reps. and ask them how it is so that a severance delays your unemployment eligibility. If you get no response or a response that does not sound contrite then you know what you have to do, come November... -anonymous-

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Comment 8/09/10: "The job fair in New Pultz (sic Paltz) is mainly for contract and IBM supplemental candidates Do not waste your time if you have been RA ed"
How about those RAed in the mid-Hudson region show up at this job fair and meet with the IBM recruiters and ask them specifically why they are not to be considered for these job opportunities? Surely the number of those RAed would be at least a hundred or so. -hire-r-knot-
Alliance reply: Excellent idea! Start contacting people you know, go to the job fair and demand that RA'd IBMers be recalled.

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Comment 8/09/10: Referencing the posts about severance counting as income, thus delaying unemployment, perhaps what actually happened is that my"package" was not defined as "severance". Regardless, the $ received from IBM (two weeks for each yr of service) did not delay my unemployment. -GoneInMarch2010-

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Comment 8/09/10: Thanks to everyone for their input and suggestons. To "curious", I was a Workforce Reduction but believe (in my own mind but have no proof) that the job will eventually show up at a GDF. So I wasn't part of a move or else scenario. Sorry for misleading comments. -Going Going Gone-

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Comment 8/09/10: Wish I had a perk to take the fam with me when I fly "coach" for these losers....
Company: IBM
Cash compensation: $7.6 million
Stock and options: $13.5 million
Palmisano's 2009 take includes $1.1 million in "other compensation," including $320,065 of personal travel on company aircraft. Because family members sometimes join him aboard IBM planes, the company adds,"Mr. Palmisano has contributed $63,000 to the IBM International Foundation to fund contributions to Columbia University." -sam_the_scumbag-

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Comment 8/09/10: http://whenfridayswerefridays.blogspot.com/2010/07/case-of-disappearing-pension.html

The Case of the Disappearing Pension. In 1975 Jack started working for a large US Corporation. -Anon-

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Comment 8/09/10: Am I the only one that watching this undercover show? More execs should watch and do it and we will have less resource actions. Am I the only one that sees that show adding more value than anything else? -TVwatcher-

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Comment 8/08/10: Question to -going going gone-: were you RA'd because they offered you a GDF position and you couldn't/wouldn't relocate? I'm wondering because I expect to be in that situation in the next few months...me and a whole group of SDMs. Thanks. -curious-

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Comment 8/08/10: Re: Sunoco and IBM. Let's watch IBM do for Sunoco what it has done for the state of Texas! Time to switch to Shell. -wormser-

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Comment 8/08/10: In my state, severance most definitely counts against unemployment (it delays it) and so does cashing out a pension fund. If they catch you, you pay back 1.5X. Check your local laws. -Barb-

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Comment 8/08/10: I heard about Hurd. I guess CEOs do get resource actioned. Will this mean that those cut from IBM will go to HP? What about the Apple resource action as well. Ex-IBMers get resourced no matter where they go. Maybe it is sign of the times, and not just IBM. -NowWhatforHP-

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Comment 8/08/10: Got RA'd in March from ITD, new position with competitor at 35% increase in salary and a car... Folks,, IBM is not the end of the road... get out while while you have a life. IBM is for losers -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/07/10:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-ibm_07tex.ART.State.Edition1.35bb98e.html

IBM responds to state's claims about troubled contract

10:11 AM CDT on Saturday, August 7, 2010

AUSTIN's IBM has told Texas it wants to salvage a troubled data center contract, but the company does not accept responsibility for a litany of problems outlined by the state.

In a letter released Friday, IBM executive Cynthia McLean defended the company's performance and said it will continue to meet with the agency to resolve issues in the 7 ½ -year, $863 million contract with the Texas Department of Information Resources.

Last month, the department blasted IBM for poor service and gave it 30 days to cure 15 alleged contract breaches that ranged from inadequate staffing to poor service to rising numbers of server outages. The notice could be a preliminary step in terminating the contract. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/07/10: The job fair in New Pultz is mainly for contract and IBM supplemental candidates Do not waste your time if you have been RA ed- Ana-

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Comment 8/07/10: To Going Going Gone. RAed Jan 09 is correct. When you are RA'd, the severance from the package you receive does not prevent you from receiving unemployment immediately. I've been RA'd from IBM twice now, received severance twice, and unemployment both times immediately. It may have taken my state a day or two longer to research my information, but that's all. -GoneInMarch2010-

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Comment 8/07/10: To Going Going Gone: severance may or may not affect your unemployment compensation, depending on your state law. Some discussions:
http://www.cafepharma.com/boards/showthread.php?t=250204

http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarys/a/severance_pay.htm
Google [your state] severance pay and unemployment benefits to find out more.

If any questions remain, consult a lawyer and show the lawyer the paper that you have to sign (preferably BEFORE you sign it).

In many states, it helps that your severance was paid in a lump sum and that you had to sign an agreement to get it. E.g., Massachusetts granted me unemployment compensation from the first week. A counselor in the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance told me that I did NOT have to report my severance, I could get unemployment compensation, and if anyone at that office asked if I got severance, I should reply, "I signed for it." (Please note that IBM is being charged for this.
IBM must pay into a fund for unemployment compensation and their insurance rate goes up when they do RAs. I believe this is true in all states.)

But don't lie if asked. If your state DOES defer unemployment compensation until your severance runs out, then you had better report the severance because not reporting it would be illegal. P.S. Even though I'm RA'd, I'm still a full member of Alliance. -Gorya-

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Comment 8/07/10: Sunoco outsourcing IT to IBM.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/unix_linux/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226600151 -Barb-

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Comment 8/07/10: WSJ points out that FED money doesn't result in new jobs (or job security for that matter). This week, IBM set a sort of milestone in the bond market's recovery from crisis: The iconic computer company borrowed $1.5 billion at the bargain-basement interest rate of only 1%. .... U.S. corporations have taken full advantage of low interest rates, going on a bond-issuing binge that has left them with tons of cash, which they appear to be holding largely as insurance against a new bout of financial turmoil, rather than spending on new hires. ...IBM had $12.3 billion in cash and short-term investments, which accounted for about 12% of all its assets. ... it's useful to remember that low interest rates aren't cost-free, great as they may be for the folks at IBM.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/08/07/number-of-the-week-cheap-money-isnt-free/ -DungeonDweller-

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Comment 8/07/10: IBM might not have had a big RA in awhile but where is IBM's honest attempt to actually hire in the USA now? IBM accepts tax breaks and incentives based on state and USA employment figures and it is clear the USA workforce is not growing but is consistently shrinking. I heard IBM will participate in a job fair in New Paltz,NY (Mid-hudson valley, near Poughkeepsie) next week. So does IBM have real job openings or are they just doing this as a half hearted attempt to try to show they are trying to keep employment opportunities in the area mentioned and in the USA? There are hundreds of RAed ex-IBMers in this area and about all never get recalled by IBM for employment. Do you think this job fair IBM is participating in a sincere attempt by IBM or are they just doing it to create work for their recruiters when no real internal job openings exist? What can the Alliance do to try to expose IBM if IBM is abusing the tax breaks and employment grants and not really hiring? If IBM is not exposed then just wait for the next big RA to take out more USA IBMers. That's the only employment changes in the USA one can truly expect now. -hire-r-knot-

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Comment 8/06/10: The Campbells account is setting IBM adrift. They have signed with CSC for new development work. Next on the chopping block are those with the S/A groups, Middleware and DBA groups. Customers are becoming fed up with IBM. -dun-4-

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Comment 8/06/10: IBM is spending a lot of money in China for relocating its Great China Headquarter in Beijing. Use google translate for the link below: http://www.cnetnews.com.cn/2010/0806/1839000.shtml
A daily rent rate for 160,000rmb, monthly cost of 4.8 million rmb. 1 US dollar = 6.77 rmb -band6-

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Comment 8/06/10: Here's a link to a WSJ article about Sen. Schumer increasing visa fees on skilled labor. Hopefully we can all ban together and lend our support to ideas like this. Please contact your congressperson and let them know how you feel about legislation like this. -ExBlue-

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703988304575413011107101860.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

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Comment 8/06/10: To Going Going Gone - Severance is NOT salary. I don't know what your unemployment forms look like, but if it asks if you got severance, you should not lie. If it asks if you're getting paid, or"have you earned any wages" this week etc, the answer is no, because indeed you have not. There really is no "length" of your severance. It is a lump sum payment calculated based on some formula; could be a random number, could have been based on your shoe size. In IBM's case, formula of"weeks of salary based on length of service." But this is NOT salary, there is no "length of severance". Your length of severance is only the day you got it. Starting Monday (or Sunday dependent on your state) of the following week, you are earning exactly zero from IBM. Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, but I went thru this and was advised by one. But this was my experience, and I received unemployment benefits starting the week after I was out of IBM. -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 8/06/10: To: Going, going gone: Each state is different in the application for unemployment. In my state, a lump sum severance does not hurt and you do not report it. Check out your state's unemployment website for applications and how to file. -anonymous-

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Comment 8/06/10: Displaced IT workers apply for federal help Notices on Connecticut Department of Labor site document effort
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177481/Displaced_IT_workers_apply_for_federal_help -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/05/10: IBM's Bank Outage: Anatomy Of A Disaster IBM personnel inadvertently triggered a 7-hour outage at Singapore's largest banking network last month by using unapproved procedures. Here's a detailed look at what went wrong. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226600021 -Anon-

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Comment 8/05/10: I just received anonymous mail via Monster for my job (times three), but in Dubuque. It was worded a bit desperately and came from an Indian recruiter. I have no plan to reply. -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 8/04/10: Was RA'd from ITD. A casualty of GDF relocation. Going through the unemployment forms, etc. For those who have been through this, what are the pros and cons of reporting/not reporting your severance? Are you denied unemployment benefits for the length of your severance? If so, why bother submitting a claim if there's no benefit. Thank you. -Going Going Gone-

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Comment 8/04/10: The BBC is reporting today that IBM UK is being taken to a UK Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal and age discrimination: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-10864403
250 of the 800+ employees who were forced into early retirement without compensation by IBM UK late last year and early this year have joined together to take this action against the company. I wish them every success. -Retired2009-

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Comment 8/04/10: I am also aware of several large customers of IBM who are fed up with the quality of support they are receiving from India. Keep RAing people in the USA who have the experience, with support from India and Asia.There will be a large amount of companies who will seek better service and quality. -Ana-

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Comment 8/04/10: IBM sues HP for not not giving it enough work to do
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/08/04/242232/ibm-sues-hp-for-not-not-giving-it-enough-work-to-do.htm -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/04/10: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-10864403
IBM in pension change legal fight from ex-employees IBM is facing legal action from 250 ex-employees who claim they were"forced" to take early retirement before changes to the pension scheme. The action is being taken by former workers across the UK, including many at the head office in Portsmouth. They used to be able to retire early, losing 3% of their annual pension for each year before 60, but the new scheme now sees 6% lost each year before 63 -Anon-

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Comment 8/04/10: I can tell you that some customers are getting fed up with IBM's antics regarding offshoring and Global Delivery Centers that are staffed by people that do not know what is going on. There were major issues on the Dow Chemical Exchange account afer it transferred to GDC and Dow Chemical asked for the old team back. IBM told them that getting the old team back is not possible and Dow Chemical took their Exchange business and gave it to Microsoft to host in the cloud. There goes a big contract worth millions of dollars a year. -I Dunno -

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Comment 8/03/10: U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers $22 million, federally-backed program aims to help outsourcers in South Asia become more fluent in areas like Java programming--and the English language.
By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Aug. 3, 2010
URL:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226500202 -Anonymous-

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Comment 8/03/10: Here's an interesting article on why offshoring is supported by both political parties.
http://keepamericaatwork.com/?p=9134 -4merBeemer-

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Comment 8/03/10: -Resigned- I wish you the best of luck and hope you have a job lined up. The job picture for IT professionals is still not very good in the USA. Those that do get job opportunities usually find the pay is much less now. You do possess a real feel of what IBM is now that others still working in IBM just don't realize or want to realize! Were you or are you at least an Alliance member, even just as an associate member? You will want to preserve whatever IBM vested benefits like your pension and maybe, if you are 55 years old your FHA, the Alliance is the only hope for keeping IBM honest with it. This is one reason I am still a member as an ex-IBMer myself. -sby_willie -

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Comment 8/02/10: Has there been any RA in Canada with people being asked to relocate to the US? At what point do large customers backlash at IBM? I have not heard any CNET/Google News/Information Week or external new sources that talk about this substandard support... Internally I am seeing/experiencing it daily. -TeamCanada-

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Comment 7/31/10: I resigned from IBM, effective yesterday. I kept asking to be RA'd but it just didn't happen. I was a project manager for more than 10 years and with IBM for 15 years. Every day became more and more unbearable until I decided it was time to leave. I was tired of feeling like the enemy. Customer's were always unhappy with us because we couldn't deliver what they had been sold; generally because of lack of dedicated resources. Technical teams were always pushing back because they were so understaffed that they were spread too thin. When I told one collegue that I'd resigned, he said I was the third this week to tell him they'd resigned. Several others said they'd leave if they could afford to do so. There is no doubt that if IBM Management doesn't figure out that sending US jobs to India and other countries or focusing on this -Resigned-

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Comment 7/31/10: Be prepared for more RAs. IBM's 2nd quarter revenues fell short:

IBM Tops Estimates But Revenues Fall Short
"Looking forward, IBM did raise its full year earnings forecast to 'at least $11.25', up from a previous estimate of $11.20.
IBM shares are currently trading down 4% in after hours trading."
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/07/19/ibm-tops-estimates-but-revenues-fall-short

I expect management to make up for declining revenues as usual, jacking up earnings by laying off more employees.
(It won't work for long. Investors seem to be noticing that IBM is eating its seed corn.)

Management is also continuing to use our former salaries to buy hapless companies:

IBM to Buy Storwize for Undisclosed Sum
http://www.wral.com/business/story/8055457

and the European union is probing antitrust violations:

IBM Under Investigation Again
http://lawshucks.com/2010/07/ibm-under-investigation-again-but-what-about-cravath/#idc-container

EU Launches Competition Probes of IBM
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/07/27/eu-launches-competition-probes-of-ibm-no-stranger-to-antitrust-law
EU Adds IBM to Target List
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703700904575390860695065540.html?mod=wsjcrmain#articleTabs%3Darticle

Europe to Investigate Antitrust Complaints Over I.B.M. Mainframes
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/business/27blue.html?_r=2&sq=ibm&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=2&adxnnlx=1280581698-js1d9WV0i+5nhhsKVyaM7w

See the politics here:

Corporate Takeover of America's Politics, by Mitch Gurney
"US Tax policy is another reason for outsourcing, and that can easily be addressed, at least in theory.
US corporate tax policy allows deferment of profits overseas, but profits in the US have a tax rate of 35%. This policy literally begs corporations to move profits and jobs,
overseas ... while we may want our politicians to be more forthright the reality is there is no financial incentive for them to do so at least where the public welfare is concerned. If any of them actually challenged the firmly established corporate political infrastructure how much heat and pressure do you suppose they would encounter and just how long do you suppose their political careers would last?" http://keepamericaatwork.com -Gorya-

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Comment 7/30/10: Just like it semployee, IBM no longer cares about it sbig customers (Texas). As long as there is no union, CEOS will continue to receive 25 million dollars per year in salary bonus and stock options and workers and large IBM customers will continue to get the shaft. -ana-

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Comment 7/29/10: In Response to -Former SOT'er- SOT and all others account are experience the same situation. IBM new method is moving all job to "GDF" location for Global Delivery Framework without the knowledge or will not tell the customer/client they are moving. GDF site has been identify such as Boulder, Fishkill, and Dubuque Iowa where people are willing to work for less and have no experience what so ever in the field. They can hired anyone off the street and work on the customer/client account. SOT probably find out about the job moving and cannot stop IBM and only time until all IBM customer/client find out all the support are moving to GDF site offer less technical support on their product or environment. I have been RA and my job are being move to Dubuque Iowa and the so called replacement are new to the field and support the customer/client without the customer knowlege of where the support coming from. -Ben-

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Comment 7/29/10: Regarding State of Texas, I know of at least 4 project managers who worked on the contract for years 1, 2 who were removed from contract without notice to Texas and then RA'd. I heard IBM has been pulling off resources like crazy last six months leaving no account experienced managers to provide communications, oversight or direction. They do not even acknowledge STOT's complaints on all of the above. They sky has fallen! Similar to JP Morgan Chase debaucle (and that leader is being primed to be new CEO-hah!). IBM screws its biggest customers! WOW! -ohcrap-

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Comment 7/28/10: soter Same thing happened to me on the Texas contract. I did not move to Boulder and I to was RAed -ana-

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Comment 7/28/10: With regards to the IBM/State of Texas (SOT) contract -- I worked that contract for 1 year. I worked an average of 58 hours per week and that was not enough. I was told unless I was working at least 60 hours per week, I could not complain. The equipment the State has is ancient (11 year old tape libraries, 9 year old backup servers, etc), the equipment often is not under maintenance contract (SOT says IBM is responsible, IBM says SOT). Shortly before I left, the work was being transferred to Boulder without the state's knowledge. The state caught on and demanded IBM stop - IBM didn't. They started RA'ing the Texas people and replacing with Boulder ppl. The FTE sizing for the team I worked with was over 120 people, there were less than 40 when I joined the team. That account was living hell and I was told that was the "new IBM." I was offered another position by my 2nd line manager, with the understanding that I could not move to Boulder. I was told the new position was not transferring. I was RA'ed in 6 months after leaving SOT because my new job was -- you guessed it -- being transferred to Boulder and I couldn't/wouldn't move. -Former SOT'er-

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Comment 7/28/10: Can you make all RAd people free members of the union, should they wish to join? That will help your numbers. Otherwise for them, isnt it too late? -questionman-
Alliance reply: As we have said repeatedly, the subscriber catagory in our membership IS free.
Also we can not "make" people members of the union. People must join on their own.
Having just RA'd people join, does nothing for us inside IBM to get to the required majority for a union vote or to put pressure on IBM.
The bottom line in dues and membership is, that dues are what keep us afloat. We have an organization, office, phones, supplies, tec that must be paid for.
This organization is a legal labor entity. There are rules that must followed.
Yes, for RA'd people it is too late inside IBM, but not too late to help us with the employees that remain.
By the way, we have a number of RA'd people who have seen the need for the work we do; have stepped up to the plate and have joined and pay dues.

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Comment 7/27/10: To dun4 - Actually, that was bad quoting on my part, or on the web site's part. *I'm* not laughing at the thought of people leaving IBM; the person I was responding to said that. I also believe that others will leave. I know people who have reached their breaking points, and are seriously looking. Most of them wouldn't leave if they thought that they had any future at IBM, even if it continued to be a lousy place to work. Most of them don't believe they have a future there, so will leave as soon as they can. -irRational-
Alliance Reply: 2 reasons for the confusion: 1)The way you sent the original post, did not include the quote marks around the statement about laughing. I assumed it was yours. 2) You don't need to put HTML code in your comments, ie, <i>, </i>, when you post to the web site. I have corrected your previous post, below.

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Comment 7/27/10: People are walking away, as I did last month after 10 years of BS. With all due respect to the Alliance, many of us have given up on changing Big Blue, because they have clearly given up on us. There's a time to cut your losses and leave, and for a lot of us that time is now. -So Long-

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Comment 7/27/10: 1.2% PERCENT RAISE, 1 PERFORMER, 20+ YEARS WITH COMPANY, BAND 3 MAUNUFACTURING, ENOUGH SAID, TERRIBLE TO SAY THE LEAST-A TOUGH YEAR FOR THE COMPANY, I WAS TOLD, ONLY HOW BILLIONS IN PROFIT- WHAT A JOKE -JOE-

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Comment 7/26/10: Reading the Indian press to find out what's happening here: link to article -barb-

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Comment 7/25/10: To -irRational- - I have 25+ years in the company. In the past I would have agreed with your statement regarding workings NOT leaving IBM. In the past 2 years, I have seen MULTIPLE employees (with 10+ years of service) in my group leave the company for other opportunities in the I/T field. They were smart. Mgmt told them eventually their jobs were moving to Dubuque or Boulder. They didn't stick around to wait for the axe to fall. They just gave ibm the finger and left on their own terms. I keep hearing talk that others are looking, but haven't found anything yet, so I do believe that once the job market loosens, and jobs are more plentiful, you'll see more workers leave this sinking ship. -dun-4-

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Comment 7/24/10:"When the economy starts to head in the right direction, the employees are going to vote with their feet," said Mike Hagan I'm still laughing reading that. With all due respect, after 30 years in IBM I don't ever see this happening".
I left IBM this year, thanks to an improved job market. Would've left a couple of years ago, but couldn't due to a much weaker market. Other ex-co-workers of mine are also leaving this year, thanks to an improved job market. IBM will suffer attrition, thanks to an improved job market. What some don't seem to understand is that IBM wants attrition. It's cheaper than paying people severance. A sane and functional company wouldn't think this way, of course, because typically your most mobile employees have the most or most relevant skills. But this is neither a sane nor functional company. Everything is being driven by the desire to offshore the bulk of engineering, with apparently little insight into the reality of the consequences to customers and (eventually) the business. To be clear, I was and still am a dues-paying Alliance member, but I see little chance of people banding together to form a union and forcing IBM to behave differently. I've seen too many years of resource actions, and still people didn't join the Alliance. However, I do see signs of people walking away. I just don't think it'll change IBM policies either. -irRational-

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Comment 7/23/10: -questionman- Good for you..well, for now. Now IBM will raise the bar again on you. You'll have to bring in more big bucks for IBM that you'll never see but Sammy boy will. It's better for you to get a contract to protect yourself now don't ya think? -Anony-

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Comment 7/23/10: To -questionman- : Do you think you are really saved? Do you think you are safe now? You are simply moved to the next RA. Have you joined Alliance? Are you trying to help push the Union through? If not, we are just going to read your story at the next round of firings. Remember, you are still an "at will" employee with NO contract! -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 7/23/10: American Eagle Blames IBM as Website Down For Third Day
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383513117245030.html?ru=yahoo#mod=yahoo_hs -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/22/10: We had an 'all hands' meeting today. One of the speakers mentioned"We have to take ADVANTAGE of all the available accounting rules" Oh, I bet they will!!!!!! -dun-4-

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Comment 7/22/10: http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/it-business/services-sourcing/news/index.cfm?newsid=21262
Among the claims the state is making against IBM is a shortage of qualified personnel. In the notice to IBM, the state said the company has failed "to reduce the rate of turnover of assigned personnel below the contractual threshold of 15%." The annualized 12-month turnover rate has been 20% to 45% since the contract commencement, the state alleges. -Anon-

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Comment 7/22/10: Rather then question what IBM has done for, or to, the U.S. unemployment, ask yourself what can YOU do to show IBM the error of their ways. Your single lone voice is meaningless to the executives ears. Have you amplified your voice by joining with others who think IBM can certainly do better by its U.S employees? Have you joined the Alliance to show solidarity in this cause? For less then you spend a month on coffee you can make yourselves heard for a change in IBM, if enough of you join. As the economy improves as it one day will don't you want your piece of the improvement? Haven't you lost enough sleep worrying about the next RA and what you can do to save yourself? Doesn't your family deserve a more secure standard of living only a union contract can provide? IBM once was and can easily be again a GREAT place to work once you have forced the executives to the bargaining table and made them see the error of their ways. Or at the very least created a level playing field for you to enjoy your fair share of the fruits of YOUR labors. U.S. Corporations no longer play fair without contracts. Thats why Executives at all U.S. corporations have one. So they get treated fair. Shouldn't you and I be treated fair also?? I think so. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 7/22/10: It was confirmed to me that not only did I lose almost 1/2 of my retirement-eligible pension when I was RA'd, but my entire online Future Health Account was wiped out - 10's of thousands of dollars that was to be used for retirement medical insurance - gone, with less than 1/2-year to go to lock it in, along with full retirement benefits. This is after close to 3 decades of service with this company. It's also after the company raked in about $100 Billion in annual revenue. They called it 'forfeiture' in the system; I call it theft. What level of greed, incompetence, and ethical bankruptcy can explain this? It's a crooked system that will shaft any older worker after a full career, approaching what they've worked some of the best years of their lives for. It's now so rigged that they block virtually any chance of an extension once you're on the 'list.' It's almost beyond belief that a company that was once the epitome of ethical behavior could line its coffers on the backs of its long-time workers like this. There needs to be a full investigation into this type of practice. This is what companies like IBM once took the lead in, but with this serious vacuum in ethics, ad infinitum, what the government is now trying to do to ensure people are covered from a health insurance standpoint. You can't depend on or trust a company like IBM, anymore. The Alliance is the only hope to restore any kind of fairness, ethical integrity, equality, and job security here through a bonafide, undisputed employment contract, but each employee must act to take the initiative and join to make this happen. PLEASE JOIN. -Former True Blue-

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Comment 7/21/10: "When the economy starts to head in the right direction, the employees are going to vote with their feet," said Mike Hagan" I'm still laughing reading that. With all due respect, after 30 years in IBM I don't ever see this happening.Pre-war Nazi Germany and the Jews, ie:the persecuted, always thought it would get better. Those who had a choice, stayed. We all know what happened to them. The smart ones who had a means got out. Billy Joel makes a reference to this, only wrt to FSU in his Allentown song introduction during his FSU live tour. IOW "they always hoped it would get better", a reference to FSU juxtaposed with the Steel Industry in PA. In both cases it didn't and people stayed anyway hoping. Well I hate to break it to ya'll but hope is gone. Collective organization is the only "hope" left. One example is the SSR's.
They have no idea the power they have. Imagine all the SSR's getting "sick" for a week. The CIA, FBI, Wall
Street, Nasa, Fed Reserve, Walmart, etc....would not have service.That is pretty dammed powerful.Yet they keep believing it will get better...
Wake up!!!! This is your future. And even more so it is the future of the USA at large.Sammy the slime ball has his future secured, why shouldn't you? And before anyone asks, yes I am a member, but I am up against an army of brainwashed sheep all headed for the slaughter. It's a daunting task. -wormser-

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Comment 7/21/10: I was RAd but saved. I just learned how to beat the system. Its all about brining in the dollars. But it was hell trying to find that next job. The system I agree is broke. -questionman-

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Comment 7/21/10: IBM served with notice to cure by Texas.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179518/Texas_IBM_spar_over_IT_contract -Barb-

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Comment 7/21/10: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/21/ap/business/main6699303.shtml
Jul. 21, 2010
Indiana: IBM Welfare Intake Work Flawed From Start
APNewsBreak: Ind. Found Problems With IBM Performance Early In
Welfare Outsourcing Project.

(AP) INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana's human services agency says it found problems with IBM Corp.'s takeover of welfare intake services early in the project and suggested delays, but yielded to the company's wishes to expand the project. -Anon-

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Comment 7/21/10: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179445/After_pay_cuts_IT_workers_may_seek_payback_in_new_job
The Harris survey results were released just a few months after The Corporate Executive Board, a Washington-based advisory firm that surveys 150,000 worker each quarter including 10,000 in IT, found that the willingness of critical employees, those who typically put in extra effort and to engage themselves in a company, had fallen to its lowest level ever. -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/21/10: RE: "IBM Failed Us Big Time, Says Texas" This is just the beginning of much more of this to come. Most good people are gone from this company and too much is left up to India, and we know how their service is. It's just going to keep on catching up with IBM. One thing for sure, if big blow ever realizes they need to restaff US workers to make it a good company again, a Union must be in place so the years of abuse are not repeated with hard working US employees. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 7/20/10: What has IBM done to help USA unemployment? How many RAed have gotten jobs? How many are still desperately looking? Last year they take tax cuts and RA over 10,000 people. Yes, living, breathing humans, not resources as IBM wants you to believe.. This year in the USA, they still take tax cuts and RA hundreds more human beings in smaller selected stealth firings. Now we got both Republicans and Democrats in federal and state governments who are clearly in IBM's pocket not challenging IBM to participate in preserving USA IBM employment, let alone trying to create decent and needed job employment opportunities in the USA. Face it: the USA government is voted in by people but controlled by the sole interests of corporations and wealthy, elitist people. Sadly, this will never change. Folks in the USA will continue to lose their IBM employment. Most folks don't believe it will happen to them. They don't do anything to change the situation. Their naive non-actions will work against them and will work more and more in IBM's favor. They will not even try to educate themselves on what is going on; which is what the Alliance has been desperately still trying to do for them. The USA government still affords ordinary working folks a chance to be small enough to success by the right to collective bargain. But if folks don't exercise this right then it leads to and is just nothing. So let woe come upon them all eventually. Let them all become victims so IBM can rake in obscene profits for their upper management greed monsters. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/20/10: To questionman....if you think that RAs are a thing of the past, then you better re-think that. They do exist. hence my comment. Maybe when the tiime comes for you to be RAd, you will understand. -Better Off-

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Comment 7/20/10: In regards to the IBM/Texas news, can anyone tell us if job cuts played a big part in this contract falling apart? -anon-

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Comment 7/20/10: http://ip-telephony.tmcnet.com/news/2010/07/20/4908715.htm
Official: IBM failing to give Texas agencies basic help under contract
AUSTIN, Jul 20, 2010 Agencies that help Texans renew their automobile registrations, draw unemployment benefits and apply for food stamps and Medicaid face crushing demands -- and IBM, the technology contractor for those agencies, isn't even providing mundane services, a top state technology official testified today.
"We've experienced significant service delivery problems" that force state employees to wait many days for routine help with computer matters, said Ed Swedberg, a deputy executive director at the Department of Information Resources -Anon-

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Comment 7/19/10: Tech-assisted "inventory" approach to HR ..........
http://www.thehindu.com/business/article521911.ece On-demand workforce
An example discussed elaborately is that of IBM Global Services, in the context of workforce inventory and the on-demand workforce. The problem statement is simple: ~STo win contracts, IBM must guarantee that it can assemble a team having the necessary skills on time and on budget. It must balance people who may work on several projects with those working on one, and people who are needed long term versus those needed short term. IBM doesn~Rt know until the contract is signed precisely what the needed workforce will do.~T The solution is in the form of a system that can deliver talent on demand as contract needs arise, informs the author. He explains how, to enable this agile supply of talent, IBM leaders draw from workforce inventories that include not only employees but also contractors. ......... -Anon-

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Comment 7/19/10: IBM Failed Us Big Time, Says Texas
http://mobile.informationweek.com/10244/show/ebd2375e76d0dba0dc9809711b6c5469&t=70274b134b7ecf8df6c19a07d902cd77 -Anon-

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Comment 7/19/10: IBM Contract failure
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/LOCAL/7190324/In-hard-times-fewer-are-getting-welfare-in-Indiana -Anon-

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Comment 7/18/10: I understand there is a lot of RA's and I think a Union is a great idea. Why has this Alliance not formed one yet? This alliance has been around for years! Other unions are forming overseas with far less people. So what's the issue? There must be thousands of people signed up by now. -whatever-
Alliance reply: It IS formed. What other unions, specifically? What exactly is your question? Are you a member? If not, then why not? Have you seen the rest of our web site? Contact us if you want more information.
As far as unions overseas: What you need to understand is that the labor laws of each country are very different from ours.
It has become increasingly difficult for unions in the US to hold a recognition vote. The corporations and anti-union politicians have tainted the Labor board, and ruling upon ruling has hindered the labor movement. That is why there has been such a big push for the Employee Free Choice Act. We also have many more people to organize for a vote than the recent union elections in other countries. And we need a strong majority, of the 100,000 employees, signed up. And just picking 1 location has its own set of problems; because rulings by the labor board would most assuredly say the appropriate bargaining unit would be the whole division. Even then those countries that recently formed unions faced roadblocks and hostility from IBM. Most have had to go to their labor Courts for resolution. It is not as simple as you think it is.

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Comment 7/18/10: IDT SDMs are being evaluated for possible move to GDF. It's a 19 week process which conveniently ends the first of December, just in time to RA those who don't move before year end. Timing is everything! -anon-

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Comment 7/18/10: To -not_a_butt_kisser- I was a first line who had to do a RA and I can tell you I didn't choose would go. For me and others we were all called into a meeting where we we're told we have employees who would be RA'd and that we'd receive an email later in the day saying who it was. I don't believe the 2nd lines knew either as in the information packages only we to the 1st's and 3rd's. To even show you how stupid this whole thing was. We as 1st lines had to claim it was all our choice and IBM had nothing to do with it. As well HR crafted up reasons why each employee was being RA'd (i.e. poor performance, skills mismatch, etc). In my case I had to tell my employee it was due to a skills mismatch, however they were the only one with that skill on a new technology that the whole product was moving to. -Bob-

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Comment 7/17/10: So what kind of protection does joining the union give to you? Does IBM even recognize the existence of the union? -Ed-
Alliance reply: There is strength in numbers. IBM will be forced to recognize the union if and when you sign up and and get your co-workers to sign up. This is a group effort. The larger the group; the better the chance to win a contract that will protect you. If you are a public member of the Alliance and you get harassed for doing approved Alliance work, we can file an unfair labor charge against IBM.

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Comment 7/17/10: People believe that they won't get RAed. In 2008, some of my poor performing ex-coworkers were being RAed. All I had to do was to remain above 50%. Then I got RAed in 2009. As it turned out, the RA in my group was about 60%. So I deserved what was handed to me. I looked at the people that were not laid off (by inspecting the people applying on the GBS' contracts board. The RAed ones were not allowed to apply as most contracts would not accept DOUs, on loan workers.) The ones that stayed, were way better than me. So, I admitted defeat. I bet there are a lot of those that stayed behind would believe they are better than others and won't be RAed. And it's all relative. -Drgunzet-
Alliance reply: So what's your point? It's all relative to who IBM decides meets 'their' requirements? IBM never makes mistakes by firing their US employees for someone in another country that's just simply cheaper, skills or no skills? So fighting for an employment contract is not worth the trouble because it's all relative? Please explain further.

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Comment 7/16/10: IBM gets Final Warning in Texas
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/07/16/ibm_gets_final_warning_on_trou.html
Most of my friends who are State employees that transitioned to IBM have been replaced with contract workers who are recent graduates from foreign universities. No experience or language skills are required to service this contract (which does call for the employees to reside in Texas). Thus, a canceled contract would mostly impact imported contract workers. This contract was put into place by a mandate from the Texas legislature and our current governor. After more than three years of complaints from the State Agencies, they might be starting to hear us? -Former IBM'er-

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Comment 7/16/10: This is definitely related to job cuts but I MUST remain anonymous due to the confidentiality notice I was forced to sign in order to receive a settlement. Litigation lasted eight years. We finally "won" in an aspect of discrimination. After all that time many of us went on Social Security. IBM paid us all right. But then they reported our settlements as regular wages for 2009. Social Security flagged us and is threatening to confiscate our checks for the next year because we did not report the "wages" (not even an employee since 2001!) and we must pay back the Social Security, which means we must also pay our own Medicare basic of $110 per month if we want benefits. Another tax writeoff as "wages" for IBM? Another taxpayer bailout? These payments were the result of a legal settlement, not wages or cost of doing business. There oughta be a law! -NAS Waltz-

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Comment 7/16/10: I lost my job in ITD at the Boulder campus last month. Despite a lot of sensible resistance by employees against the GDF mess, the company simply doesn't care about employee mistreatment. They're hell bent on destroying services entirely, losing their few remaining customers, and turning the company into little more than a 3rd world body shop.
I can't tell you how many idiots in Brazil, India and Argentina I had to 'hand-hold', and deal with over the years. The big difference between the American worker and them is that American's generally get up to speed and are able to do their job. Employees in places like Brazil, India and Argentina never get to that point...they just continue to perform terribly, and try to get the few Americans that are left to do their work for them. I don't know about the other GDF locations, but IBM Boulder continues to get rid of fulltime technical people on a quarterly basis. The company then plugs IBM Bangalore resources into these same positions...right here, on our US own soil. The company is beyond a disgrace at this point, and I'm happy to be out of there. It's still a shame that the Obama administration handed over $30 billion to Palmisano under the guise of 'creating jobs'. If that isn't high-crime and fraud, I don\'t know what is. I agree fully with the comments that have been made on here on how people that kiss ass get to keep their jobs indefinitely. Those 'types' also tend to be the least skilled US employees. I suppose kissing ass is the logical course of action for those that are completely talentless. The sociopathic first lines do the same thing with their management, and don't really understand the business, nor how to manage people properly. -ibm_spiral-

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Comment 7/16/10: It does no good for R/A IBMers to b**** abouut Sammy or Louie. This will continue with the next CEO until IBMers have a union with a strong contract. These guys only care about themselves and dont give a d*** about IBMers. -anan-

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Comment 7/15/10: "Starting to get pissed off? I think most unemployed; especially the ones who lost their jobs to Brazil, Russia, India, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines have been pissed on and then VERY pissed off for more than a decade. Yet, they do very little about it. That's what pisses me off even more. "
Alliance member - Well said. I find it very interesting that Sammy HAS a contract that guarantees him MILLIONS per year in stock options salary and bonuses, yet he HATES what the Alliance is doing trying to support a Union contract for every IBM employee. Obviously SAMMY feels privilaged like some sort of KING and does not want us all to have what he has. SAMMY has taken more money out of the IBM coffers to probably support the whole lot of layed off IBMers unable to get a job now because of Sammys GREED. I find this outrageous and disgusting and it makes me want to vomit. -IBMer-

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Comment 7/15/10: check this out: http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-9702-0-13-13--.html
"The U.S. Economy Is A Dead Horse And The American People Are Starting To Get Really Pissed Off And Frustrated"
Starting to get pissed off? I think most unemployed; especially the ones who lost their jobs to Brazil, Russia, India, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines have been pissed on and then VERY pissed off for more than a decade. Yet, they do very little about it. That's what pisses me off even more. -Alliance member-

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Comment 7/15/10: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/07/15/1563033/600-ibm-jobs-come-with-an-if.html
600 IBM jobs come with an 'if'
Firm reneged on Charlotte jobs; latest plan puts them in Research Triangle Park.
By David Ranii
david.ranii@newsobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010

Last week's announcement that IBM plans to hire 600 workers for its new mortgage processing center in Research Triangle Park had a familiar ring to it. -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/15/10: I need to cut the most percentage from my budget possible, lets see, if I lay off a worker making $60,000 or one making $100,000, hmmm, wonder which one will return more savings. DUH. -Its-The-Money-Stupid-
Alliance reply: You are right of course; but it's worse than that. IBM is firing the $60,000 workers as well. They are clearing out the IBM US worker population; hundreds at a time. And yet, many of the IBMers left, don't seem to see that organizing and fighting back as a group will make any difference. It is pathetic.

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Comment 7/14/10: Anyone who was RA'd should check out the benefits provided by the government Trade Act. Several petitions already open and all you need to do is apply with your state. Here is the one for email and collaboration. http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/taa/taadecisions/taadecision.cfm?taw=73218
Good luck, there are better companies out there. -IBgone-

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Comment 7/14/10: "My manager actually said at a department meeting that he has a team of Olympic Gold Medal winners and it's up to us to convince him how we stand out against our peers. Oh brotha!"
My manager said something similar about a team of Olympic-caliber workers. Well, just for the record, IBM has 399,409 workers, while about 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympics in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. So, these math-challenged managers who make these statements are off by a factor of 31 when they compare IBM workers to "Olympic-caliber" workers and a factor of 999 when they compare IBM workers to Olympic gold medal winners. -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/13/10: Gone - congratulations. YOU are one of the very very very few at this time. Most of us are experiencing what Bewildered mentions. I had the same experience....networked, applied to hundreds of jobs up and down the east coast. I have an impressive resume (non-technical but impressive) and am from a top tier college. My point is.....you don't want to be out on the street right now and for all you complainers, there are few companies hiring right now that don't expect tons of OT, have limited to no salary increases, and bare-bones benefits. If you are still with IBM...keep on looking for a new job (that's time consuming as well) and/OR work for the "sure thing".... leverage that the union can bring. You can do it anonymously, just DO IT. -Silly Willy-

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Comment 7/13/10: First, I'm a dues paying Alliance member. For those interested,, managers are currently going through mid-year reviews and having to designate the top 10% AND bottom10% of their employees. This is in GBS. I don't know what other divisions are doing. The HR directive is still on the track of a "High Performance Culture" which means EVERY year a new set of "bottom/low" performers are targeted. Once an RA is in the works, the low performers are dead ducks (although I have seen 2+ performers get on an RA list). But generally, it's the low performers targeted. But here's the rub, GBS employees are leaving in droves! They can't staff projects and hardly anyone responds to external job postings. So, that begs the question, why continue with this high performance crap which continues to demoralize employee with unfair performance rating. My manager actually said at a department meeting that he has a team of Olympic Gold Medal winners and it's up to us to convince him how we stand out against our peers. Oh brotha! All employees see through this sh** and managers look like fool spewing this crap. The Bench Management Process has been discontinued but not before it caused horrible damage to morale amongst the rank and file. We, the average employee, will NEVER change how things are. The best we can do is join the union and have a collective voice. -darwin's radio-

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Comment 7/13/10: Surely the government has created a precedent we can leverage on. BP, through their management decisions, impacted the earnings ability of many in the Gulf and therefore must pay compensation for lost earnings for the foreseeable future(as long as their decision impacts revenue). IBM, who gets significant revenue from the government, decided to offshore jobs and RA'd many US employees to enrich their profits. No difference in impact, surely they should be required to compensate for lost earnings going forward?? Want to raise this with your elected officials??? -Logical-

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Comment 7/13/10: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/13/ibm_cops_to_massive_bank_failure/
IBM employee sparks massive bank outage -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/13/10: http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100713/tc_pcworld/ibmtakesblameformassivebanksystemfailure
IBM Takes Blame for Massive Bank System Failure -Anon-

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Comment 7/13/10: To: -4merBeamer- I know for a fact that firs line managers decide WHO go. They are told from above "how many". I was targeted because I was not an a** kisser. I refused to be the managers puppet after others left and I was asked to pick up the slack of many. I know a first line personally that had several favorites. Those people have been there for over 10 years now and remain there today. Some of them have changed jobs many many times in IBM and are thriving today because this first line protects them. You have 2 choices in IBM.... you can suck up to the first line, or orgainze and get a Union in that place. Those are your only options to be safe and treated fairly. -not_a_butt_kisser-

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Comment 7/13/10: Fighting to keep a job that has some benefits and pays the bills is NEVER a fools game. Fighting to improve ones lot in life through payraises or better jobs is a good thing also. Improving your lot in life with an employment contract is a very good thing. IBM's CEO thinks so. Having your raises and performance bonus and vacation and retirement and seniority and layoffs defined by a contract will certainly help morale. Sam Palmissanos morale has never been higher then when he got his contract. When IBMers have employment contracts like their CEO has then they will be able to concentrate on competing against their competitors instead of each other. They will be able to do their jobs without worrying about who is screwing them to get ahead for their 1 percent raise. They can go back to being friends and true team members with their coworkers which will make their work environment nicer. If bad things come their way they will know by their contract how things will be handled. How severence, retraining, job search assistance can all be defined in a contract. Going it alone is not a good thing anymore. If you think things are pretty bad at IBM right now then you understand what life without a contract is like. Try life with a contract. Ask yourself if it could really be worse. Remember that contracts are very good for you and the company you work for. It allows both you and the company to be able to budget resources defined by the contract. That\'s why company executives in ALL the companies have contracts. Thats why you need one also. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 7/13/10: sound familiar?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Ten-Signs-of-a-FearBased-bizwk-1029763761.html?x=0&.v=1 -anonymous-

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Comment 7/13/10: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38206989/ns/business-bloomberg_businessweek/
Ten signs you work in a fear-based workplace Tyrannical, brown-nosers rising again ' and it could hurt your company -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/13/10: Silly Willy - I can't agree with you - there is a grain of truth in what you say, but fighting to stay at IBM is a fool's game. Fighting for better conditions for those who do stay is another. I just left this week for another job with better pay, an actual pension and weaker medical insurance. Overall a net gain I think. More importantly however, how can you put a price on morale? -Gone-
Alliance Reply: You CAN put a price on morale... it's called a union contract. If you want it bad enough.

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Comment 7/13/10: I think RAs are a thing of the past because I heard of no new real reports of quantity for some time. I suspect RAs are now called you are on bench and not billable so fired. I also see that the bench is all time low. And that we have jobs open forever with no one to fill. I am sad that those that were RAd cannot do the jobs they are needed for again. -questionman-

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Comment 7/13/10: I've seen a lot of discussion on here about who makes the decision to lay someone off, 1st line managers or higher. From experience it's usually someone higher up that decides the cuts will be made and then they force the first lines to decide who. Frankly it would be more courageous if the 2nd/3rd line managers would decide who but most are too cowardly or disconnected to make those kinds of decisions. However, this isn't unique to IBM. It's the same in most large corporations. What's unique to IBM is the fact it keeps occurring every 3 to 6 months like clockwork and yet the employees don't feel a need to unionize. -4merBeamer-

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Comment 7/12/10: Technicians at IBM East Fishkill NY that are a Band 5 or less are now having there mid term review and being told what they have to do to improve their rating by the end of the Year! Then are being told that there is no salary plan this year for technicians and will be getting nothing for their yearly efforts. Meanwhile Band 6 and above will be getting an adjusted annual increase from 1 to 5 %. With IBM making in excess of 200 billion profits and the CEO giving himself another 20 million pension increase. I don't know about you but my mother always told me that what you do for one you do for another. As we well know IBM no longer has any common etiquette when the Watson philosophy was that you take care of your employees and they will take care of you! Now the rich get richer and the poor gets poorer with the main interest the shareholder! -Expendable Technician-

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Comment 7/12/10: Was RAed 17 months ago, had 23 yrs. at ibm, many certifications, a MBA and have applied to over 1k job applications, as well as numerous resumes being sent out. Not a single job offer, contracting, consulting, p/t or f/t. Interviews are impossible to get. IBM's name means NOTHING out in the market place. It holds no weight and getting employment is pathetic. -bewildered-

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Comment 7/12/10: To trexibmer. The point was, those of us still here are not shaking in our boots as so many people write on this board. We still work hard and do the best we can. Some of us just dont give a damn about IBM any more but that does not mean I dont do the best job I can all the time. I am just not shaking in my boots, -BeatUp-

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Comment 7/12/10: To -trexibmer- - you say that Meat Up should just figure out how to give a damn. Problem is, and this is from many of my friends still in IBM, is that they see what's going on, wondering why THEY did not get RAed, asking themselves how these good people DID get RAed, knowing that in many cases, THEY should have gotten it if it were project, or total contribution based, wondering why many other no-ops are still there while the good ones got RAed, and it is only human nature to get despondent, and just wonder why care, look what it gets you. You're right, they *should* try to give a damn, but reality says it gets you nowhere, so why bother, because damned if you do, damned if you don't, and THAT is leading to IBM's continued decline in quality, innovativeness, customer service, etc... It's more of (if I may paraphrase those friends), not so much of a "don't give a damn" but more of a why bother, caring (the way we used to) gets you no further, so why invest emotionally knowing it will change nothing? -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 7/11/10: Sorry -beemedout- but I don't believe you were a 1st line. If so then you would have done the ranking and identified the top , middle and bottom contributors. Then you would either MIS or RA the bottom . How many people did you have to fire in your career? If you couldn't make those tough decisions then maybe an up line did your job for you.Budgets were different they were given to us and we had to manage them.Salary was also computed for us and all we had was some internal movement , take from 1 to give to another. Another tough decision. I stopped playing the game and now am RA'ed. Times are tougher on the outside but I'll survive. -wasa1stlinenow ra'd-

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Comment 7/11/10: -beemedout-, you're right, the 2nd-line and director control the budget, and their budgets are controlled by their execs. Depending on the type of RA, the 1st line doesn't have as much say as you might think.
I've been told by 1st lines that In recent RA's, prior to the RA exercise, they've been told to rank employees in their department's key skill areas. Bottom of the list in the wrong skill, and you're out. HR determines which skills are not needed, so if you\'re in a department and one of only 2 people that know a skill, even if you're both 2+'s, if the manager ranked you lower, you could be on the list handed down by HR. 1st lines have gotten smarter about this and now list their low performers on all of these skill lists, so HR is probably going to come out with new ways to figure out who to cut. This type of RA is probably work elimination. We had another RA recently where the lists were made by the 2nd-lines, the 1st lines were in the dark and most of the cuts ended up being based on geography around the country vs. types of skills. Many 2 & 3 performers were kept while good 2+ (my perception) workers were cut, because they worked and lived in the wrong part of the country. In your old-school RA, it was more the first-line's call, which 3 or low 2-performer should they cut. Now, its more likely something coming down from the top that the 1st line just has to execute. -new2rchland-

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Comment 7/10/10: -Silly Willy-, great article about Bob Moffat. What a slime ball. People just don't change. This was the guys nature all along. Interesting that he was Sam's right hand man next in line for CEO. Tells you something about Sammy. On another note, I was abused for years at IBM by this sick type of IBM "leadership". When I finally stood up to these crooks I got RA'ed. I'm glad I'm out of that hell hole. -IBMer-

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Comment 7/09/10: -wasa1stlinenow ra'd- I still beg to differ. 1st lines have no power when it comes to operating budgets. So why would a first line have any power to pull a trigger based on a budget they don't control? It is all from the 2nd line and director who makes the RA decisions and then makes the 1st line execute them. The 2nd line and director have more to gain. The 1st line manager in IBM is basically the messenger; not the decision maker. I know: I was a 1st line manager but got RAed. -beemedout-

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Comment 7/09/10: -Beat Up- So you just don't give a damn period? If so, this is truly a bad attitude. Well you better have a plan once you get RA'ed. Then you find out how tough the 10,000+ USA RA'ed are finding it. If your not going to work toward being part of the solution then you are part of the big problem. Life in IBM is not good (and you are not doing anything good about it).-trexibmer-

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Comment 7/09/10: Two things..
1 - if you're still with IBM, you should do everything you can to STAY, including joining this union and spreading the news about the union. I was one of the 10,000 in 2009 and not only is it TOUGH out there to find a job, the benefits at IBM really are good. Grass isn't greener, not now at least.

2- Juicy scoop on the Moffat scandal. I KNEW it. http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/06/news/companies/ibm_insider_trading.fortune/ -Silly Willy-

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Comment 7/09/10: Jobs cut in Application Hosting Services. I'm in Endicott and was not hit but we lost 5 people who were geographically disbursed throughout the US last week -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/08/10: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128362511
Annual Job Review Is 'Total Baloney,' Expert Says -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/08/10: Nothing new here, but now a study proves it:
"...rising CEO pay results in power asymmetries in the workplace such that top executives come to view lower level workers as dispensable objects not worthy of human dignity.." http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1612486 -Canonymous-

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Comment 7/08/10:
MEMORANDUM
To: All CDI ITD Resources
From: Andy Morgan, Director

Subject: Extension of 2010 Q2 Work Reduction and Zero OT Restriction Programs

IBM recently notified CDI that the 2nd quarter work reduction and zero OT restriction programs have been extended through October 2nd, 2010. All CDI ITD/DSS resources are required to reduce normal work schedules by 15% and are not allowed to work any OT (AWS excluded) without prior written approval by IBM Management (IBM OT approval should be forwarded to your Account Executive named below) through October 2nd. This action is not a reflection of any dissatisfaction over the services provided by you or CDI but rather an IBM business decision. Your IBM Manager will work directly with your CDI Account Executive to coordinate a reduced work schedule that minimizes any impact to IBM or its clients. You should receive the communication regarding your reduction schedule from your CDI Account Executive. When you begin working the reduced schedule and notifying CDI of these reduced work hours, please enter 0 hours into the CDI Web Based Time reporting tool and note the words 'work reduction'? in the comment section. CDI Resources exempted from these programs in Q2 by IBM Management may by exempt in Q3 as well - confirmation should be made with your IBM Manager. This decision and action is not to be discussed with any IBM clients. It is expected that normal work schedules will resume after this request is completed. You should understand that this action is being taken by IBM to retain as many CDI resources as possible for future work. Please address any questions to your CDI Account Executive.

CDI Account Executives

Lisa Clawson: lisa.clawson@cdicorp.com / (303)924-1262 - (NV/UT/AZ/CO/ID/WY/NE/MT)

Mike Busick: mike.busick@cdicorp.com / (919)379-0245 - (MD/DC/VA/NYC/NJ/PA/DE/NC)

John Page: jonathan.page@cdicorp.com / (614)438-4178 - (IL/IN/MO/WI/MN/MI/ND/SD/IA/KS/KY/WV/OH)

Andy Morgan: andy.morgan@cdicorp.com / (919)379-0254 - (ME/VT/NH/MA/CT/RI/NY)

Mary Lockner: mary.lockner@cdicorp.com / (970)690-8682 - (CA/WA/HI/OR/AK/TX/LA/AR/OK/NM)

Doug Parker: douglas.parker@cdicorp.com / (770)325-3367 - (FL/GA/AL/TN/SC/MS)

Cori Schuller: cori.schuller@cdicorp.com / (563)845-4119 - (Dubuque) -anonymous-

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Comment 7/07/10: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/the-more-ceos-make-the-wo_n_636606.html
The More CEOs Make, The Worse They Treat Workers, Says A New Study. -Anon-

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Comment 7/07/10: To those that say those of us still at IBM are scared, afraid of losing our job or shaking in our boots, to you I say you are wrong. Us still here just dont give a damn anymore. -Beat Up-

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Comment 7/07/10: To Anon, That is an interesting YouTube video. Funny thing IBM is doing the exact same thing. The greedy bastards are integrating the work for free opportunities for the suckers out there. They offer a measly reward for the solution, however, there is no audit to show that they do not steal the solutions offered by everyone. Relative to their idea's program several years ago; I was denied this small reward, however, they used the idea anyway. Like I said, the "bastards". -Anon-Too-

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Comment 7/06/10: To beemedout : The pressure is on the 1st line mgr to pick the ranking list. Very little involvement by up lines or HR (they set the #'s) unless the up lines want to save someone. Look your 1st line in the face and you will see he/she pulled the trigger on your job -wasa1stlinenow ra'd-

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Comment 7/06/10: Of all the insulting things to do to justify lower pay and recognition. Research Division management presented this in order to inspire us. The higher the reward, the lower the performance is the message. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc -Anon-

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Comment 7/06/10: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_technology_consolidation
This is related to job cuts since tech mergers lead to layoffs --anonymous--

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Comment 7/06/10: "And people who got RAd have been given opportunity to be contractors" Really? By whom? IBM? -anonymous-

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Comment 7/06/10: Tech customers question industry's takeover spree http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100706/D9GPAL004.html -anon-

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Comment 7/06/10: I've posted a number of (I think) helpful info answers here over the past year, and now I'm going to post an observation of self-realization in the hopes that it helps some of you who are still with IBM...
I was one of those old-school (although I am still young - mid 40's) IBMers who really believed the original Basic Beliefs. I lived them, and for most of my career in IBM it served me well. Well, I got RAed. Solid (well above average) performer and all that. Now for the self-realization - I was bitter when I got RAed. I did not cry, I took it like a grown up and moved on. Through some trials and tribulations, I am now well-employed by a company that is doing well financially, I am making more than I was at IBM (and my IBM salary, while not tops, was pretty respectable) and I have good growth prospects here etc etc etc. But here's the thing - there is a part of me that wishes I was still with IBM. I see all of the continued lousy raises, overlooked recognition, rotten working environment, uncertain stability and future and so on, but there is something still nagging me that I would like to still be part of that insanity. Perhaps it was the familiar environment, the (whatever are left) perks that come with working for IBM, but I suspect, and here is the relevance to this post and the forum, that it is this unexplained emotion that causes many to hesitate to join the Alliance (it did for me - to my detriment) out of fear, biting the hand that is for now still feeding you, wanting ot to just "be all right" etc. Even now, after getting shafted, there is still this unexplainable nagging want to still be part of it. Please learn from others, and perhaps this post of self-realization, and JOIN the Alliance and GET a CONTRACT. -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 7/06/10: "As I see it the reason IBM is such a lousy company to work for is because most folks don't join this union. A beemer opening their mouth for the right cause is as rare now as a dodo bird sighting. IBM management likes you wishy washy, do nothin', wait and see, no actung, don't stand up and spit types and it gives them all the more ammunition to do job cuts. The fireworks will continue now. If the quarterly numbers finally disappoint you can bet IBM management will have the ax sharper and ready."
Well said. It seems like with the waves of layoffs over the last several years have most IBM employees "shaking in their boots" fearful of losing their job. Therefore they keep their mouth shut. Sam Palmisano has created a horrible company culture. I hope someday Sam gets what he deserves. A big kick in the ass for all the pain and grief he has caused to so many people. -IBMer-

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Comment 7/06/10: I heard that there are less people getting cut in the united states and more jobs. And people who got RAd have been given opportunity to be contractors. Not too bad because it is work in bad market. If you get RAd see if you can be contractor. It gives better flexibility and you only loose benefits. I read that other companies only hire people with jobs. That is a shame for people going back in the workforce after watching children at home or on sick leave as others talked about. People complain about job cuts, but if it goes away, so will this only remaining section of the alliance webpage. So please support the alliance. I wonder if more people would join if first year was free. Then alliance would have numbers. -RAswindingdown-
Alliance reply: We are more than just this web site and the job cuts comment section. By the way, we have 3 levels of membership. The 3rd one is subscriber and it has always been free. No one is rushing to that one either. But the bottom line is that we need dues in order for the organization to survive.

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Comment 7/05/10: As I see it the reason IBM is such a lousy company to work for is because most folks don't join this union. A beemer opening their mouth for the right cause is as rare now as a dodo bird sighting. IBM management likes you wishy washy, do nothin', wait and see, no actung, don't stand up and spit types and it gives them all the more ammunition to do job cuts. The fireworks will continue now. If the quarterly numbers finally disappoint you can bet IBM management will have the ax sharper and ready. -ibmumers-

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Comment 7/03/10: -Gone_in_07- I don't think first lines pull the RA trigger generally. They might give input but the decision is organizational based at higher management levels. I had a strong feeling I was to be RAed when on medical leave, when rated as a PBC 2+, I got a 0% raise. When I asked IBM HR why I didn't get a raise when I heard PBC 2+'s generally got one I asked whether being on medical leave had anything to do with it. No answer. When I returned to work I learned of my RA. I am sure my IBM director made the RA decision about me. He never helped me whenever I asked for a salary review. He never supported me on anything actually. -beemedout-

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Comment 7/03/10: -Time-For-A-New-Job- Have you joined the Alliance yet? Why not fight for better work conditions while you are still in IBM. At least then when you leave IBM for another job you can say you at least tried to make a difference. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/02/10: To Both Anonymouses on 07/02/2010. I know it's hard to find a job right now, I have friends that have been out of work for over a year. You don't have to preach to me. For every person we lose on our team, we hire 2 or 3 in India, so I know my job is on the way out. Read a little closer too, I AM a union member. Your desire to bark negative comments at me clearly clouded your reading capability there. And if you think my salary is overinflated, you have no idea what I'm making, so stop assuming. I'll complain as much as I want. I put in more than my honest 8 hours every day, have done so for almost 20 years and deserve better than this. We all do. So let's work together and stop attacking each other, otherwise they've already won -anonymous-

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Comment 7/02/10: "A contract is a written promise. Having no contract means you have no promise(s) and is taking IBM at their word only. IBM can't be trusted from their word."
Has anything IBM has said in the past few years you can count on and has helped you as an employee or retiree? -soapboxer-

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Comment 7/02/10: Hundreds of RAed IBMers not only have no job, no raise, now they have no unemployment insurance. So stop the whining about what your raise was or wasn't and how hard you worked. YOU STILL HAVE A JOB, well, at least for the time being. If you want to keep working in IBM, JOIN the Alliance UNION ASAP or be prepared to join the hundreds of RAed employees who have nothing now. -anonymous-

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Comment 7/02/10:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-01/how-to-make-an-american-job-before-it-s-too-late-andy-grove.html
How to Make an American Job Before It's Too Late: Andy Grove - Bloomberg News -Anon-

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Comment 7/02/10: To the IBM'er who got the raise, yes, be thankful you got a raise and still have a job. You haven't been RA'd yet and don't know that it is not easy to find a job -- and a job anywhere near your current inflated salary. Be thankful and stop complaining -Anonymous-

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Comment 7/02/10: With all of the firings over the past 6 months has there been an increase of voting members of the Alliance? Things have calmed down up here. -BTV'er-
Alliance reply: A few have joined recently but we need much more. To all reading this that are not members: Want to change conditions for the better? Want to have a contract that guarantees raises? Want a guaranteed voice inside IBM? Want job cuts negotiated? Help us build up the Alliance. Join today

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Comment 7/02/10: No raise at all this year, it is time to start looking for another job. This company is hopeless and IBM Management knows that the workers are afraid to stand up for themselves, I will demonstrate how this is done by leaving since no one is willing to work for a better environment. Say what you want defenders of the sinking ship, but I fought a good fight along the way. It is up to the people to join together and there seems to be 3 classes. The older ones are stuck on their pensions and afraid to rock the boat. The middle career class are in debt up to their eye-balls and think their jobs are secure. The younger career class just doesn't believe in organizing because they think this bullshit is acceptable so they just don't give a shit. I predict some jerk will give me grief on here, but that is part of the problem, people are not allowed to voice their opinion and the protectionists chew up anyone with their own opinion and spit them out. I am sure there will be some jerk jumping on me, I really don't care anymore, chew on this dust as my feet leave the building. -Time-For-A-New-Job-

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Comment 7/02/10: To -long_time_beemer- : I know for a fact I was RA'd by my first line manager. When my team was reorged we got a new manager and SHE kept her team lead from another team in place as our team lead. He knew nothing about our operation and just had a big mouth. She wanted me to lead the team but he would have the title. I refused to be her puppet. As a result, the next RA had my name on it. The other team members told me later, they were told I was let go because I was "too disgruntled". So how do we fight discrimination like this? The only way is with a Union in place. To those of you left, organize and unionize. It's the only way. Otherwise you are an "at will" employee and this company and management are going to treat you any way they want. Happy 4th of July to all. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 7/02/10: Thanks to everyone who replied re:CB plan. I will run the numbers. -kingpawn-

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Comment 7/01/10: Ich, there is a huge bump at 30 years in the CB plan annuity. As much as 30% depending on how much before age 65 you retire and draw. -wrong-
Alliance Reply: Let's not debate this topic any further. This is the Job Cuts reports section. If you wish to discuss topics other than that, at length, why not join Alliance@IBM as a member and then get registered for our "members only forum"? There are several discussions on our "members only forum"; which include pensions, salary, and PBC.

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Comment 7/01/10: Manager gave us our salary increases on Monday (if you can call it that). I took my 0.57% increase (yep, you read that right) and joined the union. Thanks IBM!! Come on guys. We work our tail off day in and day out. I read yesterday Palmisano had his pension increased from $20M to $40M. Let's do something to stop this nonsense when we're receiving salary increases of less than $50/month (don't tell me I should be happy I got an increase, or that I have a job. My workload doubled AGAIN last year, and this is how they thanked me). Let's make things right at this company when we were proud for what it stood for and what it meant to be an IBM employee! -anonymous-

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Comment 7/01/10: "Sorry, but union or no union, IBM will continue to RA folks. With a union you just may get a better package. A union doesn't mean job security -anonymous- "
A union means a contract. You know;Like Sammy the CEO has. I am sure HIS contract does provide some level of security and defined benefits and retirement and severence. Just like ours will when enough folks realize if a contract is good enough for Sammy its good enough for us, also. Contracts must be good for IBM or Sammy would not have one! Its the least we can do to emulate our leadership and demand a contract also. If Sams contract is good for IBM ours will be even better for IBM because there are so many of us currently without one. I wanna be like Sammy! So should you. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 7/01/10: Well, looks like the U.S. Senate failed on an action to vote to fund the unemployment "emergency" benefits. Won't try again until after recess, soonest 7/12. Note, depending on your state, you may roll into the Extended Benefits that is separate from the Emergency Tiers that wait funding by Congress. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/30/10: "I got screwed into the CB plan and was wondering if there is anything that kicks in at 30 years that I would miss if I left at 28 or 29 years."
Sorry, the cash balance plan is not a retirement plan but a cash fund that is used till it's gone. There is no "Kick" after 30 years or any other time as in the defind retirement plan that you were screwed out of. With the CB plane, once the money is gone, it's gone.
"I have noticed a pattern in the RA's. Everyone who has been RA'd has not had a union contract."
Because no one in the US IBM has a union contract, what's the point? Sign up with 80,000 of your friends, then maybe you can stop the insanity -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 6/30/10: -He Who Carries the Pickle- That is why I, as a Republican and now a Tea Partier, back the Alliance. This might seems strange, but let me explain myself. Sure, unions might not be perfect but IBM is a crooked, corrupt, immoral mess that needs a union to try to keep it, should I say, honest in it's dealing with their employees as they deal with their customers.. -anonymous-
Alliance reply: Thank you for your support. AllIance@IBM does not publicly support any party or political platform. Our sole issue is Labor and the mission to organize IBM employees toward a union contract. We have members that are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, etc. and all members agree that a union contract with IBM will level the playing field for non-management employees. We hope you will sign-up as a member and help us continue the work we started; toward a union contract for IBM employees.

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Comment 6/30/10: "I was always friendly with the VP of my organization but even he clammed up and could not help me"
If your not part of the solution is helping employees then you are part of the big problem with IBM. Life in IBM is not good. -trexibmer-

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Comment 6/30/10: -kingpawn- I would run the NetBenefits calculator to find out what it says based on 28,29, 30 years for the cash balance plan (CB):: http://www.netbenefits.com
You supposedly get a "bump" in the PPA at 30 years. But with the pension (both cash balance (CB) and real defined benefit pension being frozen the CB bump is probably not as much as it had as intended when IBM tried to do their "sell job" (or more correctly "screw job") on saying that the CB plan was "cost neutral" meaning the employee does not lose money based on the "time value of money". An idiot appeals court judge agreed IBM was non-discriminatory. But Janet Kreuger and Kathi Cooper and then the Alliance enlightened us and found out that CBers were cheated, and cheated badly. Some could lose about 50% of their once promised IBM pension benefit. -king'sgambit-

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Comment 6/30/10: Sorry, but union or no union, IBM will continue to RA folks. With a union you just may get a better package. A union doesn't mean job security -anonymous-
Alliance reply: Actually it is much more than that. A union AND a contract, as a legal document, requires certain things from managment and the company. Justifying job cuts is one. Making sure that people are not singled out based on age, illness, etc. The company and the union are required to have a dialogue and negotiations on job cuts, including finding alternatives. It is not just IBM's way or the highway.

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Comment 6/30/10: Anyone who wants to console themselves and think HR chooses who gets RA'ed is kidding themselves. These decisions are made by your line management, usually at a second line level or above. HR does provide the amount or percentage of people to get the axe in an organization. -long_time_beemer-

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Comment 6/30/10: The new unemployment stand alone bill should pass in the US House today and Senate by week's end. Keep your fingers crossed. 2010 Unemployment Extension - Standalone House Bill H.R. 5618 Still Alive -anonymous-

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Comment 6/30/10: Not sure about the correlation between medical leave and RA's. I was out in 2009 for 3 months (originally scheduled for 6 weeks but had complications), and I'm still here. However, a friend had shoulder surgery and was out for extended time in 2009 and was RA'd in 2010. Maybe they keep just enough of us to 'prove' they don't RA people with medical issues, or perhaps my name is on a list, but I haven't been notified yet. Sad part is, my friend needed and wanted to stay in the job, and I want out of IBM.
On another note, like others have said, the one thing that IS the same for ALL ra'd workers they were without union contract. I joined the union, What have YOU done lately to ensure you're not next? -Something to THINK about-

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Comment 6/30/10: Where the concept of outsourcing and offshoring came from, and who teaches IBM and others to do it http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html?src=busln -Nonymous-

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Comment 6/30/10: I have noticed a pattern in the RA's. Everyone who has been RA'd has not had a union contract. -Doyathink?-

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Comment 6/29/10: With the cash balance plan, is there any difference retiring after 28 years rather than making 30 years? I got screwed into the CB plan and was wondering if there is anything that kicks in at 30 years that I would miss if I left at 28 or 29 years. Thanks. - kingpawn-

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Comment 6/29/10: To Medical Problems: There is no trend towards those out for an extended period of time with medical problems. There is a trend towards American workers, period. It doesn't matter who you are or what job you work in. If you are in the US, you are targeted for RA, skills rebalancing, or whatever colorful name they want to call it this year. The way IBM treats workers is why Unions got started in the first place. Unfair labor practices. Unless workers band together and get a union in place, IBM will never be a good company to work for. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 6/28/10: "Has anyone else noticed a pattern of RA'ing those who were out for an extended period of time due to medical problems?"

A pattern? Could very well be. But of course IBM will say it is all without merit. Without a union and being an AT WILLl employee IBM can do whatever it wants in regards to employees who have medical issues and missed billable hours because of medical reasons.

A case in fact: I was out on short term disability last year for months and then was shortly RA'ed when I returned too.

When I started my 30 day blacklisted from applying for another IBM job period I was told I couldn't report to work site. Like I had a communicable disease or something.

Now I get an IBM health representative from IBM sponsored health insurance calling me how my health is and how I am feeling .and I don't even work for them anymore even though have to pay the exorbitant COBRA premiums. When I was on disability no calls were made. When I was working for them I had to make sure I couldn't take two consecutive sick days without a doctor's note. Talk about IBM caring about employee health. Like why would IBM really care about an ex-employees health now?

Maybe IBM knows something about the health issues that have befallen those they soon RA? A pattern? Quite right. -sickend-

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Comment 6/28/10: There are a lot of people who have negative feelings about unions, some of them very vocal. I was one of them. There were places I worked in which I saw unions that were corrupt, full of lazy workers who felt a sense of entitlement that I could not relate to at all. But in the past ten years I have seen things from a different perspective. When corporations put share price above all else, disregarding the quality of their product or service, that is a problem. When they make immense sums of money without sharing it among those whose time, efforts, sacrifice, and knowledge brought in the profits, it is unfair. When hard working people are dropped after dedicating years to their job since there is a cheaper alternative overseas or in a town with lower cost of living, something is amiss. I am a realist and do not think that a union will be without its drawbacks or potential for problems, but things are certainly not in your favor as they are. Those who are truly happy with things as they have been are in the minority -- I fear that the majority are just too beaten down and timid to speak up. IBM would not have such enormous profits if it were not for those in the trenches working so many hours in fear of losing their jobs for salaries that are below the market average. We work overtime without documenting it. We don't take vacation days we are eligible for because we fear being out of the office will put us on the next list. We've lost a viable pension plan, variable pay, and no longer even hold out hope for a pay increase each year. We watch as thousands of fellow workers are unceremoniously forced out of the company during a great recession while IBM posts record earnings. We no longer get training in what we need to do our jobs, let alone that which would enable us to advance our careers. I just don't see why the membership has not expanded dramatically since January 2009. -He Who Carries the Pickle-

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Comment 6/28/10: I agree with the poster who said that there is a pattern of RA'ing those who become sick and disabled. I became disabled in 2008 and was out for 5 months - Since I worked from home I was able to go back to work but 8 mths later after a fantastic appraisal and the largest bonus payment I ever got - I was selected for the RA. I was 2 months short of my 29th year - but I was able to get back on Short Term Disability with my doctor's help for 3 months and when I came back got the retirement bridge. I was always friendly with the VP of my organization but even he clammed up and could not help me - I am sure it was HR who picked me because of my illness. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/28/10: Has anyone else noticed a pattern of RA'ing those who were out for an extended period of time due to medical problems? Last year I had some pretty bad medical issues and was out and in march of this year I was RA'ed. Asking around I noticed a pattern several others who have been RA'ed were in a similar boat. I heard though a source in IBM that even though my case for retention went way up the chain (VP's etc) HR was the one who ultimately denied me staying in. Anyone else notice that pattern as well? -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/26/10: Job cuts at Greenock IBM SPango valley , Managed out told to find a job within 4 Weeks found a job only to be told that they don't want IBMer employed as they want a Agency, Cant win any way -Joe-

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Comment 6/26/10: I was in RAed in April 2009. I have since been unable to find a job in IT. Now with the Senate killing the federal emergency unemployment benefits what is next -unemped-

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Comment 6/25/10: If your hiring manager is really willing to hire you, make sure that the HR people work on your paperwork as they are supposed to. For some reason, they tend to procrastinate on time sensitive issues like this. - Responding to Anonymous-

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Comment 6/24/10: Guys I was RA ed about a year ago. It is tough economy. Finding a job is hard, keeping yourself focused is still harder. But by grace of Almighty, I did find a job, now onto yet another one that is better than the last two jobs, all these jobs pay much much more than IBM and I can again dream to be someone big. So hang in there. There is actually a better life after IBM. You are being kicked out of IBM, only because you are destined for something big. So dont get desperate. Good luck!! -RAed in 2009-

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Comment 6/24/10: Great translation -Fool.me.twice-. -IB-What?-

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Comment 6/23/10: I have been identified for RA from June 30th, but my case is before a review board for another internal ibm job. Has anybody crossed the review board stage.And if succesful, am I still in the RA list for future references or safely out of the list? -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/22/10: ---email received:
"IBM recently notified CDI that it intends to get all CDI purchase order resources loaded into its Professional Market Place (PMP) tool. This will give IBM Managers within ITDA visibility to skills that may be available from CDI placed resources when assignments end, giving you a better chance of being redeployed into another opportunity at IBM when your current assignment ends."

----translate as, 'We need to know what jobs to advertise for at the 75 centers of excellence we're setting up in India. So, please tell us what you really do, so we can advertise for that position. --- so we can hasten the end of your current assignment' ...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6077766.cms -Fool.me.twice-

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Comment 6/22/10:
Law firm working on age discrimination in job cuts:
McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney & Toker, P.A.
Address: PO Box 5000
4 Union Park
Topsham, ME 04086-5000
Map & Directions
Phone: (207) 725-5581
Fax: (207) 725-1090
E-mail: Contact Us Web site: http://www.me-law.com -screwed-

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Comment 6/22/10: to Screwed... do you have a contact for McTigue Higbee? I was RA'd in March 2010 -screwed2-

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Comment 6/22/10: ISSW is unable to fulfill about one third of their contracts since they don't have enough people (too many RAed). Bench is pretty much zero and most consultants have already reached their target utilization for the year! ISSW has also had a very hard time finding good contractors (remember ISSW folks are supposed to be la creme de la creme so contractors should upheld this very high standard!). Great job IBM and ISSW management in particular. Keep up the good work! -Anonymous or soon to be RAed?-

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Comment 6/22/10: IBM Triangle execs named in $100M racketeering suit: http://www.wral.com/business/story/7827461/ -Duchess of Web-

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Comment 6/22/10: I have mentioned in the past if you feel you have been a victim of age discrimination in 2010 that you should contact the ottinger firm but I have now received notice from the Mcteague Higbee firm that they are strongly considering an age discrimination lawsuit against IBM. In my opinion they are the best prepared firm to fight IBM since they have won various judgement against IBM in the past and actually gotten IBM waivers thrown out of court. -Screwed-

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Comment 6/22/10: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6077766.cms -Barb-

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Comment 6/22/10: The group I am in is hiring a bunch of folks. Some college grads, some contractors and former IBM'ers either RA'd or left on their own. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/22/10: Please keep this Job Cuts forum on base. It's not about whether the pension plan is to be converted to a 401k. THOUSANDS have been RAed and more are sure soon to be unless something is done by standing together and fight IBM in their employment practices. You are sadly missing the point here if you are being consumed with the pension rumors. If you want to discuss the pension plan, join the Alliance and then the Alliance could be able to open up the pension discussion forum again. -sby_willie-
Alliance reply: This is my fault for not screening the comments that well, lately. I agree that this forum is about Job Cuts and firings. I also agree that if IBMers want to discuss pensions, salaries, or just general topics; they should join Alliance@IBM. Thanks for pointing this out, and thanks for being an Alliance@IBM supporter all these years. You DO make a difference!

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Comment 6/22/10: Anyone out there receive notice about their raise or no raise for next month yet? The delay may indicate another round of RA is quietly coming our way by end of month. -TATA-
Alliance reply: This is the Job Cuts section-not Raise & Salary comments. If you want to discuss Raises & Salary, join Alliance@IBM and as a member, you can become part of the discussions on the Alliance Members Only Forum. That said;
You should never assume that a raise is coming, at all. You should never assume that an RA is NOT coming. I think Alliance@IBM has shown, on this web site, that the odds are against the employees as a whole; and that the only real assumption you should make is that you will be fired eventually, if you do not organize and fight back.

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Comment 6/21/10: I find this amusing.. I was RA'ed.. then brought back as a contractor.. now the division I worked for (ISSW) doesn't have enough people to fufill their contracts. I found out that GBS is even worse than ISSW.. talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face and short sightedness... a chuckling EX-ISSW person who is shaking his head... -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/21/10: Offshoring really began back in the 80's when many foreign countries started sending their engineers to get Ph.D. at US universities. They received their degrees and then got high paying jobs with companies like IBM. Many of these foreign engineers returned to their home country after getting their on the job experience at companies like IBM. Now these engineers are in key positions in their country taking away our jobs. Folks, we trainied them in our universities and in our companies. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Don't cry about it. It's too late to reverse it. -IBMer-

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Comment 6/21/10: All this talk about the prior pension plan. There are a few prior plans. Are you talking the Personal Retirement Plan? The one before the 401k? -noidea-

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Comment 6/21/10: Check this out. Whether you're 'left' or 'right'; as long as you are working for a corporation, this should matter to you. This was on Twitter: PLEDGE: Want corporations out of our democracy? Get involved w/ our new pledge! http://j.mp/Stand4Democ -room2move-

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Comment 6/20/10: A lot of us have information concerning the way IBM has cheating customers out of big bucks. We should start holding IBM accountable for the millions of dollars that they have cheated out of customers. I personally have information as to how IBM cheated a customer in Louisville out of millions of dollars. In fact, I cannot believe how many projects IBM has been involved with that have failed -- and IBM thinks it can build a smarter planet :) BTW is anyone beside me disgusted with IBM's commercials in such American sporting events such as the US Open? I hope IBM contributes just as much to the Chinese Open. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/20/10: I was laid off on Jan 28th 09' from the EFK site in the mfg division. I did not get upset the day I left, nor did I shed one tear at the thought of never going back to work there again. Sure, I was nervous about finding another job especially in this economy, but I started out as a temp for a medical company and six months later was converted to perm status. I sleep better at night. I love my job. The people I work with are awesome. The morale is wonderful. Sure, just like any company there are pluses and minuses but I am better off now than I was with IBM. The point I am making is as follow: Hold your head high, don't give up. There IS life after IBM and I have not looked back since. Good luck to all and God bless. -Glad2BGone-

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Comment 6/19/10: To save money, BP opted to cut costs hence cut corner in its infamous drilling rig. Several millions saving now is consuming the entire company, costing the company ten of billions if it can survive at all. Does this sound familiar? Relentless cost cutting at IBM someday might cripple this company, just like BP. Current IBM strategy is - BUY, MILK and DISCARD.
1) buy smaller companies with better products;
2) milk it as much as possible and feed it as less as possible;
3) Then transfer the maintenance to oversea and fire all US employees. No more in house development in US. For those that still hold dev jobs today, you have no tomorrow with IBM. -ibm2bp-

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Comment 6/18/10: -NotThereYet- Well why aren't these retirement eligible folks who are "willing" to be "selected" for an RA going to join the Alliance? If these folks agree to be RA'ed to retire then why would IBM not think these same folks would "agree" to lose all their FHA and get zilch (zero, 0, goose egg) for retirement medical? After all as IBM would reason the RA package is more than the FHA balance. You mean these folks actually trustt IBM on their word that they would still get the FHA? I for one can't trust IBM one bit. IBM has screwed me over not once but at least twice now after being RAed. I want something in writing from IBM/.. I want a contract -anonymous-

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Comment 6/17/10: The only way to address this age discrimination is contact the Ottinger firm at 866-571-5010 if you have feel you been discriminated based on age in the most recent IBM reductions (2010) as I have indicated in the past. -screwed-

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Comment 6/17/10: http://www.thestreet.com/story/10785007/1/10-best-companies-for-employees-and-shareholders.html
.....Finally, someone has "seen the light" that happy workers are productive workers.... -Ich Bin Muede-

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Comment 6/17/10: "C'mon -Maywanttogo- your asking too much! Folks like you just crack me up. No wonder the poor Alliance can't get enough of retire-eligible employees to join. It's just sad."
Unfortunately Maywanttogo is on to something. I am hearing more and more reports of retirement eligible ( or within a year eligible) folks going to their manager and essentially "winking" and saying if they are tapped for the next RA they will not be upset. There were also some who were willing to go to save someone not retirement eligible but were not allowed. Many folks in the upper bands (8 and higher) who are retirement eligible are in a good financial situation and they see the separation pay as a "bonus", and to be honest if I were in that situation I might look at it the same way. getting $50K-$100K, even before taxes, can finance a lot of things in retirement. One guy told me he would use it to pay for health insurance above and beyond the FHA for more than a few year. These are the folks IBM really uses to gauge the attitude of the employees. The current RA pay is much more generous than a lot of companies give, and if that is what it takes to keep a groundswell of union support from coming from these folks, IBM will keep doing it. -NotThereYet-

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Comment 6/17/10: To Darwin's Radio - I disagree.
1) I had 2+'s and 2s most recently, with a long string of 1's and high contributor awards, all recently.
2) My manager was one of the few that actively worked to help get me placed, but other managers had their hands tied (he could not tell me outright, but we had great/candid communications.
3) Managers most certainly DID get the axe. In fact, I know several managers, 2 VPs, numerous STSMs and even one Fellow who have been RAed since Jan '09, so no one other than the really, really top eschelon of executives (those *creating* the RA lists) are immune... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 6/17/10: IBM NZ have made approx 34 people redundant in NZ in April 2010 in a number of roles, They are now saying they are employing PM's & Technical Archts from India to cover work in NZ from 20th June. Also thay are now advertising for contract Technical Archts to work in NZ on projects for 6 month contracts.They are sticking two fingers up to Labour laws and believe that can get away with what they are doing.The manager behind this is a Dave Kent in Wellington whose name is associated to all the above. -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/16/10: An interesting story, a friend of a friend who was an IBM exec had a contract, the person left the company, IBM did not pay contracted bonus, had to get a lawyer, ended up getting pennies on the dollar after costs. So if you wondering, yes, they eat their young :-) -QTR_CENTURY-

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Comment 6/16/10: I was RA'd in the March 2010 timeframe, but was given 7 months notice because I was working on an active, multi-year commercial project at the client location. Stupid, huh? About a month before I was supposed to leave in October, I SUCCESSFULLY got removed from the RA list through the efforts of some big guns on the commercial IBM team. It went to the Senior Global Vice-president for approval, after all the dumbass managers along the way deferred. It was a no-brainer, as I was bringing in a third of a million dollars a year for Sam. Luckily, my management on the account released me from our pre-nup with the commercial client so they could talk to me about working there. It came down to 2 days before I was scheduled to leave, and my manager had my severance checks in hand. Immediately after I was informed that I had been "saved", my idiot manager told me that I would have to make up 200 hours of time by the end of the year (this in November) in order to be competitive with my peers for PBC purposes. This was a 40 hour capped account by contract, so I didn't have much chance of doing that. It pissed me off, and I went to the client and indicated that I would still like to go to work for them. As I had been released, and hiring me would save them $200k per year, they jumped at the chance to hire me. A month later, I told my manager that I was leaving. Never felt so good in my life. I have now sprung another person that was on my team from IBM after another dumb manager offered to help us in any way after we ended the contract for another IBM person. He starts with his ex-client next week. Thanks IBM for being so stupid. I\'m having a great time with my "new" company -Moronssaywhat-

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Comment 6/16/10: to: Just curious: but has IBM put out an unofficial gag order of sorts to IBM managers so they are not allowed to speak to or associate with RAed employees? -anonymously- -- Stop and think about your question, who in their right mind would want to talk to a depressed person about their layoff? Misery love's company, find a fellow RA'd employee or Join this Union who will share your pain. Okay, I am being sarcastic, we are not all miserable, just frustrated with the lack of participation for a Union. -IT-Doesn't-Matter-Anymore-

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Comment 6/16/10: If IBM RA's both an older person and a younger person (simply to cook the numbers and have 1 older person and 1 younger person being RA'd) - is that age discrimination? Is the younger person legally considered to be a victim also? That is, if there main goal was to eliminate the older one, and the younger one was gotten rid of for the numbers. Not that anyone could ever prove that, just curious. -another-
Alliance Reply: No, it's not 'age discrimination' using your hypothetical example. Is IBM doing this? Who knows. Probably. Any way you slice it; disecting what IBM does will not matter to anyone as long as you don't pursue organizing IBMers to get a union contract. You're wasting your time with the hypothetical analysis.

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Comment 6/16/10: "Any idea if retirement eligible employees would be given the standard seperation package as an incentive to retire before the cutover?"
C'mon -Maywanttogo- your asking too much! Folks like you just crack me up. No wonder the poor Alliance can't get enough of retire-eligible employees to join. It's just sad. IF IBM wants to save pension liabilities to save money how can you think they will spend more cash on the retiree eligible employee? IBM might have $15,000,000,000 to spend but to them they still feel they don't have enough of $$$. Also, how was your raise this year??? You want an incentive package in addition to retirement? Get a union contract!!!!!!! -anonymous-

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Comment 6/15/10: "Just curious: but has IBM put out an unofficial gag order of sorts to IBM managers so they are not allowed to speak to or associate with RAed employees? -anonymously- "
No, there isn't anonymously. In most cases, first line managers don't even participate in 'picking' the employees for a RA. Decisions are made from PBC ratings (usually 3s are a kiss of death), internal vs. external accounts, skill set or job category (IT Specialists vs. Consultant, etc.), and upper managements personal opinion of the employee. When fist lines need to deliver the message, they have a script to read from, then for the next 30 days they do the best they can to ignore the RA employee. The RA employee is a pariah. My experience is in GBS. BTW, RARELY have I've seen managers get the axe. -Darwin's Radio-

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Comment 6/15/10: Re: Just curious. A gag order? I don't know about that but it does seem so to me too. -Neal Watkins-

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Comment 6/15/10: To Maywanttogo: I only heard the rumor of the conversion, which supposedly came from a real, honest-to-goodness HR person. Don't know any details beyond that but for me in my situation, the incentive is the loss of the pension. I'd rather have a guaranteed amount then trust IBM's estimate of what my pension is worth to this crazy market. Don't get me wrong, I would love a separation package if they offer ..but I doubt it. -LeavingIfTrue-

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Comment 6/15/10: You will not get the separation package just because of any changes to the pension plan. For one, IBM doesn't have to, and secondly, targeting older employees for RA will guarantee that IBM is sued. -QTR_CENTURY-

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Comment 6/15/10: "Just curious: but has IBM put out an unofficial gag order of sorts to IBM managers so they are not allowed to speak to or associate with RAed employees? -anonymously-"
No - there is no gag order. Your manager is prohibited from talking about the RA or those affected in your group. There is no scarlet letter for being rehired either. However, there is almost always a hiring freeze put in place for the period between the RA notification and the effective date of the RA. If managers are not speaking to you its because they don't want to.-Anonymous-

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Comment 6/15/10: It makes sense if IBM sells it's chip plants in EFK and BTV that they get rid of the dead weight, meaning employees still left on the old pension plan. At least flood your congress people with emails asking if it is legal for IBM to do this.. I don't think much of my NY reps, but at least I'll send emails. I bet the higher ups won't get pushed out the door... "needs of the business". I for one need a few more years adding to my 401k and do NOT want to be pushed out the door because of my age and years of service. -manufacturing101-
Alliance Reply: It makes NO sense to flood Congress with emails asking if IBM can sell their plants to get rid of employees. Why? Because it's perfectly legal. The only hitch could be if IBM has to honor gov't contracts that stipulate job retention for the life of the contract; or some time period. The employees are still "At Will Employees", and they have a right to form a union and fight for a contract of their own. Congress doesn't play a role in this case.
You should still flood your NY State reps with emails, asking them when they will stop giving taxpayer funds to IBM; while IBM continues to offshore jobs.

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Comment 6/15/10: Just curious: but has IBM put out an unofficial gag order of sorts to IBM managers so they are not allowed to speak to or associate with RAed employees? -anonymously-

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Comment 6/15/10: -RAed Jan 09- is giving a good opinion on this. The CB plan is only making 1.4% for this year. You can probably get a better rate of return cashing out the CB and rolling over it all in your own long term IRA. IBM did the great pension heist once before in 1999 and I'm sure if IBM can add more free cash to add to the current $15,000,000,000 IBM has and grease the lobbyists, lawmakers, and judges concerning ERISA you can be sure as the sun rises in the east each morning that IBM will pursue it. If IBM can no longer report the pension "vapor profit" to it's reported profits they probably would terminate all the pension plans. The vapor profits IBM gets might be the only reason IBM still has pensioners. Life (in IBM) is not good. -trexibmer-

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Comment 6/14/10: Commenting on the rumor of the termination of the pension plan to cash balance. Any idea if retirement eligible employees would be given the standard seperation package as an incentive to retire before the cutover? -Maywanttogo-

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Comment 6/14/10: to Jetson - I was ra'd March 2010, I had PPO plus, Dental and Vision while employed (for myself + spouse) for $ 251 per month. With IBM COBRA subsidy and the Obama subsidy, I now pay $126 per month for myself + spouse. This is the rate for 12 months. It goes up substantially in months 13-18, then is cut off for good. Not sure how this relates to High Deductable plan, but the result for me was that I actually pay less for the same plan, at least for 12 months. Hope this helps -screwed2-

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Comment 6/14/10: To jetson - depends on your number of dependents. An example tho, non subsidized, non TMP (Transitional Medical Prorgam - IBM subsidized for the first x months depending on length of service) for me (me, wife and one child) was $965/mo, with the TMP it was $325/mo. Since I'm now employed, don't know what the Obama ARRA subsidies are any more. Hope this helps... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 6/14/10: For planning purposes...does anybody know what the COBRA amount for the high deductible plan is? Thanks. -jetson-

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Comment 6/14/10: Talking about CB pensions, 401K etc... To reiterate a post I made months ago, to those of you now gone from IBM, you CAN take your CB pension and put it somewhere like an IRA with no tax burden. IMHO, best to get it out of IBM's hands where they can try to find some strange loophole to take it back, and put it to work where YOU want, and not be subject to IBM's rate of return and mgt fees on it. Of course consult your tax advisor for your own situation, but I took mine as soon as possible after leaving.... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 6/14/10: Montreal was hit pretty hard since March 2010. As a contractor I have watched ibm colleagues given the boot & forced to train their contractor replacements. In May several managers & team leads were let go, which was a surprise to many of us. Insourcing has also caused alot of layoffs. Resource actioning is happening on certain accounts (remember that customer has to sign off any offshoring). Basically evey time they move a team over there are all sorts of escalations and it is NEVER transparent to the customer. These indian workers are trained by their reluctant Canadian employees, who come the end of the month, if there are any unresolved issued, dont care as its not their problem anymore. On my last contract with the company IBM converted 9 contractors to permanent ibmers, only 2 remain due to ties at the executive level, the rest were fired with the "3" rating. Other ibmers who still remain have expressed dissatisfaction with their salary, many stating no raise for last 6 years. Others who have been given titles of team leads are not receiving the promised bonus, literally having the carrot dangling in their face for months on end. Working at home is also coming to an end, they are hoping this action will force some ibmers to quit/find other jobs. From talking to them they stayed with the company only because of the work from home option so they can manage their family & work better. I have little sympathy for then, as an underpayed contractor who commutes to work every day, but i digress. I dont see a future for myself in this company & would not recommend anyone buy their stocks, just use them until you can find a better job. If you listen to the shareholder meeting broadcasted on w3, it is clear IBM are launching their resources into growth markets at alarming rates. Its just a matter of time before INDIA's economy becomes too expensive and the cycle continues elsewhere. When will this stupidity end? -lonely_cntr-

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Comment 6/14/10: I read the below posted on 6/6/10 - has anyone considered a class action lawsuit regarding all the people over 50 IBM RA's on 3/31/10? Is that what this phone number below is for? I agree with 4merBeamer since if employees continue to go quietly....the company will continue to cut them quietly which is why anyone older than 40 should contact the Ottinger firm at 866-571-5010 if you have feel you been discriminated based on age in the most recent IBM reductions (2010). (RA'ed 3/31/10) -Mary Jo-

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Comment 6/13/10: I actually remember one time that there was a 7 year bridge. It was in the early 90s. I can't remember the exact dates or details. But, I remember a lot of folks leaving. Anyone remember FAP from Boca? -Darwin's Radio-

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Comment 6/12/10: Someone needs to get the word out..Get out of QUALXSERV/ WORLD WIDE SERVICES NOW ! This company only exsists to screw its workers. This is all thanks to IBM who uses them for their service. Those of you who have a service contract with IBM should dump it , you won't know who is coming to your door -Fidel-

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Comment 6/12/10: Bridging people with a frozen pension is cheaper than how the old bridges used to work. The bump at eligibility could be just a few extra K a year for me. The savings are years of salary, benefits, the SS 6% tax that IBM pays for the employed. Freezing our pensions meant that the lifetime cost of our pensions is considerably less than those who were at or near eligibility at the time of the freeze. The idea is that if you feel lucky, go ahead, stay on. See if you survive the next round of RAs. It's a tiny incentive but if it gets you to leave 15 months early, IBM saves a fortune especially if you already have a tiny pension due to the freeze of Dec 2007. Working 3 or 4 more years to reach eligibility could cost IBM more than a bridge. And getting us to commit by EOY means we leave with no severance needed... another savings that helps Sam look better as he retires. And he ditches higher paid old employees of their own accord, and can replace us with more low-banded people in Dubuque. Sure they could go through the trouble to cash balance us as our numbers are small. Only a few thousand of us. Divide and conquer. Please tell me when it's over, I've been poor before, I'm not afraid to dumpster dive! -Anonymous-

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Comment 6/12/10: Has IBM ever given anyone anything like 5 years of credit in recent memory to boost a pension? Sure doubt it will now. They just keep reducing benefits anyway they can regardless of the impact on the laid off workers. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: The only times, I recall , that 'credit' for 5 years service was ever given; was if you qualified for a "bridge to retirement" if IBM offered a "VTP" or Voluntary Transition Program pkg. back in the 1980's and 1990's. For example: You had 25 years service, and IBM offered a "VTP" package of 5 years to bridge-meaning if you took the package, you left IBM and were then eligible for FULL pensioned retirement 5 years after you left. IBM stopped offering those kinds of pkgs 15 or more years ago. You'll never see THAT again.

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Comment 6/12/10: Was laid off end of March after 13 years. Didnt take IBM long to replace me with contractor. -Former IBMER-

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Comment 6/11/10: Per phone call to Alliance office: All IBMers that were sold to Qualxserve have been fired as of June 11.-Alliance Staff-

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Comment 6/11/10: Today 6/11/10 all IBMers that joined Qualxserv (now World Wide Services) IN NYC where LAID OFF. They were given there paychecks this AM and where offered ther old jobs back at a per call basis of $22.00 per call no medical insurance and taxes taken out. THIS IS THE WORST COMPANY IN THE USA. THE SAD PART IS THE IBMers that went over all KNEW IT! -Bedbug-

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Comment 6/11/10: Back when CB was terminated, IBM was asked if CB can be moved over to 401K, they said no: because CB is a defined benefit plan and 401K isn't. If pensions are being converted, they will be converted to a CB. -QTR_CENTURY-

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Comment 6/11/10: Re. Pension rumors - can people citing pension rumors pls give their sources, even if it's just "an HR manager" or another message board? That helps to determine how valid they might be. Also, one variation of the rumor says all old plan employees get credited with 5yrs. of service so that they can all retire. Can anyone with a mgmt contact for this check into it further? -Anon-

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Comment 6/10/10: Heard tonight from a friend of a friend in HR that the pension change mentioned here in May will be announced in July. Basically us 'prior pension plan' people out by 12/31/10 or our pensions get converted to a lump sum. Whether that goes into a cash balance plan or a 401K remains to be seen. -annonymous-

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Comment 6/10/10: Can anyone tell me how much Sammy will have plundered from IBM when he is shown the door at age 60? I do hope the door kickes him is the ass. If I recall correctly, Lou Gerstner walked away with a cool half billion dollars in 2002. I agree with the Alliance. Sam is much worse than Lou. I hear that Ginny Rommety is in line to replace Sam. Wasn't she on the AIG compensation committee giving the million dollar bonuses to all the Wall street fat cats? God help us all. -IBMer-
Alliance Reply: Gerstner's total walk-away was more like $700,000,000. Three quarters of a billion.... and Gerstner had a CONTRACT. So does Sam. Why not the rest of the working IBMers? Organize!

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Comment 6/10/10: I heard a rumor today that anyone over 30 yrs of service takes the old retirement plan or must switch to new plan. This may force a lot of retirement. Any Truth to this? -LastOne-

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Comment 6/10/10: I have watched this board since it was formed. I see no action by anyone that it still within the IBM ranks, nothing but chatter. I left IBM in 2007 on my own after almost 24 yrs of service and have never regretted this decision in anyway ! I am more rlexed, enjoying my family more, making more at the company I am at now. If you continue to just bitch about what is happening, that's all you are going to get period! If you want to stay with IBM, then darn it, stand up for yourselves and quit the whining, crap there is a ton of cheese here already needed to go with the whine! -Left2007-

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Comment 6/09/10: Hey BACKDOOR, let's not get all over Sammy for his recent stock transactions. After all, he did have to shell out $12 million of his hard earned bucks for the shares. And thought he didn't sell all of them, he only cleared about $250 K on the deal. Just pocket change for him, but he probably had some buds coming over for a Memorial Day party and needed to pick up some beer and brats. Where's your holiday spirit? -patriot-

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Comment 6/09/10: Been hearing rumors that severance is now capped a 2 months instead of 6. Can somebody confirm? -Anon-

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Comment 6/08/10: To POed: I know of a PM who recently got the RA. I told him for years to get out of there but he said he was going to hang in there because he didn't think it could ever happen to him. The piddly projects this guy worked on were nothing, and he was not PM certified. Now he is going to have a very tough summer trying to find a job in the real world with no skills. It will catch up with most of these people eventually. They can't hide from the dreaded RA forever. -Long_Gone-

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Comment 6/07/10: -RAed- That's right from your 5/27 posting, and this sounds like a double bind where the Alliance is trying to clarify the number of jobs cut, and not only will IBM not be forthcoming about this, but they now won't publish their current US or country-related populations. This is a fine modus operandi. A double bind is what many employees have experienced as they've been handed their RA walking papers and shoved out the door, a number as they've approached full retirement, only to miss it. You're out the door with no choice, regardless. You can apply for other internal jobs but the odds are so high against you getting one, you question the effort. The Alliance is the only organization calling for the equity, fair treatment, and security of an employment contract, and it would serve each employee well to join now before their job is affected. - Former True Blue-

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Comment 6/07/10: To Hula Girl - IBM knows how to spin. They may be hiring, but these are low paying jobs, and as one who looked for a long time, and now periodically out of morbid curiosity at teh IBM Jobs site, I can tell you that there are indeed many jobs out there. But a quick scan will show you that
a) the vast majority are outside the US
b) Look at software development (SWG) - almost nothing
c) Most jobs are NOT"professional" level - they are more entry level
d) Most jobs are consultant-type roles, NOT development
e) Many of the listings, upon closer inspection state they are NOT for any specific openings, but for positions that match this general description (so who knows if there are really any openings to fill - certianly not from *these* listings.)
And my list of questionable "here's how many job openings we have posted" practices goes on. IBM knows how to spin and manage PR. Is it lying? Arguable. Is it deceptive? Absolutely. It is a reprehensible practice? Sure seems so to me.... -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 6/06/10: "Hopefully, this time around they will let go some of this worthless management and PM's"
Don't count on it. Until the last technical person who still knows how to remove a file on a PC or format a floppy is still around they will cut these techies; before the "yes people" who blindly, without backbone, carry out the RA plans like the management and PM's ever have to worry about getting RAed. All technical folks who call themselves professionals need to unite fast and organize. It's the only way and only thing left to do -POed-

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Comment 6/06/10: "Anything else is Ostrich behavior." Give the biggest non-flying bird more credit. Even an ostrich knows how to defend itself from a preying threatening species (like an IBM CEO): It'll peck like mad at the attacker and then run. For the life of me I can't understand why most IBMers continue to do absolutely NOTHING to stop  IBM management from doing what they please to make the USA employee a rapidly disappearing species, and possibly an extinct one at that! -birdbrained-

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Comment 6/06/10: IBM adding jobs? Ha! At least they were also in this story, though buried quite deep.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10671422/41/layoffs-continue-to-mount.html -Hula Girl-

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Comment 6/06/10: I agree with 4merBeamer since if employees continue to go quietly....the company will continue to cut them  quietly which is why anyone older than 40  should contact the Ottinger firm at 866-571-5010 if you have feel you been discriminated based on age in the most recent IBM reductions (2010). -screwed-

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Comment 6/06/10: Glad to see acknowledgment that Sammy P is worse than Gerstner was for employees. Also have to agree with Alliance assessment that next CEO is likely to be worse the Sammy the Barbarian. If you want to change IBM, become an active member of the Union OR leave. Anything else is Ostrich behavior. -4merBeamer-

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Comment 6/06/10: Look at this crap. Someone really needs to get the news right. IBM adding jobs? to me it's just cutting them under the radar. http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/109718/big-companies-adding-jobs -anonymous-

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Comment 6/05/10: I haven't heard about any layoffs in June thus far. Someone mentioned layoffs at the GDFs. Which site? What groups? -miss understanding-

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Comment 6/04/10: Who the hell cares how much stock has been sold by Sam, or any other executive. You all need to stop worrying about things well beyond your control and focus on things you CAN change. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/04/10: Rumors are now out that IBM is planning on another RA, notifications can be going out as early as this June. Hopefully, this time around they will let go some of this worthless management and PM's! We are already down to minimal technical personnel, what gives? -Current IBMr-

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Comment 6/04/10: get support for COBRA plan -j-

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Comment 6/04/10: With more RA's still to make Sam more fatter figuratively, literally, and financially why should he quit next year? He continues to get fatter on all on us, the IBM employees, retirees, and RA ex-employees. All of you who look at this web site and are doing NOTHING only help him become fatter. He would quit and quit sooner if we had a union vote and had our contract by now. -anonymous-

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Comment 6/04/10: I f'ing hate this company. They're laying off people in droves in the so-called 'GDF' sites, after they con'd the Whitehouse into free money, and the US taxpayer into supporting offshoring. This complete and total f'ing insanity has to stop. Keep pushing IBM execs...you dumb ass***es. -Company-of-Swine-

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Comment 6/04/10: nextround: IBM shot itself in the foot with the untimely layoffs last year, pulling people out of projects before they were complete. It was a mess. They might be giving middle management more flexibility of the timing of the RAs. -QTR_CENTURY-

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Comment 6/04/10: Upon his departure from IBM, Gerstner received a 10-year consultancy contract worth up to $2 million annually, plus expenses and full use of IBM facilities and services, such as office, cars, aircraft and financial planning. He is only required to work one month out of the year. -Anan-

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Comment 6/03/10: I am happy to leave IBM I worked on a Lotus Notes organization with all the non education people and bad management made me sick to see them. what I have learn is political from many years -IBMer-

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Comment 6/03/10: Message for Sam @ 60 : Don't let the door hit you on the way out - A metaphor for: "I think you should leave. Do not pause or delay while you are leaving." Some say the front runner is Mills - gawd help us.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-28/ibm-ceo-may-step-down-in-2011-in-historic-succession-update1-.html
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/05/28/ibm-will-palmisano-retire-in-2011-and-who-will-replace-him/

Considering the transactions he did last week, Sammy's gettin' ready: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=IBM

28-May-10 PALMISANO SAMUEL J Officer 100,000 Direct Option Exercise at $120.12 per share. $12,012,000
28-May-10 PALMISANO SAMUEL J Officer 41,100 Direct Sale at $125.62 - $125.8 per share. $5,167,000
28-May-10 PALMISANO SAMUEL J Officer 19,400 Direct Sale at $125.41 - $125.61 per share. $2,435,000
28-May-10 PALMISANO SAMUEL J Officer 32,550 Direct Sale at $125.21 - $125.4 per share. $4,079,000
28-May-10 PALMISANO SAMUEL J Officer 4,700 Direct Sale at $125.01 - $125.2 per share. $588,000
28-May-10 PALMISANO SAMUEL J Officer 800 Direct Disposition (Non Open Market) at $0 per share. N/A -backdoor-

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Comment 6/02/10: Did upper management decide to stagger the layoffs in US ITD in order to fly under the radar and reduce the amount of bad press? It was very quiet on 5/28 and 6/1, which is surprising since I would think they'd want as many perms off the books by the end of the quarter as possible. Now I'm wondering if they'll just do it monthly in smaller numbers instead. Any info on this? Thanks. -next round-

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Comment 6/02/10: "IBM CEO May Step Down in 2011 in Historic Succession"
This is the best news I've heard in a long time. It's about time this jerk steps down. No one likes Sam. He is a greedy self-serving pig and has been bad news for the US IBM employees since day one. I can't wait to see Sam leave! -IBMer-
Alliance Reply: You'll be happy to know that there's a good chance that the NEXT IBM CEO will be worse than Sam. After all, he was worse than Lou Gerstner..Far worse. Be careful what you wish for.

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Comment 6/01/10: To -Anonymous- 5/30/10: I've seen many an RA and observed this pattern:
Employees get "selected" for an RA, with notifications scheduled on a particular day. Selected employees who are present at work that day (either working in an office or from home) are notified of the RA and given a certain amount of notice (usually 30 days). Selected employee who are absent that day for any reason (vacation, medical leave, disability, etc.) are notified on the day they return to work, and given their notice starting on that day.
For example, if the notification date is May 30; the notice period is 30 days; two employees have scheduled leaves; Employee A's leave already began on May 29 and is to end August 31; and Employee B's leave was about to begin on May 31, also to end on August 31: Employee A will be told nothing until September, then be welcomed back on Sept. 1 with the RA notice (A's 30-day notice period would be Sept. 1-30). Employee B would be notified on May 30 (B's 30-day notice period would be May 31-June 30, regardless of the leave). These just my observations. I advise you to consult a lawyer ASAP, and certainly before you sign anything. My condolences on your situation. I hope that being out of IBM speeds your recovery! -Gorya-

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Comment 6/01/10: To all who are affected by IBM RAs and those who are witnessing them, please keep updating everyone with information. Everyone (IBMers, customers, reporters, etc.) need to stay informed and aware of what is happening, and we cannot allow IBM to continue carrying out actions in the dark that have such consequences for workers, the economy, and our country while they control their PR with stories about how they are creating jobs and making the planet better. -Joe-

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Comment 6/01/10: "I am identified to be RA ed on June 30th. I have a medical problem and if I go on medical leave now, Can they still RA me on June 30th or they have to wait until I come back from my medical leave?"
What happened to me is I was on a medical leave when IBM "selected" me for RA. When I returned to work after the medical leave I was then given the 30 days to find another job, unsuccessfully of course which is what 99% of those RAed given 30-60 days have found out. My job was basically eliminated as an IT Server Support Specialist but the servers were not eliminated that I supported. Believe me: you can't escape an RA in this IBM whether you are healthy or not. IBM now probably considers those out on a medical leave as a drain on their profits since you are not billable for them during the medical leave. Employees not sufficiently billable for whatever reason are known to be "selected" for RA. -sby_willie-

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Comment 5/31/10: The word on the street is more notices going out on 6/1 for folks in US ITD. Gotta start staffing for the two new GDF locations. IBM is 'creating' jobs, you know.. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/30/10: I am identified to be RA ed on June 30th. I have a medical problem and if I go on medical leave now, Can they still RA me on June 30th or they have to wait until I come back from my medical leave? -Anonymous-
Alliance Reply: IBM can do anything it wants, to you. Don't expect any mercy or good will from them. They have selected you for RA, and they will do what they will. Sorry to be so blunt; but that's what "At Will Employee" means.

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Comment 5/30/10: to wundering, it doesn't matter if you are an employee for IBM or not, Artech and the other recruiters do not know whether you have worked for IBM unless you have informed them of this. I get contacted by Artech on going because of my posted resume on job sites. I am currently an IBM'er, for whatever value that has. -Doesn't-Matter-

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Comment 5/30/10: Ok, so here's the latest cr*p from, IBM. The middleware group I work with was severely cut during the last RA. There is one group that has 3 people left in it. Mgmt just told us that contractors are not to work overtime for the month of June. This leaves the one remaining reg standing. He will now be doing the on-call, filling in the gaps when the contractors have to stop working, and pretty much handling any of the sh*t that will be hitting the fan on the project work. When you think it can't get any worse....hold onto the steering wheel, 'cause IBM will veer off course again and put another stupid cost-cutting measure into place. -dun-4-

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Comment 5/29/10: IBM has been on a steady decline under the so called "leadership" of Sam Palmisano. I work for the jerk and have no respect for him. If you want a CEO to run a company in the ground hire Sam. The employee population in the US will continue to decline until it is just Sam and his cronies. -IBMer-

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Comment 5/29/10: Has anyone who has been RAed been solicited for contract employment when they haven't contacted Artech beforehand? If so, then maybe IBM supplies Artech with those they RA? -wundering-

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Comment 5/28/10: I would have posted this in the general comments section, but that is no longer available. Thinking of Memorial Day in the US this weekend and as a veteran and happily EX IBM employee, I have been appalled at the actions of IBM and just about ALL other US corporations ... I take a step back and say ALL CORPORATIONS, in any country where MANY have died to secure the freedom of their and other citizens, only to have any dreams crushed by corporate greed. Corporate morals no longer exist in the free world ... so the sacrifices of those who have served, and continue to serve and die are being thrown out the window ... it's a sad time... -ArmySarge-

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Comment 5/28/10: Things about Dubuque Iowa not too many people know or the public is not aware.
If your name is on the RA list and your job shows up in Iowa, you can apply and will get it since no specializes asIT workers in the area. You are guaranteed a job with the same payscale/band for 1 year if you choose to move to Iowa. Once the one year is up, your band and payscale will be decreased and you are not guaranteed a job. What is happening right now with masses of RA's not wanting to move to Iowa, IBM is getting all the contracting jobs and hiring anyone off the street. IBM is not telling their customers that and wait until the customer finds out the support is being channeled to Iowa and the contract will be canceled. How come no one is talking about the next wave of RA due to happen on June 1st? -Ben-

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Comment 5/28/10: The annoying spam from Artech recruiters for GDFs has started to increase once again. Could this be a sign of a huge push to increase low-skill/low-wage staff there to correlate with an RA? -Porkchop-

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Comment 5/28/10: Yep - I was made redundant in March/April. And yes there are more happening this week. It was the best that ever happened to me, IBM was getting so hard to put up with in their attitude to those that make them their money - I'm also selling off my stock asap. Good luck to those that are being hit this week. -ex-ibm-aussie-

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Comment 5/27/10: CDI sent along notice of overtime elimination through 5 July 2010. -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 5/27/10: Shouldn't we all be writing Congress about the jobs bill that IBM is vigorously opposing? -Think-

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Comment 5/27/10: Doubts on IBM jobs in Dubuque <article link> -Anon-

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Comment 5/27/10: To quote: "IBM spokesman Doug Shelton said this morning the company does not comment on “speculation, rumor and/or opinions. … We’ve made no announcements about total number of cuts anywhere. NUMBERS THAT ARE OUT THERE ARE NOT THE CORRECT NUMBERS”
So Mr. Shelton: the RA packages of the number of jobs that are eliminated by age and position/job title given to those "selected" for RA are not the REAL NUMBERS of those RAed?
So Mr. Shelton and IBM where are the REAL NUMBERS then? So thousands of RAed USA IBMers just DISAPPEAR somewhere? If correct numbers are not disclosed by IBM then IBM is in clear violation of Dept. of Labor laws. If these numbers are not the real numbers then IBM should be investigated and held fully accountable until the real RA numbers are disclosed. Mr. Shelton and IBM HR channels are masters of obfuscation, deception, and sheer misinformation. And the really sad thing is without the Alliance to be the watch group for IBM's business practices they get away with it. -RAed-

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Comment 5/26/10: In CA: SWG contractors told of week long furlough and that they should not work overtime until told otherwise -NotInIndia-

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Comment 5/26/10: Another round of RAs in Australia this week. -Aus-

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Comment 5/26/10: 2 days of cuts - Baulkham Hills Australia - operators, SDM's, project managers, RAMP, Automation, PCM - approx 40 in 2 days. When asked when this will stop, reply from L2 management "Get used to it GR is here to stay - and more cuts to follow". Just a matter of time. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/10: 12 jobs lost at the CSC in Ballarat this week. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/25/10: To Miss Understanding - you're not correct. You do NOT get removed from the RA list to then try to get placed. Once you're on it, you are on it, and nothing you can do will get you off it. Other things may transpire to extend you or otherwise, but you're on it and have to overcome it. Now, as to the weekly meeting, you are correct. What you need to find though, is a manager willing to do what it takes to build the case to keep you in IBM, THEN convince that review board that YOU are a critical resource and they should keep you rather than make this manager hire another candidate, since for all intents and purposes, you're gone already. There's no removal as a precursor, and the trick is finding some manager who is willing and has the ability to get you to that magic review board, AND convince them that you're too good to lose. THAT is the trick. And since Jan 2009, the managers with the willingness to try and ability to succeed in pulling that off are vanishing faster than the speed of light, I'm sorry to say. I tell you this detail from deep personal experience in this process. -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 5/25/10: "IBM hands out virus laden USB sticks at Australias Largest IT Security Conference "
That is hillarious! IBM has gone steadly downhill in the last decade. This is just one example of the stupidity of IBM management. -IBMer-

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Comment 5/25/10: 401k's are not a pension plan. If that was the case then all IBM executives would have no TOP HAT pension plans and would have 401k's in there place instead. It''s all about the money folks. IBM's money ; not your money. If IBM does some change to your benefits you can be sure it is not for your benefit anymore. -sby_willie-

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Comment 5/25/10: Hey Columbia, MS talk to Tulsa, OK and find out the REAL story about job "creation" with IBM. IBM and its executives are no better than snake oil salesman. Total charlatans and fakes. They just take the money in tax breaks and incentives, cry for more and run. -okie_dokied-

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Comment 5/24/10: What cities like Dubuque and Columbia do not realize is that once the tax and other job-creation incentives are over in ten years, there are zero incentives to keep the work or jobs there. These are temporary locations - just ask the Republic of Ireland and former Dublin campus employees how they feel about getting the shaft from IBM. -Frank-

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Comment 5/24/10: Yes, there are current pension change rumors that have been heating up. The talk is that our existing frozen pensions (cash balance accounts) would be converted to 401k deposits at year end. Today those accts are indeed still separate. Would be a big hit to those of us still eligible for enhanced annuity - currently that isn't honored if you take lump sum. So yes, if this comes to be, expect plenty of us to flock out the door in Dec. Might save blew from having a 4Q RA. -losing another 40%?-

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Comment 5/24/10: IBM hands out virus laden USB sticks at Australias Largest IT Security Conference

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/ibm-distributes-virusladen-usb-keys-at-security-conference-20100521-w1gv.html -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/24/10: >>To the person RA'd asking if they may be hired internally>>
It is difficult, but not impossible to get hired into another position after being placed on the RA list. First, you have to find a manager willing to work with you and go through the incredibly bureaucratic paperwork necessary to hire you. The paperwork has to go WWAAYY up the food chain. There are special meetings held with the likes of Joanne Collins Smee (or the equivalent in your division). She has to give the final approval to remove you from the RA list. Most managers don't want to deal with the added hassle of hiring someone off the RA list, when there are so many other internal candidates looking for work. If you know a manager personally who wants to pull for you, that can work in your favor. But even after all the paperwork is done and the multiple layers of management have signed off on the paperwork, Joanne can squash the deal at the last moment. One more thing. The meetings to remove people from the RA list occur once a week, so if your paperwork misses this meeting, and it is your last week, you're out of luck. Sometimes time just runs out. -miss understanding-

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Comment 5/24/10: http://online.barrons.com/article/SB127439660229594645.html?mod=BOL_hpp_highlight
| FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010
IBM Insiders Sell Over $40 Million in Stock -Anon-

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Comment 5/24/10: "The rumors to force all old pension plan members into a 401k only in Dec. just got feet.... So you will not have a monthly payment for life, and your surviving spouse will be on their own once you're gone. Hope they are market wizards so that the money don't run out. Looks like there will be a lot of people retiring in the 4th Q."
What does this mean to the US employees? I'm on the old plan. Must I retire at the end of this year or see my pension converted to a 401K plan? -IBMer-

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Comment 5/23/10: In reply to -UpToDate- Yes the info was from last year, but how many people have seen the article?
If you're so up to date, then maybe you should post all you know.. which from your tone, is significant. To say the British are coming, should be replaced with more reductions are coming, signed -Felix Unger-

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Comment 5/22/10: RE: The rumors to force all old pension plan members into a 401k only in Dec. just got feet.... by -IchBinMuede-
Nothing like posting 'current' info. This article was dated July '09 with actions having been completed in April '10. Would have been more appropriate to comment on current status of proposals stated in content of article. But then, if you listen closely, you can hear some recently awakened IBMers shouting 'The British are coming...the British are coming! -UpToDate??-

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Comment 5/20/10: There is a much better life after an RA from IBM. Always been a top performer and I am much happier after my RA and not having to work for an idiot manager who was PMP certified but had NO CLUE about anything and had no respect from anyone on my team. I have zero stress anyone and it is only a matter of time before I get a new job as companies are contacting me. I am back in school and enjoying every minute of it all. -happytobeanexibmer-

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Comment 5/20/10: The rumors to force all old pension plan members into a 401k only in Dec. just got feet....
So you will not have a monthly payment for life, and your surviving spouse will be on their own once you're gone. Hope they are market wizards so that the money don't run out. Looks like there will be a lot of people retiring in the 4th Q.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/08/ibm-shuts-final-salary-scheme -IchBinMuede-

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Comment 5/19/10: To RAed: Hopefully most people got the message by now that if you are RA'd, you are marked and nobody will hire you. People have posted this for years, I have posted it with my own experience. Managers will NOT help you. I did the same thing. I knew managers, asked for help, got nothing. My own manager would not even answer my emails that last 30 days. There are ways to get them though. I am now in charge of the IT budget where I work, a million dollars a year. Most of that was going to IBM, servers, desktops, laptops, AS400 and support, maintenance contracts. No more. I switched all our hardware and support and IBM no longer gets that 1 mil a year from us. They cut my measly less than 70k per year pay, and I cut almost a million going to them. Who got the worst end of that deal? IBM workers need a UNION or there is no hope. Oh yeah, I make more now too. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 5/19/10: >>To the person RA'd asking if they may be hired internally>>
Use IBMs phones and high speed links to make contact with as many other potential employers, while still working for IBM (ie. those last 30 days). Many employers will hire you in a heartbeat, "while you are working for IBM", will not touch you when you get RA'd. -no_ky-

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Comment 5/19/10: I was given an end date from IBM a number of years ago when the account I was working on was terminated. I had more than 30 days, and I was able to find another position. Even so, it was extremely difficult to get approval to move into another department/tower/division at that time. I had to fight to get it to go through. This time, with the RAs of 2009-2010, there is no hope of moving to another position within IBM. They dangle the possibility in front of you, but you have been selected. Sure, there are stories of some folks getting saved, and there will be a few exceptions. Mainly I believe that they just like to state for PR purposes that affected employees have the option to find something else in the company. It sounds good in press releases. -PurplePeopleEater-

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Comment 5/19/10: Not to be redundant, but I have to sadly reinforce the sentiments expressed here about getting another position in IBM after being put on an RA list. I figured it was futile, but I also decided that despite that, I would kick myself if I did not keep trying to find another IBm spot till "death". I knew deep down that it was indeed a fool's errand, but felt that I had invested so much over the years, I could not go without a fight. I had a couple of senior VPs as well as some other very well placed people try for me and then tell me they could not help me, but no one said to give up (wish they had). I did have a few interviews, and a very supportive 1st line who really did try to crash down doors trying to keep me in IBM, and the hiring mgrs even said they wanted me, but as soon as they tried, I got back from them a polite "there is another candidate that..." but I could tell by their words that it was because I had the scarlet letter(s) on me. (not to mention they told me I was by far their top candidate) In two cases, the job req I was applying for mysteriously disappeared as soon as they tried to bring me on board. In hindsight, it was a waste of time and emotional turmoil, but if it happened to me today, I don't know if I'd do anything different, as that is the kind of person I am - go down fighting. But the reality is (and I've seen a number of colleagues "get it" after me - all with the same results) that out of every 1000 people in a RA, I'd estimate 3 get other jobs in IBM. Cruddy odds. To those of you still in IBM, I have only one piece of advice. Organize or get your resumes and LinkedIn profiles squared away. And if you do get that wonderful RA, just accept it and move on that day if you can. -RAed Jan 09-

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Comment 5/19/10: How Other Workers Compare to Your CEO.
How many workers could be supported by S. J. Palmisano's pay package? S. J. Palmisano made $24,313,795, which is equal to:

14 Nobel prize winners
60 average university presidents
60 U.S. presidents
89 AFL-CIO presidents
129 Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
758 average workers
1,612 minimum-wage earners

How long would it take to equal S. J. Palmisano's total compensation for 2009?
A Nobel prize winner would have to work until 2024 A.D.
An average university president would have to work until 2070 A.D.
The President of the United States would have to work until 2070 A.D.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney would have to work until 2099 A.D.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would have to work until 2139 A.D.

An average worker would have to work until 2768 A.D.
A minimum-wage earner would have to work until 3622 A.D.

Now you know your worth... -IchBinMuede-

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Comment 5/19/10: I can't imagine after how this company has treated me, wanting to find another job with IBM. I am done at the end of the month, and right up to the end they expect me to be training my offshore replacements. IBM Canada is a sinking ship, and while I'm not happy to be out of a job, I couldn't stay in good conscience. The way they are "rewarding" their most talented and loyal employees is appalling -Ra'ed in Markham-

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Comment 5/17/10: When I was RAed I was told by my manager that I had 30 days to find another job within IBM. I found around 10 good job fits but could not even get a reply from the hiring manager much less an interview. One particular job was in an area where I knew an adjacent 1st line quite well who reported to the same 2nr level. I had worked for this 1st line for several years and got excellent reviews. I called him at home in the evening and asked him if he would put in a good word for me. He was very sad and told me there was nothing he could do. He basically said I was wasting my time looking for a job in IBM. No one could hire me. In hindsight I wish I would have never wasted my time looking for another job in IBM. It falsely kept my hopes up. -RAed-

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Comment 5/16/10: To the person RA'd asking if they may be hired internally. The chances are not good within the 30-day window. I have been RA'd twice, and rehired once (outside of the window - after separating). This is not meant to discourage you, just being realistic -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/16/10: I wanted to take a moment to validate everyone who is advising the person asking about being hired internally. What they are saying is the truth. To the person who is asking about getting hired internally - please don't make the same mistake I did and waste your time hoping to get a new appointment. I was originally scheduled for termination in October of 2009. Because I thought I might have a chance, I searched the Lotus Notes database of temporary positions and found one that stretched me out for one month. I did this to give myself more time searching for internal permanent positions. In the end - I screwed myself. If I had accepted that original termination date, I would have been eligible for 46 weeks of unemployment. Working that extra month made me miss the cut off for emergency benefits. 23 weeks later, I have yet to find another job, and my unemployment benefits run out in 3 weeks. I know it's so hard to accept, but please believe what they are saying. Once you are selected as an RA, you will not get a new position within IBM. I'm sorry. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/15/10: I've been RAed twice and rehired twice so I don't see the need to discourage people from trying to find jobs inside IBM once on the list. -anonymous-
Alliance Reply: You apparently, are an exception to the overwhelming evidence that jobs are essentially frozen to the majority of RA'd people on 'the list' . We've had plenty of posts; even from former managers proving that to be true. Is it possible to get hired from within, after making the RA list?...Yes. Is it probable, based on the information we have received thusfar? Not likely. That's not just discouraging, it's just the facts. IBMers need to organize and make this kind of conversation irrelevant, by forming a strong union, inside IBM and pushing back at IBM for a fair employment contract that says in writing how "layoff's" will be handled. Individual negotiation carries no advantage for the majority of individuals.

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Comment 5/15/10: Reverse outsourcing, according to Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/237953 -Mule Skinner-

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Comment 5/13/10: Answer to question posted on 5-13-10 ....I have been identified for RA from June 30th. How does HR treat my candidacy?
Many years ago I worked on a database which contained the names of possible RA employess. It also contained salary and number of years with the company along with other info. This was so management could instantly predict how much money the comapny could save by RAing 10%, 20% to 100% and to make sure they maintained a certain % of older and newer employees so not to get accused of age descrimination. If an employee was on the list as RA then he/she was not to be considered for any job inside IBM unless there was a strong business need. This business need had to be approved by a VP level. So basically you have 2 chances .... slim and none. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/13/10: To the person asking about getting hired internal... once you are marked RA the chances are slim to none... I personally had a Sr. VP of a division go to bat for me and he was told no... also most managers were and have been told that internal hiring and external hiring have been frozen... -Chris-

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Comment 5/13/10: State of Indiana sues IBM for $1.3 billion Read more: Triangle Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/05/10/daily55.html

IBM IS TURNING BAD COMPANY !!! They Send all American Jobs to India China and Brazil. Their Support is very Bad Now. -p.ramki-

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Comment 5/13/10: Anonymous - don't get your hopes up to find a new job within IBM. It really does not happen, so begin the process to find your next step outside IBM. The many, many thousands before you have learned to move on. The soon you do the better off you will be. It is a great time to take the severance and unemployment compensation and take some time to be nice to yourself and think what you really want to do. You'll get $2500 for retraining and it may be a time to follow a dream. Maybe the money is less, but you may find more family and "me" time and be happier. -anonymous-

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Comment 5/13/10: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/174631,indian-outsourcing-firm-looks-to-prison-for-data-entry-work.aspx

Indian outsourcing firm looks to prison for data entry work
By Iain Thomson
May 13, 2010 12:56 PM

Inmates signed up for Business Process Outsourcing.

An Indian outsourcing firm is to run one of its data handling centres in a local prison as part of a new public/private partnership.

Radiant Info Systems has come to a deal with the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to hire 200 inmates of a state jail to work on data entry, and the processing and transmitting of information.

"The idea is to ensure a good future for the educated convicts after they come out of jail," CN Gopinath Reddy, director general of prisons in Andhra Pradesh, told the BBC.

"With their experience of working in the BPO [business process outsourcing] in jail, any company will absorb them in future."

The outsourcing centre will handle banking information 24 hours a day using a shift system. Inmates will be paid US$2.20 a day, compared to US$0.33 cents a day for other work.

The prison was chosen because it has almost 40 percent of inmates classified as educated. The area also has good IT infrastructure.

"We have identified the area in the jail where the unit will come up. It will have computers as well as connectivity," Radiant Info Systems director C Narayana Charyulu said.

If successful the scheme will be extended to other prisons in the area. -Anon-

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Comment 5/13/10: Check this out: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12/ibm_2015_profits_double/
Another reason for more offshoring, job cuts, etc... to try and match this ridiculous prediction. If you are a shareholder, you'll do good, if you are an employee, forget it. -Anonymous_UK-

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Comment 5/13/10: I have been identified for RA from June 30th.If I apply for any job within IBM, and otherwise qualify, will I still be selected or rejected because of my being identified for RA.How does HR treat my candidacy? -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/12/10: So, Sam P. just announced that IBM will double its earnings per share by 2015. The only way that they can guarantee that is for the weird and aggressive rumors of cost cutting at the expense of anyone and anything to be true (or just the tip of the iceberg for what is really being considered). Things are only going to get worse. Can people learn from what has happened to IBM employees already, or will they keep taking what IBM dishes out? -SickOfItAll-

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Comment 5/12/10: IBM in court in Australia -
http://www.zdnet.com.au/ibm-grills-flightdeck-workers-in-court-339303053.htm?omnRef=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdnet.com.au%2F
-CourtAction-

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Comment 5/11/10: Just to set the record straight, Sam was a Marketing Rep in Baltimore when he started. I do not believe Marketing Reps attended any programming classes. They had Systems Engineers, AKA SE's for that. CE's for hardware. Giving the devil his due, Sam was a peddler and a damn good one. Sadly he is just another example of the Peter Principle. People will get promoted until they reach their level of incompetance then they will stay at that level. I believe Sam had the nickname " The Closer" because of his uncanny ability to close sales. Bash him for being a poor CEO but give programmers their due. No one would expect a peddler to be a programmer also. Peddlers may have attended classes where they learned terminology to use when selling software but the actual nuts and bolts were left to programming professionals. Now if only the Watson Family had stayed in charge of IBM maybe we would still have the full employment policy, But thats just wishfull thinking. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/11/10: More RA's coming. 18 year employee in Calgary, AB RA'd effective May 31, 2010 -Avenger- What dept are you in and how many are affected? This round of RA's appear to be very quiet -craziness-

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Comment 5/11/10: This is a move in the right direction with a bill being sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to further hold corporate executives accountable for company management and fraud. Thanks to the Alliance for their ever vigilant efforts in this area. -Former True Blue-

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Comment 5/10/10: More RA's coming. 18 year employee in Calgary, AB RA'd effective May 31, 2010 -Avenger-

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Comment 5/10/10: -Who-Da-Thunk- Supposedly Palmisano only barely got thru BPE (IBM Basicx Programmer Education) class when he was early in his IBM career. So a sub par or lousy programmer becomes a CEO one day. So why should we all be surprised now? IBM will RA just about all experienced USA programmers unless we do something now.-anonymous-

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Comment 5/08/10: -Who-Da-Thunk- That would be IBM employees without a contract panhandleing. The Executives would be the ones riding past in stretch limos laughing at them. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 5/07/10: " I saw this headline (didn't read it): 'How IBM Aims to Tackle Childhood Obesity' and thought to myself "They lay people off so they have no money to feed their kids" -anonymous- "

Now that is funny. I didn't see IBM listed here either:http://www.bcorporation.net/community -Anon-

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Comment 5/07/10: The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)is a very prestigious organization and carries a lot of clout. Their blog sugests Congressional hearings on IT industry crowdsourcing & offshoring. Interested in running an email campaign to the chair of the appropriate Congressional Committee?
http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/ibm-denies-that-it-will-cut-75-of-workforce-by-2017
-annonymous-

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Comment 5/06/10: To -Getting sick of this-; IBM has innovation, it is called "Work for FREE". IBM has stooped so low that they tried to monatize the open source software market and they collaborate college students and computer hobbiests to submit program code solutions free of charge. They could keep most of the code and use it anyway for free if their disclaimer is written good enough. How pitiful and low can a once great company stoop. Don't be surprised if you see them panhandling next to the homeless someday to compete for their last dollar. -Who-Da-Thunk-

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Comment 5/06/10: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36826679/ns/business-careers/
As companies hire again, more jobs go freelance As recession fades, experts see dearth of full-time positions with benefits
By Eve Tahmincioglu
updated 10:00 a.m. ET, Thurs., May 6, 2010
Stephen Luebkert was laid off in March 2009 from a Boston-based semiconductor company. He lived for four months on his severance while he looked for another full-time job and eventually ended up working again for the same firm. The difference is that now he is a contract employee. He no longer gets any of the perks of being a permanent worker, including paid vacations or sick days, health insurance or tuition assistance. And he estimates that he makes about 20 percent less — for the same job he was doing before. The thing he misses most? “A feeling of security.” As employers begin to cautiously hire again after the deepest economic downturn in a generation, Luebkert is in the vanguard of an emerging new contingent work force. For some businesses, these contingent workers could become a permanent solution, eliminating a huge swath of full-time jobs with benefits, say labor and business experts. “It’s cheaper to hire contingent workers, but also more flexible for employers,” said Bill Kahnweiler, associate professor and human resource expert at Georgia State University’s Department of Public Management and Policy. Contingent workers allow companies to stay lean and avoid hiring more permanent workers. “If someone decides, ‘We need to be this size,’ it’s far easier to do that with contract workers and temps," Kahnweiler said. -Anon-

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Comment 5/06/10: I saw this headline (didn't read it): 'How IBM Aims to Tackle Childhood Obesity' and thought to myself "They lay people off so they have no money to feed their kids" -anonymous-

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Comment 5/06/10: A story showing the power of a union versus IBM in Australia -
http://www.zdnet.com.au/ibm-to-appeal-union-win-339302923.htm -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/05/10:
Cuts in Montreal, leftovers from last wave.
Batch operations : 7
mainframe ops : 4,
iSeries : 1, BCRS : 1.
The sad thing is that IBM won a huge new deal the very same day and we need people for it. Then again I have seen that before, huge cuts on an account days before we need the people for new projects. -Canonymous-

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Comment 5/05/10: Big job cuts hurt shareholders in the long run:
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/big-job-cuts-mean-short-term-gain-long-term-pain-for-shareholders-study-finds-478944.html -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 5/05/10: Facebook is hiring software engineers in Seattle. http://www.facebook.com/careers/department.php?dept=seattle&req=109973792358419 -Thought of RAed IBMers when I saw this -

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Comment 5/04/10: Where do I get my information from? From people who "retired" but did not want to retire. -Not Retired-
Alliance Reply: Ok. How many people told you they did not want to retire; but did 'retire' because IBM forced them to? As I said in my reply below, there is no way for Alliance@IBM to track retirees that leave IBM and go to other jobs. We realize that what you say is probably true; however, we have no way of tracking or "accounting" for the loss of those IBMers jobs.This is one very big reason why IBMers should organize and fight back. If you're not retired but still working there; you should be joining the union and organizing your co-workers. If you disagree with that, then there isn't any other way we can help you change this situation.

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Comment 5/04/10: -SleeplessInMarkham- Which dept in Canada was affected? -ohhhboy-

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Comment 5/04/10: Thanx Anonymous- but I was looking more at someone who brought a charge against IBM of age discrimination and was able to get the EEOC to pursue damages against the company -screwed-

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Comment 5/04/10: Another RA hitting today. Tulsa call center. Nobody is safe! get out while you can! -herewegoagain-
Alliance Reply: Do you have any specifics? How many? Do you know any of the IBMers that got RA'd?

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Comment 5/04/10: Georgia Department of Labor denies unemployment until separation/severance money is used up. They calculate the end date based on monthly wages prior to being RA'ed. Then you are allowed to collect. -Anonymous-

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Comment 5/04/10: Anyone file an age discrimination charge against IBM with the EEOC; since I would like to hear of your experiences? -screwed-

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Comment 5/04/10: How do you account for all the retirees that suddenly leave one day and go to other jobs? Do you track those RAs? -Not Retired-
Alliance Reply: If they retired of their own choice, it is not considered an RA. There is no way for Alliance@IBM to track retirees that leave IBM and go to other jobs. Where do you get your information about "all the retirees from"?

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Comment 5/03/10: Cuts in Canada today - gone by end of May. No numbers yet, but just got a call from a old friend he got the call from his manager this morning. -SleeplessInMarkham-

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Comment 5/01/10: Regarding crowd sourcing - GBS is already "participating". They call it "Liquid GenO". They post requirements for some coding and it can be posted to either internal IBM or external people. People provide code and then it gets reviewed. If their code is selected, they get to bill their time if they are internal and I'm assuming they get paid (don't know how much) if they are external. Everyone one else who submitted code, but didn't get selected get nothing, they can't even bill their time. Doesn't this sound like yet another way to have less IT people? Why anyone would want to engage in this so-called "competition" is beyond me. -Getting sick of this-

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Comment 4/30/10: IBM forced to negotiate with Union in Australlia... about time!... and all it took was 80b union members demanding the right to negotiate.
http://www.itwire.com/it-people-news/enterprise/38681-union-sets-5pm-deadline-for-ibm -Analyst86-

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Comment 4/30/10: To anonymous, IBM does pay $2500 and quickly to those who show proof of payment, proof of completion (Grades or certificate are fine) and of course, filling out the form you got in your severance package. Get the login at acclarisonline.com and file a help ticket to get the fax number to send all the information. It's the easiest $2500 you'll ever get from IBM. Are you really going to let them keep that money? -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/29/10: I read the article about cloud sourcing with total disgust. It made me donate a years membership to alliance. Any one who has been watching what is going on knows it to be true. Remeber IBM denying Cringly reports of 150,000 layoffs. If you want further evidence check out IBM's own web site. http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/bcs_humancapitalmgmt.html
or just search Tim Ringo IBM. For a fee, IBM will tell other companies how to commoditize its employees. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/29/10: @anonymous: No, it has to be a course with a completion certificate. So, no books, no self-study. No materials at all unless they are required by the course. Just another dirty trick to keep you from actually using the money. The other dirty trick, of course, is that you have to pay for the course up front AFTER losing your job. I doubt much of the retraining money ever gets used. I managed to spend $1500 of mine. -Earnest-

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Comment 4/29/10: please Resource Allocate expats who mysteriously can find more time to take pictures and blog during office hours while on assignment than actually deliver REAL work. The amount of money spent alone on his housing expenses in Roppongi could pay for 20 head count easily. What a waste. Read on http://bartman905.wordpress.com/about-2/ -RAed_in_Toronto-

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Comment 4/28/10: I think some may be interested in this article published in India, because it speaks to our "collective fate." The comments following it are also insightful.
Title: Is it worthwhile to hire non-techies for techies' work?
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Is_it_worthwhile_to_hire_nontechies_for_techies_work_-nid-67500.html
-gone fishin'-

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Comment 4/28/10:
From: LKeyte@oaot.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 4:27 PM
Subject: IBM DSS Q2 Work Reduction Announcement
Importance: High

Dear Employees,

The following note is being sent to all employees presently on the IBM DSS contract.

PLEASE NOTE: This does not affect all employees. You will be notified individually by your OAOT manager if you are to be subject to the reduced work schedule.

In light of the current economic conditions, the ITD US Organization of IBM has determined subcontractors will operate on a reduced work schedule. Work schedules are to be reduced by 15% from April 26th through July 2nd. This action is not a reflection of any dissatisfaction over the service provided, but rather a business decision.

Please DO NOT address this with IBM clients.

It is expected that the normal schedules will be resumed after this program is complete.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause and it's our hope it will not effect you. -RA'ed in 2010-

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Comment 4/28/10: If IBM cuts 90% of perms and rehires them as contractors, the customers will hire contractors directly and cut IBM out altogether.. no need for IBM. Why pay extra when you can cut out the middle man, especially with all of the horrible service provided by slave labor offshore employees? Perhaps they want to get out of the service industry altogether. -cut out the middle man-

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Comment 4/28/10: Contractors hours and pay have been cut for years and years now. This is nothing new just like the cuts every quarter to IBM'rs. Everything on this site is old news reposted. The only way to stop the madness is to organize and unionize. Without a union contract in place, IBM can and will do whatever they please to any and everyone. The executives have their contracts and are padding their retirement while the grunts without a contract continue to be treated like dirt. If you don't have a union contract you are at the mercy of greedy executives. Join up and get every one of your coworkers to join up, or don't complain -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 4/28/10: http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/article.aspx?liarticleid=55343

IBM crowd sourcing could see employed workforce shrink by three quarters
Louisa Peacock23 April 2010 16:53
This article first appeared in Personnel Today magazine. Multinational firms saddled with huge people costs are considering downsizing their permanent workforce and hiring sub-contractors on a scale never seen before - presenting an "enormous" management task for HR. IT giant IBM told Personnel Today that the firm's global workforce of 399,000 permanent employees could reduce to 100,000 by 2017, the date by which the firm is due to complete its HR transformation programme. Tim Ringo, head of IBM Human Capital Management, the consultancy arm of the IT conglomerate, said the firm would re-hire the workers as contractors for specific projects as and when necessary, a concept dubbed 'crowd sourcing'. What is crowd sourcing? Crowd sourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by an employee and outsoucring it to an undefined group of people on a project-by-project basis, in the form of an open call. Firms wishing to follow this model could encourage employees to set up a company with 10 or more colleagues, and buy back their services as and when needed.

Source: Burnt Oak

"There would be no buildings costs, no pensions and no healthcare costs, making huge savings," he said. Outsourcing experts said employers from both the private and public sector were increasingly using the model as they looked to squeeze people costs post-recession. When asked how many permanent people IBM could potentially employ in 2017, Ringo said: "100,000 people. I think crowd sourcing is really important, where you would have a core set of employees but the vast majority are sub-contracted out." He stressed the firm was only considering the move, and was not about to cut 299,000 jobs, as staff would be re-hired as contractors. High-profile employers in the oil, manufacturing, IT and services industries are considering downsizing their permanent employee base and instead using contractors, according to outsourcing experts. Robert Morgan, director at Burnt Oak consultancy, said the trend stemmed from American-owned companies trying to improve the ratio of how much money per employee per quarter they can make. "If you can dump your staff that improves your ratio, and then the analysts tell investors to buy stocks in the shares," he said. "The UK service industry is competing against low-cost countries such as China. It also competing with new forms of technology, so the last thing organisations want now is people [costs]." He said the potential IBM model would "encourage employers to follow suit". However, Morgan warned the move was fraught with potential problems. "Employees just sitting there will think the axe is coming to them. This could force employees to leave, giving them a case for constructive dismissal." Bernard Brown, head of business services at consultancy KPMG, warned firms should be wary of the "enormous" HR issues at stake. "How do you encourage these people to stay working with you? The retention issues are huge. Staff morale could also be affected." Other problems included the contractors not always being available when firms needed them, and the quality of work suffering. Ian Brinkley, associate director at the Work Foundation, said: "It's really important that companies don't just look at cost savings when considering [the IBM] model. They have got to be prepared to invest a lot of management time into handling relationships and networks and the long-term applications of it all." However, an IBM spokesman denied the firm was about to shrink its permanent workforce by three quarters in seven years. He said: "The comments are without merit. This was pure speculation about future job movements without any basis in fact. In fact, the comments run counter to IBM's history of growing its global workforce over each of the last eight years." -Anon-

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Comment 4/27/10: "Nobody"''s article reeks of something. I'm no defender of IBM practices and in fact, that's why I, and all of you, know that IBM would NEVER EVER tell a publication of such plans. -gman-

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Comment 4/27/10: http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/news/blogpost/7495185/
looks like more coming down the pike... -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/27/10: More on cloud sourcing and job cuts. Alliance quoted.
http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/news/blogpost/7495185/ -member-

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Comment 4/27/10: Do you know on the RA benefit for education ($2500) if you can get reimbursed for the technical courses you can download that have no formal completion? The form you submit says it needs proof of completion. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/27/10: I can confirm the contractor 15% reduction thing. I still have several friends back at IBM I keep in touch with. one is a contractor and he told his first line that he couldn't take the pay cuts anymore and to be aware that he is looking for work elsewhere. -RA'ed in 2010-

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Comment 4/27/10:
"To: All CDI ITD Resources
From: Andy Morgan, Director
Subject: 2010 Q2 Work Reduction Notification

IBM recently notified CDI that from April 26th through July 2nd all CDI ITD resources are required to reduce normal work schedules by 15%. This action is not a reflection of any dissatisfaction over the services provided by you or CDI but rather an IBM business decision. Your IBM Manager will work directly with your CDI Account Executive to coordinate a reduced work schedule that minimizes any impact to IBM or its clients. You should receive the communication regarding your reduction schedule from your CDI Account Executive. When you begin working the reduced schedule and notifying CDI of these reduced work hours, please enter 0 hours into the CDI Web Based Time reporting tool and note the words “work reduction” in the comment section. A number of CDI resources may not be affected by this action at this time, due to critical IBM business requirements. IBM managers will communicate these exceptions to your CDI Account Executive. This decision and action is not to be discussed with any IBM clients. It is expected that normal work schedules will resume after this request is completed. You should understand that this action is being taken by IBM to retain as many CDI resources as possible for future work. Please address any questions to your CDI Account Executive." -Anon-

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Comment 4/27/10: Confirmed, 15% hours cut this quarter, after the 13% pay cut in 2008. -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 4/26/10: Contractors received email today that hours would be cut 15% this quarter -- Here we go again. From the contractor perspective, 1st quarter last year took 13% pay cut, next four quarter 10% of hours -- so basically working for 23% less. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/26/10: Interesting article about future possible job cuts:
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/04/26/241033/IBM-HR-shake-up-could-see-299000-permanent-staff-jobs.htm -Nobody-

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Comment 4/26/10: Interesting, and worrying article regarding the cutting of 3/4 of worldwide IBM employees.....bring them back as contractors: http://www.hrzone.co.uk/topic/strategies/job-cuts-hit-nhs-and-ibm/102792 -Anonymous_UK-

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Comment 4/26/10: to FormerIBMer - until and unless there is a union at IBM, or until and unless IBM once again treats its U.S. workers with respect, I will continue to specify any and all other competitor products over IBM. The competition's product is just as good if not better. -Gone in 96-

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Comment 4/25/10: To -P.O'ed in Canada. I am pretty sure the next group of RA victims will be told their fate at the end of May. (and then depart end of June). This is why I say this; There are several folks in my department (I work in ITD/SSO) who were originally RA-ed in March and then extended until the end of May. The manager slipped and told one of them, "There was a paperwork slip-up and a mistake was made. You were not supposed to be included in this round, but in the next round in May. Thus, we will be extending you until the end of May". I am in the US. It may be different in Canada. -dun-4-
Alliance Reply: And yet, the IBMers left to experience that indignation, disrespect and contempt from IBM management; still do not make much effort to organize. Alliance@IBM is here to help those IBMers organize in the US; but we can't help if no one joins. We can't help, if no one wants to step up and do something. We can't help, if no one believes that publicly fighting back can make a difference. Take anon's advice below: *Join the Alliance*. Remaining quiet and hiding, do not work forever.

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Comment 4/25/10: Changes in Global Administration (Secretaries). Only band C and above will get support from IBM secretaries. The rest will receive support from contractors. Global Admin is big on using U.S. contractors (Manpower) for low cost support of customers. Since the majority of regular employees DO NOT support Band C execs, how they'll achieve this is unknown (the rumor is the selling off of Global Admin) Most of the high level execs sit in NY and will NOT feel any pain or inconvenience from any changes. It's good to be King! *Join the Alliance* -anon-

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Comment 4/25/10: To: -RAed last Jan- Thank you for the information, it was very helpful. In regards to a June lay off, I've heard that too. I'm in GBS in the U.S. In the job role I'm in, I something get wind when HR/Senior Leadership are working on the latest cuts. So far, I haven't seen this activity, but who knows. I would say it takes about 2 -2.5 months to work through the process of picking names, etc. before an announcement is made. I heard about the of the March 1 layoff in January. -Florida Resident & Alliance Member-

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Comment 4/24/10: "Suit yourself, but it sounds to me that you are cutting off your nose to spite your face and not delivering the best solution for your employer or customers. -FormerIBMer- "
Sounds just like the TV commercial … over priced support does not mean best solution …-IchBinMuede-

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Comment 4/24/10: The rumour has it that there is going to be a huge hit in June. Quite frankly, I can't wait. I'm getting increasingly frustrated training my replacments. Does anyone know anything more concrete than the rumours we have here in GBS Canada. -P.O'ed in Canada-

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Comment 4/23/10: To Florida Resident and Alliance Member- There is a 2 week waiting period after you first apply. If memory serves, you apply, and the first two weeks you're unemployed, you don't get anything, and then after that you receive payments every two weeks, and you claim two weeks at a time. And it is very timely if you do it all online. e.g. Laid off on April 2. You apply on April 5. You start getting benefits as of April 19. And when you claim weeks, let's say on April 19, toy claim the prior two weeks. By Friday that week (April 23) the money is usually in your bank account if you choose direct deposit. The 2 weeks waiting is a pain, but after that it pretty much works like clockwork if you claim the weeks on time. And they do send you reminders. Hope this helps... -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 4/23/10: To Former IBM'er: Write your contracts to require US citizen workers. -SZCZEBRZESZYN -

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Comment 4/22/10: Found this link which shows how much unemployment you get by state. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/LearnToBudget/how-much-jobless-pay-would-you-get.aspx -anonymous-

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Comment 4/22/10: To those at IBM who are receiving unsolicited e-mails about employment elsewhere: this may be IBM's attempt to have you leave without their laying you off (and paying severance). And yes, I'd guess you might be on the list to potentially be laid off. It's consistent with IBM's stealth practices. -Think-

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Comment 4/22/10: "One of these times after an RA I hope to see a HUGE jump in the number of new members ."
I guess comments in the non Job Cuts section don't get as much traction. This section is specific to Job Cuts. -Which Section-
Alliance Reply: Since the beginning of March 2010, we have shutdown a majority of our comments sections; leaving Job Cuts Reports the only one for anyone to post to. That's why you don't see 'much traction' there. Our decision was based simply on the fact that our membership continues to decrease. We could not justify spending our members dues to support visitors comments from people who don't or won't join the Alliance. We are gaining memebers, now; but we are offering them a private members only forum to discuss all the other comment topics, including Job Cuts Reports.
If you are an Alliance member, and wish to post comments in the members only forum, we can acomodate you.
First, you must verify your membership by simply including your email address that you used when you signed up as a member. We do not and will not post that information, publicly.
Second, Once we verify your membership and email from your post, we can send you the link to the private forum. You can then register for the forum, using your verified email. I will personally make sure registration is swift, and then you can begin posting comments in several of the sections of the private forum.
Just to be clear: If you use the Job Cuts Reports board to post Job cuts related information, and you are a member, we will still protect your identity and will post your comments with a psuedonym of your choice or as Anonymous.
Again, The private forum is for dues members only. It is protected by the same Federal laws that protect us from anti-union trouble makers and union busters. Be sure to include your email that you used to sign up as an Alliance member. Contact us if you have more questions.
Rick White
Treasurer, Organizer, IT Administrator
and Health & Safety Rep
CWA Local 1701
Alliance@IBM
www.allianceibm.org
Twitter ID: @Allianceibm

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Comment 4/22/10: I have read several comments on this forum from former IBM'ers who feel they are sticking it to IBM by not buying IBM servers. If they are referring to UNIX servers I think they are sticking it to their current employers for basing their decisions on revenge for IBM rather than what the best solution for their current company. As a former IBM'er and UNIX architect, I would be amiss in designing a project based on personal feelings and ignoring technical data . Even the price for performance is in line with their competitors. Suit yourself, but it sounds to me that you are cutting off your nose to spite your face and not delivering the best solution for your employer or customers. -FormerIBMer-

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Comment 4/21/10: Just want to say Thank YOU SAM! I was RA'd in March and within 3 weeks I got a great job with a competitor for much more $$$ and all thanks to the training I received and the education that was paid for by my uncle SAM. Regardless of what "big" corp you work for - manage your career - if there are any training/educational programs you can avail of - then do so - even if you must pay for them yourself. FYI - I found "Big Blow" carries alot of clout - pay it up in interviews - Other big corps are impressed. PS - dont bother being bitter - IBM has moved on and so must we - to bigger and better. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/21/10: To various posters: From the Business Week article on home page link ...
"IBM on Monday reported first-quarter earnings of US$1.97 per share on $22.9 billion in revenue, a rise of 16 percent and 5 percent, respectively, over the same period last year. Net income was $2.6 billion, a jump of 13 percent."
The key here is revenue (sales) only grew 5%. The increase in net income of 13% was largely due to reduced expenses. The accounting equation for an income statement is Revenue - Expenses = Net Income (or profit). There's a big difference in net profit due to increased revenue vs cuts in expenses. That's why Wall Street reacted the way it did and stock fell. -annonymous-

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Comment 4/21/10: -RAed last Jan- Thank you for answering my question. Just one more, if you don't mind. Can you collect immediately after you get laid off? Of do you have to wait 6 months (I'll get 26 weeks severance). Thank again, it's much appreciated! -Florida Resident and Alliance Member-
Alliance Reply: FYI.... If you are an Alliance member, and wish to post comments in a members only forum, we can acomodate you.
First, you must verify your membership by simply including your email address that you used when you signed up as a member. We do not and will not post that information, publicly.
Second, We have set up a private forum for members only. Once we verify your membership and email from your post, we can send you the link to the private forum. You can then register for the forum, using your verified email. I will personally make sure registration is swift, and then you can begin posting comments in several of the sections of the private forum.
Just to be clear: If you use the Job Cuts Reports board to post Job cuts related information, and you are a member, we will still protect your identity and will post your comments with a psuedonym of your choice or as Anonymous.
Again, The private forum is for dues members only. It is protected by the same Federal laws that protect us from anti-union trouble makers and union busters. Be sure to include your email that you used to sign up as an Alliance member. Contact us if you have more questions.
Rick White
Treasurer, Organizer, IT Administrator
and Health & Safety Rep
CWA Local 1701
Alliance@IBM
www.allianceibm.org
Twitter ID: @Allianceibm

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Comment 4/21/10: -What are you expecting?- One of these times after an RA I hope to see a HUGE jump in the number of new members . Not this time unfortunatly. Maybe next time. Or the 20 after that -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/21/10: To -screwed2- The job listings are from within IBM, and are sent from different people to "Server Computing CoP members" -Uncommon Cents-

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Comment 4/21/10: 2 responses here... To screwed2 - Yes, the Florida max is $275/week + the still current (I think) "Obama subsidy" of $25/week. So I was getting $300/week. Plus, if it is still in place (I am now employed, so I don't know) the first $2400/yr of unemployment comp was tax free/exempt. (yes, I claimed it on my 2009 return with no problem) To "anonymous" WRT the employee directory, it's not a manual process; it does reflect BluePages, but while they take you out of BP almost immediately, the online directory does not sync that often. I was in there for at least a month, maybe more till I disappeared from it with no intervention on my part. IMHO, don't waste your time; you'll be out of there soon enough. -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 4/21/10: Bob Evans in attack mode again.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224400887&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News -member-

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Comment 4/21/10: The article per the link on the home page, to quote a section below. It seems that there must be a much higher number of cuts than we know of - the amount saved is pretty high, at 1/2 BILLION - much higher than 1st Q 2009. IBM incurred $560 million in expenses during the quarter for "workforce rebalancing," a phrase it uses to refer to job cuts. That was up significantly from $265 million in the same period last year. The most recent cuts will yield "substantial" savings for IBM in later quarters, Loughridge said. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/21/10: "IBM incurred $560 million in expenses during the quarter for"workforce rebalancing," a phrase it uses to refer to job cuts. That was up significantly from $265 million in the same period last year. The most recent cuts will yield "substantial" savings for IBM in later quarters, Loughridge said. "The company's performance in Q1 can be attributed partly to improved efficiency" .
Efficiency? How can IBM be efficient if they continually have to do their rebalancing act. That would show they are not efficient. The global economy is in a world recession still. No wonder the IBM stock price didn't bounce up on this supposedly dazzling 1Q10 report. Is IBM also cooking the books ala Enron? -anonymous-

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Comment 4/20/10: If you have been "RA'ed". You may be gone from blue pages. However, you may still be listed on the "Online Directory". http://www.ibm.com/contact/employees/
Appears that IBM has no process to remove a person after access has been cut off. I have been working weeks to get removed. So be a pain and ask to be removed. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/20/10: To -Former IBM'er-: There is something you can do. I worked for big blow and was ra'd. Now I am in charge of an IT department. When it came time to refresh the servers and other equipment, I kicked IBM out the door. We were paying them thousands a year in maintenance contracts and would have spend 100k on new IBM equipment but I went with other brands and kicked them to the curb. -anon-

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Comment 4/20/10: To Uncommon Cents - now that you mention it, I DID start getting emails about open job openings, they were coming from contracting firms I thought, and I just ignored them. They started coming a few months before I was RA'd. I hope for your sake the whole thing is a coincidence.... it is NOT fun to be in this position (I was RAd Mar 31 2010). btw... thanks to RAd last Jan and "anon" for your replies to my FL unemployment questions... appreciate the advice. -screwed2-

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Comment 4/19/10: -RAed last Jan- I'm also in Florida and feel the axe is coming soon. Do you mind sharing how much the max amount per week you can receive in Florida. I remember reading on their website it was like $275/per week. (yikes)! -anon-

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Comment 4/19/10: To -screwed2- If memory serves, when I "got it" last year (in Florida), I just filled in the form online, and it all just started working. I got no DOL number; I just put in the name of my employer and the rest of the info and that was it. If you've not applied yet, apply today. Do it online and the claim your weeks online, with direct deposit. While I'd rather have not had to do it, it worked perfectly and timely.. -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 4/19/10: To -screwed2-: Each state is different in unemployment rules. The following is the link for Florida unemployment. http://www.floridajobs.org/unemployment/
Pension / retirement income in NJ is only affected based on company contribution, and IBM froze its pension plan years ago. Recommend you file for unemployment as soon as possible after your last day at IBM. The questions you must answer for Florida will be part of the application. Read the website for info. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/19/10: I made it through the last RA. I am an Alliance member. Soon after the last RA, I started receiving available job listings. I asked other coworkers if they were receiving them as well. The answer was NO. I am wondering if anybody else is receiving these emails and if it is an indication that I am on the next RA list. Just curious. -Uncommon Cents-

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Comment 4/19/10: Stimulus bill passed in Feb. 2009 allows separated employees to only pay 35% of COBRA payment. Former employer pays 65% and gets write-off. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html -Pay only 35% of COBRA-

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Comment 4/18/10: As a current customer of IBM, it is easy for us to see what is going on. The IT employees who transferred to IBM are being fired (RA’d). At first, their positions were not being backfilled. Now our former employees are systematically being replaced with recent graduates of foreign universities (the contract specifies that services must be provided in-state). There is no doubt that we would have much better service if our contract was being serviced by experienced and fairly treated IBM employees. But there isn’t much that we can do about the situation because we have something that the IBM employees do not have - A CONTRACT. -Former IBM'er-

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Comment 4/18/10: "Once again the date of severance has passed and the information seekers have gone away."
Uh, kinda thought THIS section was for posting of specific information of Job cuts, Resource Actions and Firings.
What exactly are you expecting to see when there is nothing to post that is SPECIFIC to this section's purpose? -What are you expecting?-

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Comment 4/18/10: Given what I just posted, that the USA workforce is targeted to be 20% of the IBM workforce (therefore 80,000), I would not be surprised to see the USA workforce actually reduced to even 50,000 in the next few years. This year seems on target to go below 100,000 as the reliance on foreign workers continues to escalate. And consider how many of that 100,000 here are imported foreign workers. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/18/10: To -Hegedus: I also saw a presentation file several years ago that showed a target of only 20% of the IBM workforce to be located in the USA. That was broken out into 10-15% as landed resources (foreigners brought in on visas) and therefore 5-10% as Americans (assumed to be both USA citizens and legal workers). -anonymous-

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Comment 4/18/10: I see references to DOL number not being provided and its impact on unemployment benefits. Can someone tell me what "DOL number" is? Does anyone know about unemployment eligibility in Florida? I missed retirement bridge by 2 months, but elected to start the annuity of my vested benefits now so that I can get by until/if I ever find a new job. I can't figure out if that precludes me from FL unemployment benefits or not. Anyone have any experience in FL? And, is the letter we got from our mgr about the RA enough evidence we are now"unemployed"? -screwed2-

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Comment 4/17/10: To Hegedus: 10 percent of what? 10 percent of the headcounts of 5 years ago? Of today? What about the management teams? Similar cuts there -oneofmany-

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Comment 4/17/10: "Saw that my ex-manager did not enter the"DOL account number"
Yep, IBM's tactic of trying to screw you one more time once you are RA'ed so you'll have to wait longer for your first unemployment check. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/16/10: Heard from a 1st line manager that has always been correct about ra's, and heads up projects for offshoring, that IBM's goal is to get the US head count down to 10% by the time they are finally done with all the ra's. I've never heard him say something that didn't actually happen yet. -Hegedus-

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Comment 4/16/10: Check out this ranking IBM has, due in large part to the masacre of US employees over the last few years. I was cut in this most recent round effective 3/31 - this just makes me sick -
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1004/gallery.fortune500_mostprofitable.fortune/5.html -screwed2-
Alliance Reply: Sorry for the omission of the link, the first time. I included it this time.

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Comment 4/16/10: Once again the date of severance has passed and the information seekers have gone away. Some to search for new employment and some to hide and hope the next round misses them also. A few have had an awakening and decided its better to go down standing then kneeling and have signed up as new members. For now all that is left is the silence of the lambs. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/15/10: Doesn't make much sense - announcing new 56,000 sf facility...but no jobs? Answer: Automation with remote control assist (when needed) from the Asian countries. They only need one American (high school education) to clear the jams. Fact. -end_of_IBM_US-

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Comment 4/14/10: See other companies are corrupt too.... http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1247191
Oh wait, Cognos is an IBM company isn't it? ;-) -en Mass-

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Comment 4/14/10: Anonymous said "Saw that my ex-manager did not enter the"DOL account number" That is the same thing that happened to me. Took forever to get it. -Unions are the only thing that can save us-

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Comment 4/13/10: Somebody want to clue me in on what this is all about? Doesn't make much sense - announcing new 56,000 sf facility...but no jobs? http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9F29K1O0.htm -annonymous-

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Comment 4/13/10: Anyone ever wonder whether there will ever be a Tech Workers Union, like there is an Electrical Workers Union? -Unions-
Alliance reply: There are plenty of tech workers in our parent organization, the Communications Workers of America. In fact the CWA is billed: the Union for the information age. Not all workers in the Electrical Workers Union are electrical workers by the way. Unions have many different "job titles" in them.

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Comment 4/13/10: look at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/ he has a article about IBM Abandons U.S. Workers -dutch guy-

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Comment 4/13/10: IBM Retail store got hit hard with layoff 3/31 sales an tech support hit hard. 10 tech support people and 5 sales people that i know of more were cut too. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/12/10: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2010/04/12/ibm_job_cuts_compulsory/
IBM job cuts go compulsory. Managers at IBM Global Services in the UK were originally looking for volunteers to cut head count by about 500. But even though they got more than this number of volunteers the process is going to become compulsory for some people. A source told the Register: "It's a mess, especially after all the pensions trouble. People facing redundancy will now be notified by 1 June and will leave IBM on 5 July. It is being run from the top - lower down managers don't know what is going on." ............. -Anon-

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Comment 4/12/10: A bit of trivia to consider when you look for a miraculous or legislative fix :
When I started my 10 year career as a Band 8 in GBS, I normally was deployed into deals where IBM billed my time at $155/hr low end and as high as $295/hr (as a pseudo band 9/10). My utilization ran roughly 90 – 95% (Gross revenue ~ $375K+). When I left IBM, due to the “full claim” labor model, my utilization ran roughly 105% and my billing rate was between $85/hr and $145/hr (Gross Revenue ~ $250K).
According to our management, this was the way of the world and it was much better to use folks @ 105% then let them sit idle on the bench. Now, I’m no math major, but seems to me that $375K is MORE than $250K? Hmmm, perhaps the model they are using is flawed? NO WAY, IBM never makes Management decisions that are flawed – therefore, we need cheaper staff to get the margins we need, so off-shoring we go. Until the model above changes, guess what, you cost too much! And from what I was told by some more candid managers, there is a lot of pressure to reduce the hourly rates further to get more clients and increase sales, so if I were in India I’d start to worry as well – some emerging markets are cheaper than India these days. -RA'd in 2009-

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Comment 4/12/10: To those recently resourced, there is up to a 3 week period after 3/31 where you do not have medical/prescription coverage until COBRA kicks in. I suggest you call benefits at 800-796-9876. They told me I could pay for my prescription at a pharmacy and be reimbursed later when I was unable to get a refill via Medco. If you need a prescription ASAP, IBM Benefits can do an emergency update. What a mess -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/11/10: We have moved from a country that landed on the moon to a country that bails out its banks and hedge funds. The fact that IBM has discontinued the "Thanks" program is immaterial to me, as I would no longer wear anything with the IBM logo on it. Stand up for yourselves -Pickles-

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Comment 4/11/10: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304703104575174293867620832.html
.....
The Justice Department hasn't confirmed the existence of the investigation, and a spokeswoman declined to comment Friday.
But several companies said they have received requests for information on the way they hire employees.
"IBM is one of many companies that have been contacted by government officials in a broad-ranging inquiry of technology and nontechnology companies regarding hiring practices," said company spokesman Edward Barbini. "We are collaborating with the government's inquiry."
.....
-Anon-

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Comment 4/09/10: Re: Bob Evans recent article - I wonder if there's any relation here?
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_evans.html -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/09/10: Hmm, the US should get back to growing as soon as possible. This guy should be voted world ruler for this astute insight. But if companies like IBM keep laying us off, there IS NO MARKET in the US, and the US WILL NOT GROW. Basically like saying to a plant, we're taking your water and nutrients from you, but grow anyway. Any extreme is bad. Full protectionism is bad, as is fully open outsourcing, and history is showing that without regulations, companies don't know how to see the bigger picture to balance, rather than going too far to one side for their own selfish benefit, and how that's cutting themselves off a the knees. Profits are good. Needed. But trying to get the max quickly rather than balance is the way to a quick death, albeit with a pretty coffin. Sam and co. need to see that (I suspect they do, but don't care for selfish reasons) Consistency beats intensity every time. Sam and Co. (and Geithner) either don't get it or don't care. I suspect the latter. -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 4/09/10: re: Geithner vows to block protectionism
And that removed the gloves that weren't even on as far as corporate America is concerned. The CEOs got their way, Obama is a no-op, America is no longer the country that I used to admire, respect, and aspire to. As a nation you used to stand up, stick together, and come together like the irresistible force but it is sad to see the ease with which CEOs are able to trample on the workers. Corporate greed and the "I'm alright, screw the rest" attitude has destroyed America in my eyes. In times of crisis people often show their true colors and the execs/CEOs are showing theirs. They will save themselves first and good luck if you can find a liferaft that isn't full of them. The legacy that this leaves for the children frightens me. Obama stands idly by and may as well get his fiddle out. Good luck to all of you. -Utterly screwed-

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Comment 4/08/10: Folks
I have been saying for YEARS the Government is not going to help us. We must help ourselves. Turbotax Tim is telling the truth for a change. No one is going to try to stop IT offshoring. Where is the public outcry for S.E.C investigations into IBM after Moffat pled guilty? The average Joe in America could care less about IT jobs because we have been viewed as elitist snobs by those who can not comprehend IT work and what it is or does. Everyone assumes we all made huge salaries and sat around in cushy offices reading the Wall Street Journal. Expect no public outcry or grassroots groundswell of support to our cause. IBM knows this and abuses us accordingly. Hell, We can't get enough of our fellow inmates in this insane asylum called IBM to join a union effort to end their own abuse so why should anyone else do anything more then we do for ourselves? All the doom saying about security of data and the disasters that will surely come fall on deaf ears and just sound like whining and sour grapes to people outside of our industry. Within our industry someone is making plans to capture all the IT workload when the disasters do strike and people panic and demand the work return to the US. They will do it with desperate IT workers who will have gone years without a job who will work at minimum wage just to have a job. Corporations will have succeeded in dragging the US IT wage down to third world levels and reap the benefits of it in our lifetimes just because we failed to stop them before it was too late. At least we read it or heard it straight from our own Government and we can stop deluding ourselves and take action. Live Better, Work Union. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/08/10: From Financial Times: -

Geithner vows to block protectionism
By James Lamont in New Delhi
Published: April 7 2010 10:39 | Last updated: April 7 2010 17:31

The US government has vowed not to harm India’s IT outsourcing sector as it battles to create jobs at home in the worst labour market since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said during a two-day visit to India that protectionist measures to prevent jobs from migrating outside the country would do more harm to the US than good.

Battlelines blurred in dispute over renminbi - Apr-05

“We are not going to go down that path,” promised Mr Geithner. “We know that it would make us weaker, not stronger.”

He also said that the administration of Barack Obama, president, would not seek to curb the investments of US companies overseas as“our fortunes are tied with the world”. There have been proposals to trim the tax privileges of US companies that operate internationally.

“American companies are long in the world,” Mr Geithner told Indian business leaders at a discussion hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

“They are good at what much of the world needs. A huge part of the basic economic challenge we face is to give stronger in- centive for private investment, help support innovation and try to make sure there is more investment and stronger exports globally.”

Mr Geithner said Mr Obama was “deeply committed” to trying to build a consensus among Americans for more open trade to support the recovery.

“We have got the worst labour market since the Great Depression,” the Treasury secretary said. “Most Americans are still going through an incredibly difficult economic series of challenges and yet we’ve been very successful in working to keep our markets open under all that pressure.”

IT outsourcing, which is heavily dependent on business from the US, is one of India’s flagship economic sectors. Companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Genpact helped propel the economy to growth rates of 9 per cent before the global financial crisis and was responsible for creating 45 per cent of new jobs over the past 10 years.

Last year the global IT outsourcing market was estimated to be worth as much as $250bn (€187bn, £164bn).

“Some of the sounds coming out of the US have caused concerns here,” said Tarun Das, the president of the Aspen Institute in India. Local businesses were wondering whether “the authors of globalisation are turning to protectionism”.

Senior policymakers say that the Indian economy is fast becoming more export-oriented and more vulnerable to protectionist action by other large economies.

“If we want to get to 9-10 per cent growth it’s in our interest that the US should get back to growing as soon as possible,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India’s powerful planning commission.

“It’s also [important] that [the] market remain open.” -Yes-

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Comment 4/08/10: "In fact, Mr. Conrad, you and your fellow anti-capitalists should be thanking Sam Palmisano for navigating the company through such a tumultuous time in the global economy and for creating an operating model whose financial stability allows the company to employ more than 100,000 workers in the U.S."
Anti-capitalists? Is Bob Evans kidding? What a jerk. Bob Evans should stick to making sausage and stop writing stupid articles. -IBMer-

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Comment 4/08/10: Page 2 of today's Financial Times (04/08/2010). "IT Outsourcing Pledge""Washington pledges to continue outsourcing IT"
There's just no one to turn to. Both Obama, and Republicans have whored themselves out to IT outsourcers. -Anon-

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Comment 4/08/10: Received my separation notice 8 days after my exit interview. My ex-manager did not have it ready at my exit interview. Also, after getting the notice by Fed Ex. Saw that my ex-manager did not enter the"DOL account number". Contacted my ex-manager for the information. Now being ignored. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/08/10: RE:IBM Canada.. I posted a link for that article on 4/04/10. I'm surprised more people aren't upset about the comments made in the Evans article. I too tried to post a reply and it keeps telling me my reply is blocked due to profanity. Here is the message:
"What Bob isn't telling you is that while these jobs have been eliminated from the USA , they are being quickly replaced by cheap off shore positions. In many cases the employees who were laid off had to first train their 3rd world country replacements."
Looks like the fix is in to me. That guy is obviously in IBM's pocket because that entire article could have been an IBM press release -Quimby-

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Comment 4/08/10: I posted a comment yesterday in the Bob Evans article yesterday. They were not posted, although subsequent posts have appeared. I am thinking it is heavily edited with some mildly opposing viewpoints permitted to give an impression of a balanced view.
My posting was along these lines:
"IBM is projecting a false financial situation and going on resource actioning valuable employees. A honesty about the financial situation will help. In the Toronto lab, during the past one year, IBM has eliminated colour printer, cut the number of BW printers by 1/3, eliminated OT, eilimating pager pay, no pay raise even for those youngsters who are coming off probation, no Christmas lunches, telephone calls are being monitored with login id, minimal AC, almost anything that can be cut is being cut. Can this be an indicator of a well managed company. If Sam were a good executive he would come clean with employees and explore ways to rectify the situation. Instead thousand of valuable employees are being resource actioned indiscriminately by poor managers. IBMs future is being mortgaged by Sam for immediate benefit to him and all those with stick options."
Now I know in US many of the cited items were gone a while ago but I do not wish to insult anyone. Plus this is something that we in Canada feel the loss immensely. -IBM Canada-

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Comment 4/08/10: To: I was 1 of the IBM employees that after giving IBM 18 yrs of my life:
First of all being an IT Specialist, you are lucky you lasted this long.
Second, what makes you any different from the rest of us? We all put in the extra hours and got nothing for it. It's the IBM way.
Third, if you didn't participate in the OT lawsuit, it's your loss. I did because I knew eventually the RA was coming and now I have the cash in the bank. You didn't mention in all these years if you were an Alliance member? At least I left knowing I spent years trying to get people to see the light and sign up. Unfortunately I worked with mostly kiddies that just didn't get it. They will however "get it" eventually in more ways than one. Brush yourself off and get back out there. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 4/07/10: Does anyone know how the TAA benefits work? The website is a little confusing... Do 3 employees from the same location need to sign up? All my peers are from all across the country and we all work from home. -Alliance member-
Alliance reply: First you should call your state TAA contact to see if they already started a petition for your group: http://www.doleta.gov/TradeAct/contacts.cfm
They will also walk you through the process and get the ball rolling.
As a member you should call the office and we can offer further help. (607) 729-4571
Yes the TAA info is confusing. It was originally set up for static manufacturing plant sites not the kind of mobile and scattered workforce IBM has. But more and more TAA petitions are being filed for IBMers.

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Comment 4/07/10: RA'd on 3/31/10 from the Software Group -Cognos
Do any of the RA'd people EVER get hired through GOM? There were literally 1000's of jobs posted and no matter how qualified I was I was rejected even with a good rating -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/07/10: Note about the TAA form. The petition must be completed and be 3 or more workers at the same location.-Neal Watkins-
Alliance reply: We have been able to get action done just by calling the State reps. If your job was offshored please contact the Alliance at: ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 4/07/10: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/taa/taa_search.cfm
Search for IBM. Latest certifications for TAA benefits, if you lost your job to offshoring -Alliance-

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Comment 4/07/10: Question regarding jobs cut list received at RA time: Once a manager is fired, is he or she now able to visit this site and submit the RA list? I ask because there have been managers I know of in the last round that might be willing to contribute to the jobs lost count if they were allowed and it did not violate any rules. -Critical Mass-
Alliance reply: Yes, ex-managers can visit and contribute information.

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Comment 4/07/10: I was 1 of the IBM employees that after giving IBM 18 yrs of my life to them was recently cut. With in those 18 yrs working for them I received two 3's one of which was at the beginning of my career in North Castle and the 2nd just recently. Even when I was outsourced from Pathmark I received 2's. along with high praise from the customer in the support I have given them. I did not agree with my PBC results and was called in to meet with my Executive Project Manager ask to why I did not agree with the results. I was more or less reassured that I had nothing to worry about because there is no action taken with receiving one 3 rating. I was told it usually takes 2 ratings of 3 back to back . I have not told my wife yet that I will be unemployed as of June 18th , the reason I have not is she has been unemployed going on 2 yrs. My managers were aware of but since it does not effect them but why should they care. I will probably have to my house on the market after a year or two and sell 1 of the cars to survive. That is really the sad part about this, with 2 of us out of work it is definetly going to be difficult to survive. Besides the normal expenses a family has I am faced with medical expenses due to a degenerative disc condition . I've already had 3 major surgeries with the need of 1 more. Working many hours, week-ends, even through vacations when I had a laptop near me I get a kick in the butt. I never complained about not getting paid for the additional hours, never went in on any of the lawsuits yet I was forced to take a 15 % cut in salary, going from exempt to non-exempt and not receiving an increase in salary for years . Being an IT Specialist I was supporting the US and gave my all, this is what I get in return. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/06/10: To -Screwed and Tattooed-: Thanks for mentioning that to all these people. I now remember they did that to me in 07. They say your benefits are carried on for x amount of months but don't tell you that you are shut off and have to call to reinstate. I went to the doctor and found out the hard way. Good thing I didn't have to go into the hospital. Manager was useless at the exit interview. All they want is for you to sign the papers so they can go back and sit in their office and do nothing. Everybody call and reinstate your benefits until you find something else, and don't forget, most new jobs will make you wait 90 days before your new benefits start so keep that in mind also. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 4/06/10: Attention front line managers whose employees are off-shore. It won't be long now until managers are trained in China and India to take your place. If engineering employees are cheaper in India and China, management is cheaper too. -Peter ClearCase-

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Comment 4/06/10: Outsourcing education:
http://chronicle.com/article/Outsourced-Grading-With/64954/ -reader-

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Comment 4/06/10: RE: Bluepages US counts. And the assumption that everyone who left was fired vs retired or left on own accord. I agree we should not assume that is the count of fired employees, that count could possibly be even higher, because Sammy took government $$ and claimed to have CREATED jobs which could also offset the count just in the opposite direction. RA'd employees need to send in the reports for us to have the most accurate count. -Critical Mass-

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Comment 4/06/10: to Ethical_War: not buying the part about all the listed companies being ethical. Best Buy, for example,deprives many employees of benefits by scheduling their "part timers" an hour short of qualifying for benefits. They also routinely immediately fire those who give notice. -Think-

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Comment 4/05/10: IBM is not seen anywhere on this "most ethical" companies list..wonder why? http://ethisphere.com/wme2010/ -Ethical_War-

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Comment 4/05/10: Never been happier. Always a top performer for 6 solid years with ratings of 1 to 2+ never lower and this is how they repay you. I sleep better and wake up clear headed. I am sure of getting a job soon and not having to work at crappy IBM where IDIOTS BECOME MANAGERS and now it should be renamed as INDIAN BUSINESS MACHINES. BTW, I am INDIAN. -terminated-

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Comment 4/05/10: Just warning those who were RA'ed in 3/1 you might want to check your bennies... they shut everyone off on 3/31 without telling you anything... The only way for you to make sure you have coverage is to call into the ESC and talk to them to reinstate your bennies.. Its not seamless... and it is slimmy what they did... only way I found out was a friend told me when he checked.. I called and they dropped me... -Screwed and Tattooed-

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Comment 4/05/10: Some one mention that sammy was voted #30 in forbes... based on share price. seems that sammy boy wants to meet his promise to the street to meet or beat the $11 a share proffit before he retires next year.. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/05/10: TO: IB eMbarassed et al.: Exit dates can be extended for non-business reasons too. My exit date was extended from 3/31 to 4/7 simply because I was on vacation when the RA was announced and could not be reached. No impact on severance or other terms as far as I can tell. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/05/10: re: Disney Account. Like all accounts the employees are scattered all over the country. Div GBS -anon-

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Comment 4/05/10: Re: Bluepages US counts. That assumes everybody who left IBM between those dates was laid off. This is a poor assumption. People leave on their own or retire, too. There is no way to relate blue pages counts with the quantity of folks RAed. I would really go what RA packages identify. -anonymous-

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Comment 4/05/10: If anyone is interested in Canadian numbers employed.

Oct 1st 27,459
Oct 13th 27,406
Oct 20th 27,397
Nov 3rd 27,293
Nov 15th 27,259
Nov 24 27,144
Jan 28 26,754
Feb 19 26,526
March 26 26,499
March 29th 26,437
March 31 26,295
April 5th 26,252
-whatever-

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Comment 4/05/10: Jobs cut on Disney account. IBM moving work to India. -anon-
Alliance Reply: Do you know how many jobs were cut? Do you know the division? Do you know the location?

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Comment 4/05/10: Dues paying Alliance member here. Just noticed that Forbes named Sammy one of the "30 Best CEOs". Their only metric seemed to be (not surprisingly) Earnings Per Share. Guess this will reinforce to Sammy and his band of thieves their overinflated opinions of themselves, and confirm their conviction they are doing the right thing by offshoring the company. -Gone in 96-

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Comment 4/05/10: According to Blue Pages, US employee counts decreased by 3390 between 3/1 and 4/4. So, I think your estimates as to how many were laid off in this last round were low. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Thanks for this information. We went by the numbers on resource action packages we received. Obviously we did not get all of them.

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Comment 4/04/10: There is a scathing article against CWA vs IBM in the 3/29/10 version of InformationWeek.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223800065
I wonder how much IBM is paying this guy. Remove if this has already been posted. -Quimby-

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Comment 4/04/10: -Marked-, if IBM can hire someone with a lower up-front cost to replace you, they will. You are never safe. With a contract, you could be safer. We're losing two and gaining more than that in other geographies. -CDI_Drone-

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Comment 4/04/10: "If a person was RAd once and got other job are they safe from RA again."
No, I was RA'd in 2004 (survived) and was RA'd again. -another-

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Comment 4/04/10: "If a person was RA’ed once and got other job are they safe from RA again."
Is this a question? If so, then the answer is no. I know several people that were RA twice in one year but where lucky to find jobs at ibm. They still look over their shoulder everyday when the rumor mill starts. -IchBinMuede-

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Comment 4/04/10: I was a victim of the March 1st Resource Actions. 3 in my department. Yet, my manager had 3 open hiring tickets out, on the Global Opportunities Marketplace. My title: Channels Technical Sales Specialist -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/04/10: been almost 3 yrs now since i got the call from my manager. me and a buddy of mine both wfh but in diff dept.'s we got our calls about 2 mins apart. we wondered what would be worse to lose our job or be left behind. looks like the ones left behind were the unlucky ones. it took both of us almost a yr to find a new job, he now works for a local IT company and I got a job with ups. If there was such a thing as a good time to lose a job it was then and not now. the job mkt is so tough right now. my apologies to the folks who have lost their jobs at ibm. it is truly a life changing experience and made me look at things differently and appreciate my family more than ever....good luck everyone... -ra'ed in may 2007-

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Comment 4/03/10: Dear Single Mom, if you were a regular employee IBM's pay days have been bi-monthly (not bi-weekly) for the 12+ years I have been a regular employee. You did mention you got paid on the 15th and last day of the month (which is bi-monthly). There is a difference between bi-weekly vs bi-monthly as a bi-weekly employee gets paid 26 times a year and a bi-monthly employee get paid 24 times a year. IBM's severance is one week for every full 6 months of service so 5 full years = 10 weeks of pay. So to get your weekly rate you would take your monthly x 12 then divide by 52 weeks. Your severance based on 5 years would be your weekly x 10. Not defending IBM as I'm disgusted myself but the math if your a regular employee based on 5 years of service is correct. -anon-

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Comment 4/03/10: I heard a rumor that IBM is going to keep abusing employees. Firing them whenever they feel like it. Taking away benefits and overcharging for the few remaining untill the employees band together in a union to stop them or the company folds in America whichever comes first. I first heard this rumor in 1999. So far it has been true. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 4/03/10: If a person was RAd once and got other job are they safe from RA again. Doing this every year is hard work and I do not envy the people who need to find other work. If 20% goes each time. I figure no one left in 3 years because they got rid of people in past 2 years. But that does not seem right. I hear that people were let go last week, 4 people I know and they are good. -Marked-

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Comment 4/03/10: Royally unhappy here ! My role was made redundant and offshored in February....although i was told i had unlimited time to search, on the bench for another role. Have since been dumped in a temporary role getting told it was one thing and am now sinking. My Manager asked me was a redundancy something that i would ever "consider".....i have since been told that severance pay in Australia has been FURTHER reduced to 2 weeks per year of service and then only 1 week for the remainder. Does anyone have any idea whether this is true or how redundancy payouts are calculated in Australia? -sydneyworker-

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Comment 4/02/10: To not yey RAed young ladies - are you still working hard for your husband IBM? Now you should realize, your husband will divorce you and marry to a younger cheap lady when you get 50 years old. -50yearsold-

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Comment 4/02/10: There go the rumors again. And the person who lost a 1/2 week pay over around $200. You have bigger problems, like finding a job. And the person who was upset they needed to sign up for a billion more hours. This is nothing new in this industry. And yes, people who get RAd do find work, I know a handful of them. Turn all this negative energy into something positive. And prove there is no need for future rounds of cuts, because everyone will bring in 1 million dollars in sales each, to expand the company. -Huh-

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Comment 4/02/10: My last day was 4/1 after 33 years. My manager told me on 3/2 and I did not hear another word from him. I finally called HR and asked about an exit interview, where to hand in my laptop, badge, etc. He finally left a message for me. Guess the hardest part was leaving without any human interaction. All my retirement stuff was handled over an 800 number. The only people still left in my location/productivity center that I cared to say goodby to were the security guard and mailroom staff. They all cried...guess more are leaving than I even knew. Yes, I was very angry at first. Now, I'm looking forward to finding something else and making IBM pay for their actions. Not the best attitude but our leadership has devolved to the point where its laughable to be seen as a US based company! Sam is something like the third highest paid exec and his success comes at our expense. Time to move on. -Gone but not unhappy-

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Comment 4/02/10: I got mail from my manager that I have been identified for RA ,the termination date being June 30th.Does that mean I am RAed with effect from June 30th or I am in the RA ed list from March 31st itself when I got this info.I am in the GBS. -Anonymous-

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Comment 4/02/10: A friend in HR told me that there is no plan to change the sev pay schedule they have now. That would cause a lot of trouble for IBM. Of course, there is no gaurantee. -lastshots-

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Comment 4/02/10: Heard a new rumor today that IBM will be reducing severance to a max of 2 weeks for victims of RA adding insult to injury. -nohope430-

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Comment 4/01/10: Anyone reading this who hasn't YET been RAed on 3/31/2010, gez what? you might be next. And what R U doing about it? -anonymous-

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Comment 4/01/10: IBM MBPS eliminates positions without replacing the person. This does not mean the person RAed was not needed. It is just that IBM figures they can risk not replacing the person and hope "all continues okay with what resources left" to make sure the job gets done. This is fact. My former job was never back filled as a server administrator. The servers, though, remain running unsupported and unadministered: unattended. I bet other IBM divisions or LOBs do the same. I bet IBM customers wonder what is really going on. Well this practice is going on. I figure they should know. -da_facts-

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Comment 4/01/10: I got RAed from GBS YESTERDAY.I HAVE 90 DAYS TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY WITH ibm. Is there any past history of RA ed IBMers getting rehired. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Very few RA'd employees find jobs during the 30 to 90 day search. Comments from employees, over the years evidence points to a freeze on hiring employees on an RA list. Some employees have been brought back as contractors though.
To all affected by this latest job cut, please send the RA document to us so we can count the number RA'd and have it for our records.
Send to: ibmunionalliance@gmail.com

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Comment 4/01/10: "I confirmed today that RA's will be occuring each quarter this year.. and at a minimum 20% of GBS will be RA'ed"
I've heard, through the grapevine, that the next lay off will be in June. If 20% of GBS is laid off in 2010 -that's around 8,000 people. While I'm not doubting anything with this immoral company; was the source reliable, or just rumors? -Alliance Member-

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Comment 4/01/10: Is Palmisano above the law? He is RAing thousands of American workers cutting their jobs while at the same time taking stimulus money to create jobs and sucking up to Obama. What a two faced slimy jerk. I am ashamed to be associated with this slimeball company. -Sammy is a Slimeball-

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Comment 4/01/10: IBM double screw me!!! When I got hired, my salary was based on 1 month payment. Which is fix amount of payment of 12 months. When I got paid, it is biweekly check: I check on the 15 of the month, and another check the last day of the month. For example if my monthly salary is 1000$, I got 500$ bi weekly. So I got RA, and my last day was 03/31/2010. I worked for IBM 5 years, and I should get 5 bi weekly check.

For the same example, I should get 500x5= 2500$ I got my check today for separation:

This is how they calculated: my monthly salary 1000 x 12 months= 12000 divvied 52= 230.7x10= 2307. So instead of 2500, I got 2307.

When I call Payroll, I told them when I got hired, I didn't get contract for 52 weeks pay. I only get 12 months payment which is 48 weeks!!! They said nothing I CAN DO!!! SO you understand, Last 5 years, I got paychecks, one for 15 of the month and last day of the month. Not every 2 weeks!

I am single mother and that is so much money for me. Is there anything I can do get my money back? -single mom-
Alliance reply: We suggest you contact your State Department of Labor wages and hours unit.

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Comment 4/01/10: Dear -*toxic*- If you are non exempt (Hourly) that is not legal. If you are exempt they can demand you work as many hours as they want for your " Salary". This is why folks have fought so hard to keep non exempt status wherever possible so if they abuse you with excessive hours they at least have to pay you time and a half. Comp time is also not legal for hourly as it shorts Social Security and you wind up with less when you reach retirement age. Comp time is for Salary as a reward for hard work. It does not shortchange a salaried person as they are payed the same for 30 hours a week or for 60 hours a week. As a member I am sure the Alliance can advise you depending on which status you are as to what you could do about it and how. Welcome Aboard!! -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/31/10: They did freeze the list all managers were told a week before the RA that all hiring including all approved hiring is frozen until after the RA has finished... the next round starts tomorrow / monday where level 1 and level 2 managers are on the block.. I confirmed today that RA's will be occuring each quarter this year.. and at a minimum 20% of GBS will be RA'ed. -celticht32-

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Comment 3/31/10: So just like everyone else. I was RA'ed. Separation package had a sheet stating that my position was being eliminated and 1st line manager said the same thing. I have just learned that they hired 2 contractors to do my job. When I was told I could look for other employment within IBM during the 30 days of learning about my RA I find it odd that I was not aware that my OWN job was available to be filled. What a bunch of low lifes. Looks like someone else will be losing their job in my former department come June. -RA'ed in 2010-

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Comment 3/31/10: A friend who worked at home and reported to Poughkeepsie NY for the last 25 years handling contracts and computer support problems for IBM was told on March 1st along with several coworkers who worked from their home that Today was their last day of employment. Manager called them from Phoenix Arizona and said that US contracts would now be handled in Argentina and to hand in their company lap top computers. Wondering how many work at home employees were not counted in the latest round of so called resource reductions? Is this what they meant by going Globally ? Elected US officials its now time to wake up and smell the coffee! -Gone in the USA!-

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Comment 3/31/10: The PLM group which was announced that it was sold back in October officially had their last day on 3/31. That means 692 more people cut from IBM. -byebyeblue-

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Comment 3/31/10: I have a question that don't know if any one can assist with--has any one had any success with getting their severance pay corrected?? thanks -KS-

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Comment 3/31/10: I had my exit today after 25 1/2 years. I had never met this HR person before. I walked in and called her by name and she called me by the wrong name. Kind of funny. I am honestly happy and relieved and know that since I am not afraid to work, I won't starve. Good luck to all of us laid off for unfair reasons and for all those who will be laid off in the future. Best wishes. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/31/10: Building a resume is quite a project... Even with rightexpress, who don't have templates for a field tech (IT closest) Any SSR's that could send me a rough copy of theirs (minus your personal info, of course) would be appreciated! Thank you! sixpenz@yahoo.com -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/31/10: I've joined as a voting member today. My manager asked me to include in my PBC that I will work 12.5% above and beyond 40 hours/week - unpaid. There is one thing to work extra time if your work requires it occasionally. It is another thing to sign off a document saying you will. My work environment has gone from bitter to toxic. -*toxic*-

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Comment 3/31/10: Re. - Next round of cuts 4/1. I've heard this twice now, and each time the person also says "quarterly", (which matches what we've been seeing). If the cuts are quarterly, the next round would be 5/1 with a leave date of end of June. Do you have information that says the next cut is coming earlier than the end of next quarter, or did you just have a typo in the date? -anon-

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Comment 3/31/10: I wish I could be more sympathetic for some of you. Someone wrote, "I hope what goes around comes around [for IBM]".
It will never come around for IBM as long as they are allowed to offshore jobs with the blessing of the government. But speaking of what goes around comes around. It has for some of you, who gladly accepted our jobs when we were "downsized" in 1992. I hope my ex-manager and his boss gets the axe.
I have sympathy for you but it is difficult. Anonymous states, "I pray that this goes full circle for IBM. It will never go "full circle" for IBM but some of you, who took our jobs in 1992, are now seeing how we felt and what we faced --- a life without the benefits IBM promised. UNIONIZE! -Ben There-

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Comment 3/31/10: I got sucked into trying to get an IBM job during the 30 days. I got very far along in multiple interviews for a few great fitting jobs and thought I was in excellent shape to land something. Time went on. No decisions. I think they froze out the people on the RA list - especially towards the end. I feel like I just let IBM beat me up some more. After living through this process, I am glad to be leaving. Best wishes to all who got whacked. -lastshots-

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Comment 3/31/10: I have been with IBM for a little over 9 years. I started off as an SSR in the field then moved to a IT Specialist Position for the last 2 years. I was laid off March 1st. Luckily, I was able to find employment (better pay, better benefits) locally before my last day of work. I found out yesterday that they are replacing my position for a contractor (locally) for $30K more than what I was making - AND they're paying this person OT plus OT Shift Premiums. I was not laid off due to performance reasons and to hear this is absolutely disgusting. IBM doesn't care for their workforce. We're the backbone of their business. Those of you who can afford to look outside of IBM, do it now before you're just another statistic. -AnonymousCanuck-

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Comment 3/31/10: To all those leaving today: Think of this as when one door closes, another one opens. I thought it was a lousy thing when I was booted but now I have a job that I never think about outsourcing or when my number will be up. IBM was a lousy experience for me. I have never seen so much favoritism by managers and so many suck ups in my life. Stuck in the same job for years while the favorites get to do whatever they want. Now I do whatever I want. Keep your chins up and move forward and remember, they will get theirs, too. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 3/31/10: Next round of cuts occur 4-1 this one to include level 1 and level 2 managers.. some have already recieved their marching orders. The internal plan is for layoffs for each quarter. and GBS has been moved from an asset column to a liability and is scheduled to take at a minimum 20% each quarter... -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/31/10: Tomorrow will be my last day. I don't know why anyone let go would want to find their way back to this place. This was just a temp stop for me of 4 years and one of the worst experiences of my csales areer. My sympathy for everyone's hardships whom have been let go. That said there are many better options out there. This wasn't what I thought it was. Good luck -Sweat Shop Victim-

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Comment 3/30/10: I was RA'd out of the blue a year ago (pardon the pun). My best to everyone tomorrow. If there is one thing I've learned, you each walk away with something that IBM has lost - integrity. That's priceless in my book -annonymous-

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Comment 3/30/10: Reply to Anonymous commented on 3/20: you are not alone. Last year, my manager used RAd as a cover-up for unlawful discrimination as well. I, who belong to a protected class in my group, was only one terminated after my paternity leave. In fact, my manager hired another person to replace my position couple months ago. I talked to several lawyers and complaint to EEOC. Guess what, those racist managers are shielded by IBM's lawyer. -Singled-out-

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Comment 3/30/10: As with most on here. My last day is tomorrow. Just short of 9 1/2 years here. 37 year old white male. Received from IBM the number of individuals released from my department with their ages and a separate page of who is keeping their jobs, also with ages. Not actual names, just an age and the number of people in that age keeping or losing their job.
On the one hand I am elated to be leaving. At one point I went 3 years without a raise. Was told on 3 different occasions that I was going to be the replacement for the next lead in my department but 2nd line manager stepped in and over turned the decision by my first line so a friend could have the position instead. No training, no OT and no hope in site in ITD for any advancement.
On the other hand, I am working in a convenient location that coincides with me being able to drop my children off at day care. I have a 401K Loan I am paying off which now since I lost my employment I will be forced to default on the loan which will cost me thousands next tax season. 2010 has shown to be a difficult year for me and my family. This was the one thing I thought I would not have to worry about. I guess things happen for a reason. What that reason is, is beyond me. I wish all of my fellow RA'ed brethren the best of luck. It is pathetic that one of the the big "3 letter" companies which is suppose to be part of the economic foundations of this country is so horrible to work for. I pray that this all comes full circle for IBM. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/30/10: What's this about "Passover?" Is that a just a Passover/Easter joke - or something real? I'm in a WARN state (NY) - not that it does any good, since IBM makes sure to stealth-layoff under the WARN radar. -another-

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Comment 3/30/10: To>>-Anonymous-last day is Wednesday 3/31/2010 after 29 years and 3 months working for IBM. I am 57 years old so that I am able to retire. I was a System X sales specialist in Upstate NY in General Business territory>> Make sure and check with HR (not your manager) about bridging the 9 months to the 30 year mark, before taking retirement.. This should increase your retirement payments significantly; not reduced by age, if you are in the NEW OLD plan. -no_ky-

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Comment 3/29/10: My last day is Wednesday 3/31/2010 after 29 years and 3 months working for IBM. I am 57 years old so that I am able to retire. I was a System X sales specialist in Upstate NY in General Business territory -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/29/10: Sam Palmisanos master plan is to get rid of all IBMers with more than five years experience. He wants a company with a revolving door. If you have more than five years experience and not a stellar 1 performer with IBM you are screwed. It is as simple as that. -RAed in 2010-

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Comment 3/29/10: "I just wanted to share that my co-worker, who's been here 34 years, remarked that it seems that they were targeting remote workers, when for the last few years, they were encouraging people to work remotely."
Corectomundo... This is a tactic that is used to see where they can outsource. If you can work from home .. then someone can work from BRIC, Japan and Argentina .. good luck with that.. -IchBinMuede-

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Comment 3/29/10: I hear with Passover that the executives have given people 60 extra days to find other work. While they are not passed over, they are given time with money. This should help all enjoy this holiday season. This might just be for WARN states. -Passover-

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Comment 3/29/10: Pok Journal Link

IBM competitors' headcount reports show offshoring trend
Craig Wolf • Poughkeepsie Journal • March 29, 2010

While IBM Corp. says it's not the only big company that doesn't give out its United States head count, it turns out that many comparable companies still do. IBM's decision to stop revealing its U.S. head count and report one global number this year came with a simple rationale:
"IBM disclosed global head count only in the Annual Report this year which is how many of our competitors report their head count," spokesman Douglas Shelton said in an e-mail. But half the companies surveyed by the Poughkeepsie Journal last week do provide some idea of their domestic employment. Jobs, and where they're being created and lost, have become an increasingly sore point with many Americans as unemployment remains stubbornly high and offshoring of work to other countries becomes more common. IBM's decision comes as the percentage of its work force based in the U.S. shrinks to a new low. IBM now has about 25 percent of its nearly 400,000-person work force in this country and 75 percent in other countries. In the 1990s, it was about 50-50. It's not the most aggressive multinational in the information technology field. That might be Capgemini U.S., LLC, which has actually trademarked the term "Rightshoring," which it said"corresponds to its globalized delivery model aiming to offer the best resources at the right price and in the best place." Capgemini does break out its overseas jobs, apparently to boast of its success in recruiting there. It reported that of its 91,621 people, four groups posted results ranging from 25 percent to 65 percent of their staffs are in other countries, which it called "the best penetration rates for the Rightshore model." Overall, it's aiming to get 40,000 people offshore by early this decade. -Anon-

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Comment 3/29/10: SWG WW support 20 ppl let go from our dept. Now 5 people working with 400 cases, no OT and waiting for India / China team to be trained so that we can be let go. Dont know wether to be happy that I have only 5 months with IBM or be sad that I will be unemployed in 5 months... I am an -IBM Slave-

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Comment 3/28/10: Severance in Canada - up to 3 weeks. I believe this can be at the discretion of the manager in some cases. Rule of thumb - If you get RA'd in Canada, directly ask if 3 weeks/year is an option or if anyone is getting 3 weeks/year. I think they can increase your severance from 2 to 3 weeks if they think you are going to make a scene in the workplace. I don't believe there is a Canadian law on severance, it is strictly by province....so it depends on what province you are in. -west coast canada-

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Comment 3/28/10: Strongly agree with "None of what we want happens without a union and that includes job security and overtime"
How many members are there in IBM Union now? Or percent of all IBM employees? -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/28/10: -Drgunzet- - I focused on joining the union. Did you? None of what we want happens without a union and that includes job security and overtime. -Anon-

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Comment 3/28/10: RA'd March 1. Working to find a new position outside IBM. I am a Project Manager (51. I work out of a home office in SCM -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/27/10: NO -Drgunzet- IT IS YOU WHO DO NOT GET IT. Without a union and without a contract there is NOTHING that can be done from the employee side. Any action an employee may take like work slowdowns or strikes without being organized first and being represented by a union will more likely result in the employees being terminated then anything constructive. How as employees do we stop offshoring?? Beg the board of directors to pweese stop? Or by having it defined in a labor contract. The government will not stop offshoring for us. Corporate America will not stop it. Corporate Canada or the Canadian Government will not stop it either. Writing your Representatives will do no good. Calling the Newspapers does no good. Getting it on TV does no good. Please enlighten us how you expect a group trying to organize workers into a union who do not represent anyone yet to show results?? Getting membership in high enough numbers to vote in a union is the only result that can be produced by any of us members at this point. THEN, when we are legally represented by a union we can vote on what we want OUR negotiators to get in writing during collective bargaining with IBM Management. Be it stopping offshoring, Forcing Onshoring when possible. Defining layoffs by seniority and right to recall before hiring new employees and so on. You want to stop this abuse by IBM? Join the union effort. Sheer raw numbers is the only thing that counts at this point. The only result we can achieve is enough members to successfully organize IBM. After that its up to us what we want our union to work on. Hope this has cleared up your misunderstanding . Hope you decide to join us and make a difference. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/27/10: I can also confirm (3) RA's out of our building (GBS) in the Montreal area including myself as of March31st . Many others also RA'd at least six that I know personally. 2 Oracle DBAs I was working with had to train their India replacements over a period of 6 weeks.Initially they were told that they would be working on another account that was a lie. As for myself PBC of 2 and 2+ during my 12 years at IBM suddenly a fabricated 3 last January -Montreal Canada-

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Comment 3/27/10: -west coast canada- USA RAed only get max. of 2 weeks pay for max. of 26 weeks. Is it Canadian labor law for getting 3 weeks pay for salaried employees? Of course if we had a North American IBM union we could get more or have a fight to save jobs. -RA'ed2009-

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Comment 3/26/10: FTSS - That should not surprise you at all with 26 years in this company. Same thing happened to one of my coworkers with STG. In the past few years I have only known one person who was ever successful in finding a position and that was a fluke. -long time beemer-

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Comment 3/26/10: Cut. Atlanta, GA ITD, Complex Engagement Services -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/26/10: I can confirm a couple (2) RA's out of our building (GBS) in the vancouver area (all hush, hush), plus I heard a few more across the street (sales/support, not GBS). We also lost our O/T and GBS finally came out with targets that still include 10% O/T 44 to 45 hour work weeks. Of course we've never rec'd actually communication (email) about these O/T targets. It is always verbal, never written. My wife is in the medical industry (which has strong unions). After a decade of both of us working (medical vs. IT), she will finally be the primary breadwinner in our household. I'd hate to be a single income family working at IBM. As for severance, I've heard Band 6 and above in Canada can get up to 3 weeks/year (as part of the hush,hush compaign) and Band 5 or below can get up to 2 weeks/year. -west coast canada-

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Comment 3/26/10: -screwed- IBM never does anything wrong or immoral. All claims to the contrary are without merit. The news media and all our government (state and federal) believe this. That is why any investigations on any IBM wrongdoings will never see even a bit of light. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/26/10: to screwed - I absolutely will contact Jeff Young, just waiting to receive my separation payment. I urge everyone else in this round to do the same. My theory is not so much "age", but "years" - so they can avoid paying retirement benefits. -screwed2-

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Comment 3/26/10: Hey, not getting OT for standby is a very legitimate beef. If we had a union contract, you bet they wouldn't be getting away with stuff like this. Unfortunately, the Alliance had to close down the message boards for topics other than Job Cuts, so we probably shouldn't discuss that here. Why not join the union and continue the discussion over in the Alliance Members section? -anon-
You still don't "get it" do you? IBM is strong with the backing from the Indian off-shoring. You guys are weak and you are talking about what you want this, want that, want OT. Can you just focus on keeping the jobs in USA for now and show some results. -Drgunzet-

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Comment 3/26/10: just wanted to follow on my request for people to talk to Jeff Young at McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney & Toker about age discrimination, like everyone else I understand that IBM has an army full of lawyers and dotted ever I and crossed every T but consider this...If the media could be brought into the discussion with a very public trial then the playing field might be more level. Here are some facts to consider from a company that doesn't want even talk about US headcount
-IBM CEO received 21M last year while continuing to move jobs overseas at a time when the US economy hasn't seen worse times since great depression
-Top IBM exec has just pleaded guilty to insider trading
-IBM has accepted state and federal $$$ for stimulus to add jobs in US
-IBM profits last year were highest ever though they didn't grow the business with Revenue.

This is a company that I joined 24 years ago that I don't even recognize since at one time they seemed to be a company with a sense of fairness/honestly and integrity. But now when you mention that to the executives they just indicate that what got US in trouble...now they have become this evil empire that will do whatever it takes to make quarterly numbers. Wouldn't it be nice to see a follow on to Michael Moore's Roger and Me called Sam I AM. IBMer are probably more conservative that GM employees which is why we may seem to go away quietly but the facts speak for themselves and should be aired more publicly -screwed-

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Comment 3/26/10: I reported my RA from IBM RSS back on Mar 1. Found an awesome job in STG, the manager was prepared to make me an offer. Then STG froze all jobs, at least to those who are being let go. So, I wasted three weeks trying to keep a spot in ibm after 26 years. Class act, IBM, post jobs but don't actually let us have them. -FTSS-

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Comment 3/25/10: I was told by my manager today that the Resource Action in Canada earlier this month was significant, he did not mentioned the actual number of folks got RA’d, however, I personally know of 10 people that was let go in TS / ITS in the Toronto are …..so just as he finish speaking of the RA, he mentioned to me I should be happy to have a job and and goes on to say that all customer / education travels is no longer allowed.. I’m now on the hook for paying my mileage / parking to and from customers… For those who got RA’d, I hope you find a job soon and be happy you are out of this cesspit. I really hate working for IBM, hope to be out of IBM soon, had enough of these uneducated / unskilled managers speaking down to us highly skilled employees… Sucks to be an IBMer…. -zion-

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Comment 3/25/10: Work out of the Toronto Lab and the last few days have been the last day for many employees. Our group which is part of AIM lost 15% of it's staff. Other groups in the lab have experienced the same number. Across the lab this would equal 300+ jobs. Hearing the numbers from our teams in Raleigh and Burlingame, I'd imagine the total cuts with this round are well above what your reporting -Joe-

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Comment 3/25/10: Hey, not getting OT for standby is a very legitimate beef. If we had a union contract, you bet they wouldn't be getting away with stuff like this. Unfortunately, the Alliance had to close down the message boards for topics other than Job Cuts, so we probably shouldn't discuss that here. Why not join the union and continue the discussion over in the Alliance Members section? -anon-

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Comment 3/25/10: To -No-More-OT- : You are complaining about not getting any more OT while everybody else on this site is losing their jobs. You best join Alliance before your job is gone, nevermind your OT. Some people just don't get it. -Unbelievable-

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Comment 3/24/10: I don't know what its like in the states but in Canada they have to pay you severance pay. They just don't have to pay the 2 weeks. By by law they have to pay one week/year. -Whatever-
Alliance reply: There is no law in the US that says a company must pay severance.

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Comment 3/24/10: Got RA'd. I am in ISSW in the US. We already don't have enough people to fulfill the contracts we have but they are still letting people go. IBM management are morons. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/24/10: I'm wondering if anyone else who was converted to non-exempt is being screwed out of stand-by time for 24/7 on call or hotpager support. I was on an account that allowed us to claim stand-by time while we were primary on-call (hotpager) My new account doesn't allow this but we are still required to be on-call for primary callout. We only get to claim OT if we get paged but we are required to be available. -No-More-OT-

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Comment 3/24/10: Is it the GBS or GDS division -public sector? -Anon-

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Comment 3/24/10: Re: -Drgunzet- Remember, IBM does not have to pay you serverance pay
So true - IBM doesn't have to pay you anything but minimum wage. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/24/10: -Drgunzet- IBM doesn't care if one tries to apply for a job in the 30 days. Almost all don't stand a chance of finding one anyhow. If IBM denies severance saying you didn't make a fair attempt at lining up a job then they are creeps. IBM justs wants those RAed to disappear as soon as possible with as less notice or visibility as possible. Yes, I wouldn't put it past IBM to deny or even get rid of the severance, But I think it would especially be the case to eliminate it if the have any danger of only being on target of making $10.99 EPS or will have a quarter where they don't make their projected new record profit.. IBM will eventually fail as a corporation because they treat people as disposable resources and strictly as expense and a drain to them and their operations.. Think of IBM as being a living, breathing thing and think of the employees as being the life blood of it. This IBM soon will be like a corpse trying to live with no blood. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/23/10: Got RA'd on March 1 - last year 8 got RA'd in my dept. Today I was offered and accepted a better job w/better pay. My condolences to those left behind. Thanks Sam!!! -Happy!!-

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Comment 3/23/10: I'm not sure about all the people cut here in Tucson, but I am aware of at least 3 others beside myself, in different areas. As for the organiziation, ISC, there were 63, including myself -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/23/10: Comment 3/22/10: When one gets an RA, do they have to apply for other IBM jobs (either successfully or unsuccessfully) in order to get the severance? I wouldn't think so, but just in case... -Anonymous-
I never took the serverance pay for granted. I always played by the rules and showed efforts in applying for internal IBM jobs, and even tried to follow through IBM's suggestion for me to apply to jobs in other countries eventhough I did not want to move. (Just need to act incompetent, the other groups won't hire you.) Remember, IBM does not have to pay you serverance pay, and remember to thank them on the way out; it's good karma. -Drgunzet-

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Comment 3/23/10:
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100323/BUSINESS01/100323014/Ple a-anticipated-by-former-IBM-executive

Plea anticipated by former IBM executive

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2325883220100323?type=marketsNews

Ex-IBM exec looks ready to plead guilty in Galleon

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-23/galleon-prosecutors-to-file-robe rt-moffat-information-update1-.html

Galleon Prosecutors to File Robert Moffat Information (Update2) -Anon-

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Comment 3/23/10: I was in the GDS division -public sector. We lost 15 team members to this 3.1.2010 Labor Action -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/23/10: On March 1 I was notified that I was impacted due to " a resource action". My employment ends March 31. Division 07, Dept. L46A -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/22/10: I've been reading comments about getting the so called one month notice to find another comparable job at IBM. You don't have to look for another position at IBM during your month long notice, to get your severance package. You can look for another position, but IBM will not hire you. I know of someone in Toronto that found and applied for an available and comparable IBM position after being RA'ed. He was then told he would not be considered because he was not qualified. If IBM wants you gone, you are gone, any job search within IBM during this so called "month notice" is just a waste of time.You're better off using your time looking outside IBM. Let IBM cut it's own throat by getting rid of it's experienced front line staff. I also heard a story about an IBM Toronto sales person RA'ed in March. Her manager wanted her to sign a letter saying she was retiring and wanted her to tell all her customers the same. She refused to sign and told her customers that she was being let go. Good for her. This is another typical IBM attempt to cover the truth. I was a front line service tech with 22 years experience at IBM. After I was RA'ed, IBM sub-contracted most of the equipment I worked on, to a cheaper service company. IBM is acting as a middle man on these service contracts. My message to the IBM customers is "if IBM does not want to provide IBM staff to service your IBM equipment, and want to act as a middle man, then I say cut out the middle man and deal directly with the cheaper sub-contract company. The result would be the same and you would actually get what you pay for." -RA'ed in Canada Mar 2009-

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Comment 3/22/10: No, one does not have to apply, nor even look on the GOM for another IBM job to get the severance. Only things that can cause the severance to be withheld is a) Turning down another comparable (as defined in the packet) job in IBM (if you're not looking, than someone would have had to come find you and make a formal offer through your manager or b) Something you do in violation fo the BCGs or other terms of employment, where they can terminate you for cause before your exit date. BTW, I say these official-sounding terms not because I am a manager or anything, but a) I was RAed and b) I *was* a manager, so I know the official stuff ;-) -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 3/22/10: When one gets an RA, do they have to apply for other IBM jobs (either successfully or unsuccessfully) in order to get the severance? I wouldn't think so, but just in case... -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/20/10: If you are an Alliance member, and wish to post comments in a members only forum, we can acomodate you.
First, you must verify your membership by simply including your email address that you used when you signed up as a member. We do not and will not post that information, publicly.
Second, We have set up a private forum for members only. Once we verify your membership and email from your post, we can send you the link to the private forum. You can then register for the forum, using your verified email. I will personally make sure registration is swift, and then you can begin posting comments in several of the sections of the private forum.
Just to be clear: If you use the Job Cuts Reports board to post Job cuts related information, and you are a member, we will still protect your identity and will post your comments with a psuedonym of your choice or as Anonymous.
Again, The private forum is for dues members only. It is protected by the same Federal laws that protect us from anti-union trouble makers and union busters. Be sure to include your email that you used to sign up as an Alliance member. Contact us if you have more questions.
-Rick White
Treasurer, Organizer, IT Administrator
and Health & Safety Representative
CWA Local 1701
Alliance@IBM
www.allianceibm.org-

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Comment 3/20/10: I was in IBM for 13 years. I was trying to work hard to keep my job. Due to I am an asian, I have done most work in my team. I got the bad manager. She has not education at all; but she works up to be a sr. test manager. She always let the team member lie to her and most my team members are good talker without only limited technical knowledge. I am a asian and I am having a accent with the English. But I am the one get all the work done. And my manager always giving overload work and then giving all the credit to team member. She's highly discrimination. I am the only one in my team get laid off (Resource Action). My manager name Linda. I will provide most information after I am officially by eom. I do not want to their provide me the laid off package -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/20/10: If you have been recently cut by IBM and believe it is based on age discrimination and you are interested in a class action lawsuit then contact Jeff Young at McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney & Toker, since when I spoke to him he indicated if there were approx. 50 People involved then he could presue it. I know he has settled cases in the past but can't discuss the outcome.
Here is additional info:
Address:
PO Box 5000
4 Union Park
Topsham, ME 04086-5000
Map & Directions
Phone: (207) 725-5581
Fax: (207) 725-1090
E-mail: Contact Us
Web site: http://www.me-law.com
-Screwed-

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Comment 3/19/10: Please don't post my name. I'm in "BTV" -- Essex Junction, VT. We lost a few recently, but I don't know how many. I know of at least two, personally. I just wanted to share that my co-worker, who's been here 34 years, remarked that it seems that they were targeting remote workers, when for the last few years, they were encouraging people to work remotely. Of the two I know about, one was mostly working from home, doing security (God help us now! Don't know who's going to do it in her place.), and the other was technically remote, out of Boulder, even though he supported Suns here in BTV and was in fairly often. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/19/10: The old good days are the forever memories <article link>-Former Myers Corners Lab employee-

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Comment 3/19/10: I am a former IBMer, downsized in 1995. My wife is still there until june 2010. Her job is going to the phillipines. She works in payroll. Payroll travel and a few other dept's are already gone to the Philipines or will be gone by the end of june. I have seen no reporting on this action. The people from the Phillipines were just here getting trained by employees that are losing their jobs to them (how nice).They said they are new hires and were not told they were taking away the jobs of people in the U.S. According to upper-level mgmt, it cost IBM $80k a year for a U.S. employee and only $18k a year for an employee in the Phillipines. They also took away my wife's benefits. I'm tired of IBM sticking it to their employees. -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: We wrote about this last year. We even had a poll for people to take on whether they thought offshoring payroll was a good idea. As you can imagine it was a resounding NO. Thank you for the update.

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Comment 3/19/10: Here in GBS in Canada, we are getting screwed over every which way. I want to know how we can join the Alliance. I was spared from this RA, but, as I'm training my replacements, it won't be long for the rest of us. I can't believe in the midst of all this, we're not doing
something to protect ourselves. -IBMCanadian-
Alliance reply: Canada IBMers can join the Alliance. See our join form. Our parent organization has locals in both countries. If we get enough Canada members we can start a chapter there.

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Comment 3/18/10: To irRational - actually, it does NOT say you cannot moonlight, as that is against employment law. What it does indeed say is you cannot have conflict of interest, and inventions and other intellectual property is indeed IBM's while you're an employee. That does not say that you cannot own a business, work for someone, be a teacher, etc. If you're a SW developer for IBM, nothing in that says you cannot be a business consultant. Sure, you cannot use IBM confidential info in the new work, nor can you compete with IBM, but if it is not in conflict with your position, you most certainly CAN moonlight. I was told this by an employment lawyer when I was RAed last year. People should not be afraid to protect themselves because they think IBM might come after them. Use your own heads, people, an make informed and prudent decisions (e.g. SW developers, don't go start working for Oracle till you're out ;-) and remember, IBM is firing you. Protect yourselves now, because we did not have contracts to before (or still) -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 3/18/10: Not sure why there's so much concern about the reporting of the US worker level. Any capable IBM'er can grab a copy of the US Lotus Notes Names and Address book (156K records, about 3 Gig), which essentially has records in a VCF format. Either spend a few hundred dollars on a program that extracts from Notes names files to VCF / spreadsheet, or brute force copy paste the records to a useful format. Remove the non person ID's (typically those without a comma in them, and you've got an accounting of the totals. Grab the name field, and it's nice enough to tell you what site they're associated with, and if they're a contractor or not. A little work, and all the data one desires at the tip of your fingers. -Anon2-
Alliance reply: Thanks for the mechanics of obtaining the information. The point of the concern is that IBM continues to request stimulus $$$ or simply State funding to supposedly create jobs; BUT they continue to offshore an undertermined amount of those jobs, and don't tell the public non-IBMers that they are doing it. That's the concern. There should be MORE concern by the taxpayers, about IBM's actions and policies, not less.

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Comment 3/18/10: THE NO. OF IBM US EMPLOYEES CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND OUT CURRENT EMPLOYEES COOPERATE---- JUST NOTE THE NUMBER OFF THE MANDATORY OSHA BULLETIN AT EVERY JOB-SITE.

Here is the relevant information:
"A reminder about the February posting requirements of OSHA 300 Log totals:

Both federal and state OSHA regulations require that….

At the end of each calendar year, section 1904.32 of the OSHA Recordkeeping Regulations requires each covered employer to review his or her OSHA 300 Log for completeness and accuracy and to prepare an Annual Summary of the OSHA 300 Log using the form OSHA 300–A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, or an equivalent form. The summary must be certified for accuracy and completeness and be posted in the workplace by February 1 of the year following the year covered by the summary. The summary must remain posted until April 30 of the year in which it was posted.

Helpful Hints

Remember to post only the OSHA 300-A Summary Form. Don’t post the OSHA 300 Log itself

Be sure to complete the additional data elements under “Employment Information” which include the average number of employees and the total hours worked for the reference year.

Make sure the Summary Form is certified by a company executive, who may be an owner, a corporate officer, the highest ranking official working at the establishment, or that person’s immediate supervisor.

Use the Log as a tool in identifying the problem areas and issues in your workplace that demand priority prevention efforts.

Encourage employees to review the Log so they can provide input in recognizing and abating hazards that occur in the workplace.

Call our Statistics unit at (860) 566-4380 to obtain more forms or to answer questions on OSHA recordkeeping issues. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/18/10: To - Beat Up - I believe that OSHA300A (annual) posting is required by law for each site and discloses average number of employees on site (and total hours worked). -anon-
Alliance reply: The problem is that 45% of IBMers don't work at a site.

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Comment 3/18/10: Rumor has it that June 1 there will be more lay offs (in GBS anyway). I've heard it from more than one person (financial ops/people in the know). We haven't even gotten through with the March 1 lay offs. This company sucks. **Join the Union**
(Can Alliance Members post non-job cuts info?) -Alliance Member-

Alliance reply: If you are an Alliance member, and wish to post information unrelated to Job Cuts Reports, we can acomodate you in another way. First, you must verify your membership by simply including your email address that you used when you signed up as a member. We do not and will not post that information, publicly. Second, We have set up a private forum for members only. Once we verify your membership and email from your post, we can send you the link to the private forum. You can then register for the forum using your verified email. I will personally make sure registration is swift, and then you can begin posting comments in several of the sections of the private forum. Just to be clear: If you use the Job Cuts Reports board to post Job cuts related information, and you are a member, we will still protect your identity and will post your comments with a psuedonym or as Anonymous. Again, The private forum is for dues members only. It is protected by the same Federal laws that protect us from anti-union trouble makers and union busters. Be sure to include your email that you used to sign up as an Alliance member. Contact us if you have more questions.

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Comment 3/18/10: Thanks for the clarification about being a member if I am a Service Area Manager. Can I read the material here? I am looking out for myself too. You never know if a person will get hit 2 or 3 or 4 times by an RA. Luck only goes so long. -Huh-
Alliance reply: Unfortunately, your visits could be considered 'spying' on a union meeting. That said, we can't stop you from visiting the site and trying to keep up with the latest. Just know that if IBM catches you; there could be a few things that they might do to you as punishment. If we believe you ARE spying on us, or pretending to spy, we can file an Unfair Labor Practice against you and IBM.
This is just friendly advice. It's your call.

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Comment 3/18/10: There is an IBM bulletin board outside the cafeteria in Bld 705 in Poughkeepsie with the OSHA and accident numbers as one of the notices. It says that for that reporting period, 1/13/2009 there were 4,861 employees on the Poughkeepsie site. -Beat Up-

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Comment 3/18/10: Ok. The firings have subsided. Alliance has been quite loose with their rules to post only jobs lost, counts and where. Has anyone who has visited this site in the last 3 weeks, joined the union?
If not, have you made a donation?
If not, do you still think Alliance should allow your posts to this board if they are off-topic? What's the topic? Read the top of this board; it says..
"Job Cut Reports
This comments section is for the posting of specific information of Job cuts, Resource Actions and Firings."
Ain' t nothin' there about posting questions about COBRA, pensions, 'they made me a manager, can I join', etc. etc. etc.
And even if there were; Are you willing to pay a small amount to come here to vent about those topics?
If not, then how long can you expect Alliance to keep THIS board active? Psssst.. Do Something! -synonymous-

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Comment 3/18/10: RUMOR: IBM needs to be protective of its USA headcount and North America headcount as it has some specific requirements (which it no longer meets) in its incorporation and taxes. Under 25 percent headcount means more/higher taxes and automatically kicks in some government reviews. Wouldn't you hide it for as long as you could. -p-0'd X attorney-

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Comment 3/18/10: I am at Boston , MA Global Services -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/18/10:
Amid offshoring, IBM to stop reporting U.S. worker count
Craig Wolf • Poughkeepsie Journal • March 18, 2010
IBM Corp., whose U.S. work force has been shrinking for years amid
criticism that it's shipping work overseas, will not give out its U.S.
head count any longer. Read full article below:
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100318/BUSINESS01/3180334/Amid-offshoring--IBM-to-stop-reporting-U.S.-worker-count -Anon-

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Comment 3/17/10: 6 months or so ago I was RAd, but found other work at the last minute. I guess that is maybe a shocker because they asked me a few weeks ago to be a Service Area Manager. Can a Service Area Manager be a member of the alliance? I guess it take surviving an RA and you get to be in charge of people. So that is how we do it. Took 20 year to figure it out. -Huh-
Alliance reply: If you fire or hire you can't be a member. That's the law. Sorry.

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Comment 3/17/10: This comment / oberservation relates specifically to iBM employees in Canada. It is quite evident from the RAs last year and in March that iBM has placed a very large target on any long term employee who is just under 55 years of age. These are reported as 'early retirements' in iBM Canada's official lingo. The reason, I think, for this targetting would be that iBM will owe these employees absolutely no post-retirement benefits and therefore saves iBM MONEY. Under post reirement benefit changes made a couple of years ago, an employee under 55 will get no PRB. If over 55 you get PRB until age 65 (but only if you have enough years of service). -"Kaputt @ IBM"-

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Comment 3/17/10: http://blogs.eweek.com/careers/content001/firing/ibm_to_us_headcount_is_for_us_to_know_you_to_find_out.html -annonymous-

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Comment 3/17/10: -InHell-, please join now. There can be no momentum for contract or strikes without members already on the rolls. If you're waiting for others to take up that slack, why? -CDI drone-

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Comment 3/17/10: I work on the Wellpoint account, and on March 1st, at least 42 folks were cut form the account. I belive I have heard 2600 notified of resource action on March 31st, Rumor has it another 41,000 by year end. -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/17/10: Also, where does it say in anything you signed with IBM that you will not moonlight?
I'm pretty sure it says exactly that. If I B eMbarrassed moonlights and is caught, s/he'll certainly lose their severance, and if they went to moonlight for a competitor (which given the breadth of IBM's businesses, would be virtually any software or IT shop), likely will be taken to court. What you signed also says that anything you invent or build on your own personal time while employed by IBM, belongs to IBM. (I believe the relevant language is in the Business Conduct Guidelines, which you are required to "sign" every year. The language is purposefully broad and somewhat vague. Is it legal? Probably, since you signed it. Would it be upheld in court? I dunno; how many lawyers work for you, versus for IBM, to test that in court?) Is that unfair? Who cares -- it's legal, and you agreed to it. If we want clauses like this out of our employment contract, then we need the ability to bargain collectively for that. We'll never get it individually. -irRational-

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Comment 3/17/10: To -I B eMbarrassed- Why not just keep looking for a job outside IBM, and tell them your availability date is 6/1? Tell them you're currently engaged on a project that times out then. You're being truthful, and you still get paid thru 5/31, get your severance, and start with a new employer. Also, where does it say in anything you signed with IBM that you will not moonlight? You could always start a new job before 5/31 as long as you a) continue to fulfill whatever obligations IBM continues ot ask of you - likely not much since you're on teh RA list and same thing happened ot a friend of mine on last year's and she was never given any new work, just a later exit date... and b) There is no conflict of interest or other IBM BCG violations, which could result in (earlier) termination and loss of severance etc. No one says you can't do two at once if they want you to start, say May 1 or something, and considering we're getting close to April.. Well... -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 3/17/10: -I B eMbarrassed- Not to sound like repeating myself again over and over and others who have made the following statement of fact: You are strictly an AT WILL EMPLOYEE! Without a union contract IBM can choose to treat you any way they want, when they want, and if they want. They can transfer you to another position, demote you without cause, extend your employment, shorten it, choose to not give you any severance, etc. You have to know now your employment is all on IBM terms. With a contract it is also on the employees terms to some degree. IBMers: when are you going to understand and do something about this? Every nanosecond you sit and wait and do nothing it will only get worse for you! -da_facts-

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Comment 3/17/10: To -I B eMbarrassed- : Be smart. You now have more time while still collecting a pay check to look for another job. It's better than being out of work looking for another job. Spend every minute looking for something else and if you find it, run. Don't sit around and wait for severance. What if you're out of work and that severance runs out? I know a guy that is going on 3 years out of work now. Whatever work you are doing they are not ready to move it yet and need you there longer. Spend every minute at this point looking. You know what their intentions are for you. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 3/17/10: to -I B eMbarrassed- I think it would depend how much severance you're getting to decide whether to leave prior to 5/1. You can take the next couple of month to start looking for a job just put your start date as 6/1. Don't let IBM get away without giving you you're severance (Plus you accrue more vacation days) Oh, and don't forget you're entitled to take all your personal choice holidays. Unless you live in California, you don't get paid for those not taken. Without a union we have NO BARGAINING power. We are the mercy of power brokers. And as we all know, they have NO MERCY for us. Actually, they have contempt. **Join the Union** -Alliance Member-

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Comment 3/16/10: For the folks whose end dates have been extended 2 months, is it possible that it has something to do with the WARN act? And if so, why would that affect your ability to receive severance? -WARN Act?-

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Comment 3/16/10: I will join the alliance when then have a large enough group in the USA for an organized strike. I am willing to strike at any time. When Henry Ford people like Sam does they shouted in the plants, Strike, Strike, Strike...A little while later Ford was unionized. Alliance keeps saying join, join, join...I say Strike, Strike, Strike....We all walk off for 2 weeks and cripple IBM. Then you will see people join. -InHell-
Alliance reply: Don't you see that your inaction and not joining are the problem. If people like you don't join there won't be a group large enough to strike.

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Comment 3/16/10: Read the package real close and you will see the exit date can be June 30, 2010. Also, the number for Smart Money in your packet - call that number, they will give you the details on 401K, medical insurance, retirement, payout and all ..as they have direct access to your package information and employee information to give you situation advise and everything right there... based on many different factors (age, salary, years with IBM) I think it worked out to a grid and they already figured it all out. No Joke! You do have some options and can make the best selections for your family and life. But the $ part is already worked out 100%. If possible have someone with you during the call to help take notes and ask questions. -Annon-

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Comment 3/16/10: TO: IB eMbarassed: A number in the March 2009 layoff by GBS were given dates other than 30 days. One person's last date was October. You will get your severance. They are just keeping people to fulfill contracts or other needs they have. Go along with them or you may lose severance. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/16/10: Things just keep getting weirder....I was called by my boss 3/1, and was told my last day was 3/31. I got a call yesterday, and was told I have a "stay of execution"....I'm still part of the RA, but my new termination date is 5/31. While at first this looks like good news....what it really means is that IBM has no intention of actually paying me any severance benefits. If I refused the new date, they could deny my severance because they had offered me a "comparable position". And the chances of my still being employed by IBM by 5/31 are close to 0%....why would I not hunt for a new job since I know they plan to get rid of me?.... -I B eMbarrassed-

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Comment 3/16/10: IT: A lot to be angry about:
http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=11149 -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/16/10: I am in ITD as an AIX admin. I was told my new RA date is 5/31. Previously it was 3/31. I was given no reason for the extension when I asked. I am an internal support person and do not support outside customers. -AIXadmin-

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Comment 3/16/10: IBM looking at potential office consolidation:
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/03/15/daily19.html -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/16/10: To -smart t pants- IBM is just using the tried and true "Buffalo Bill Cody" method of thinning their herd. If you shoot the ones in the back of the herd the rest of the herd does not even notice and stands still and keeps grazing. Makes it easier to shoot more the next day and the next and so on if the herd never tries to protect itself. If a Manager addresses the remaining herd someone will ask Why? Then someone will ask is it over? Any answer given to these questions will be a lie and will eventually be recognized as one so if the manager says nothing the remaining herd may still trust him or her and just stand still for the next round of hunting. It seems to be working by the way as the remaining herd has certainly not flocked to join the union to try to protect themselves. It has just stood there for over 10 years and allowed the hunters free shots. Just meat on Sammy's table . Remember, if a manager communicates at all about firings, you may get the impression the manager could actually do something about them or has something to do with them and then you may treat the manager as an enemy or at least not blindly trust them to be fair. It may cause the manager to feel stress or pressure so do not expect it to ever happen. This is one of the main reasons IBM no longer has face to face meetings when they can avoid them. Its far easier to deny or lie on the phone and not feel the need to pretend to care about employees or care about their feelings. You cannot see the manager rolling their eyes or biting their fist to keep from laughing on the phone you see. If they ignore you long enough, voicemail when you call them, no response to emails, no return calls, then you eventually stop bothering them. Then if something happens they will hit you with a 3 rating because you failed to keep them informed. Its a win win for them. You become a self managing work widget that requires no supervision and just produces profits . Can be fired at will. Can be sold off in mass. Can be discriminated against behind closed doors and you simply have no say and no choice because you just accept it. "Was that a rifle shot Joe?" "Don't pay no attention John , it didn't hit you. Just keep your head down and graze..." And the life of the herd continues. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/15/10: Department let 4 long term employees go during the first week of March. Got notice today that we now have 4 hire tickets for contractors to backfill the positions (starting around $38K/year). -anonymous-

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Comment 3/14/10: Below is the official site for watching what IBM's getting stimulus money for. Notice the hypertext links at the top of the page, for reporting fraud, waste and abuse. :) <link> -Report IBM RA Abuse-

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Comment 3/14/10: ITD Shared, Security, & Contract-related services lay-offs were 246, not 216. -Maxed Out-

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Comment 3/14/10: During the last three resource actions, the U.S. IBM people managers of the affected employees didn't even tell the co-workers or supervisors. They expected the RAd employee to tell the teams they had been working for. Half of them didn't say a word--just disappeared. I don't blame them. Go to hell IBM! No follow up on whether the RAd employees work would be covered and no replacements named. What chaos! IBM 1st line managers are CHICKEN. They are useless bean counters with no technical or business skills. IBM needs to get rid of the managers and keep the worker bees. Also, does Bob Moffat, Sam Palmisano's adopted son, count in the count of missing U.S. employees? He's not in jail yet so I guess he still counts... -smart t pants-

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Comment 3/14/10: "but you realize IBM counts each employee as counting between $175k-$400k"
Gosh they got me CHEAP. I guess I'm an IT prostitute for IBM! Why am I not surprised? -anonymous-

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Comment 3/14/10: For decision on 3 month improvement plan... hell no I would not go on that Improvement Plan and lose 6 months salary, but if you have 3 months of severance pay... or if your severance less than 3 months salary or equal, it might be worth the run. Just go for the best prospect on the $ and send some to Alliance while you are at it. They are the only way we can be treated fairly. RA is like a divorce and the grab rule. Calculate the best way to grab the most, the love is dead. -Annon-

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Comment 3/14/10: Thanks to -Stimulus Money- for posting that "IBM has received over $64M in stimulus money".
This is a gold mine! But the link in the original message should be http://www.stimuluswatch.org/2.0

Browse by Recipients to go to
http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/recipients/by_char/i/600/title/asc and see
International Business Machines Corporation Bethesda, MD $62,235,103
International Business Machines Corporation Fairfax, VA $756,000
International Business Machines Corporation Bethesda, MD $756,000
International Business Machines Corporation San Jose, CA $689,906

Then go to the individual awards
Bethesda $62,235,103:
http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/recipients/view/523/international-business-machines-corporation
Fairfax $756,000:
http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/recipients/view/1580/international-business-machines-corporation
Bethesda $756,000:
http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/recipients/view/4960/international-business-machines-corporation
San Jose $689,906:
http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/recipients/view/24591/international-business-machines-corporation

Within each of these, click on each line, vote whether you are"satisfied" with that award, and post a comment. -Gorya-

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Comment 3/14/10: "According to http://www.stimuluswatch.org, IBM has received over $64M in stimulus money, while continuing to offshore American jobs. This is unbelievable! -Stimulus Money-"
Not defending IBM, but you realize IBM counts each employee as counting between $175k-$400k (depending on division) per year. That works out to only 160-366 jobs for IBM. You can bet the execs identified some pet employees and projects as stimulus that probably are filled by US employees. But they also probably have an equal or greater number of people in BRIC countries supporting those jobs, and will quickly transition those jobs off-shore as soon as the stimulus watchdogs go away. Only we, the employees, can organize IBM, don't expect the government to do it for you. Organize and join the Alliance! --new2rchland--

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Comment 3/13/10: Here are the cuts I've gathered from the Montreal, Canada, area. Not sure of the actual teams.
ITD IMS mainframe support : 3
ITD zOS support : 1
ITD capacity/performance : 5
HW installation : 2
CSC : 7
PM office : 3
Of course there are surely more but I haven't heard about them. -Canonymous-

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Comment 3/13/10: 6 years-always a 2 or 2+, awards etc and they let me go,had 2 other job ffers frozen on me and then they tell us to get a job at IBM-i am glad to be leaving this company and have other interviews already set up. -tomcat-

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Comment 3/13/10: Two of my co-workers affected by an RA were extended for 2 months because their customers complained. -dun-4-

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Comment 3/13/10: "According to http://www.stimuluswatch.org, IBM has received over $64M in stimulus money, while continuing to offshore American jobs. This is unbelievable! "
I agree. The dems plan to create jobs by giving money away all this stimulus money isn't working. IBM continues to shed American workers while Sammy lines his pockets with millions of dollars each year. It reminds me of Socialism. Sad but true. I have just about given up all hope for America. Let's see the American jobs created with all that stimulus money Sammy!!! -IBMer-

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Comment 3/13/10: TO: CA Alliance member- NO, NOT TRUE. You are eligible for COBRA for 18 months if you select it when RA'd - true for everyone with a severance. It is only the COBRA subsidy that you are not eligible for if you have access to the FHA retirement or any other health plan (even if you do not qualify for the FHA money due to having less than 15 years service). You do get the subsidy until the end of the month of your retirement date (and when bridged). This is true even if receiving the TMP benefit, which after to change to paying the full premium for COBRA. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/13/10: in RTP, i know someone who was RAed and then was rehired into IBM within 60 days as a contractor doing the exact same job. it happened like 2 years ago and they are still with ibm as a contractor. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/12/10: According to www.stimuluswatch.org, IBM has received over $64M in stimulus money, while continuing to offshore American jobs. This is unbelievable! -Stimulus Money-

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Comment 3/12/10: To acquired: you're better off taking the separation package. The performance improvement plan will only extend you another 30 days or so at which time the manager will more than likely determine that you did not make "sustained measurable improvement" and then you can be laid off without a package. I am an ex-manager who was RAed in 09 (along with my entire department due to work being moved abroad), so I know what I'm talking about. -pawn-

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Comment 3/12/10: RE HCR (Reimbursement, not savings) A, I can confirm, that , "YES" you can use up the full amount you signed up for, even though you only contributed a small portion of it. I used up all of my $2000 last year, even though I had only contributed a few hundred dollars. You must INCUR the expenses before your last work date, and then submit to Acclairis . There was a question of whether they would accept reimbursement requests over 30 days past your last working date, so I submitted mine a few days after my last date, I had no problem collecting. -Raleigh ex ibmer-

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Comment 3/12/10: ComputerWorld - IBM stops disclosing U.S. headcount data

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9169678/IBM_stops_disclosing_U.S._headcount_data?taxonomyId=60 -anon-

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Comment 3/12/10: TO Austin Alliance Member regarding HCSA - it is true - I did it last year. I had a funny feeling that it would be my time last year and asked to have a total of $3000 deducted. I got let go in May and used it all up before that. I had put in about $1000 but the time I was let go, so they put in $2000 I did not have to pay back. -toni-

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Comment 3/12/10: I was just let go after many years of hard work at IBM. IBM is a horrible company -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/12/10: to -INVALID_ADDRESS@.SYNTAX-ERROR- Watch out for the COBRA eligibility. I am bridging to retirement in July. ESC told me after 6 months TMP, since I will retire (forced) in July, and I will be offered the "retiree" health Insurance Option (even though it's not subsidized), I am not qualified for COBRA. I checked the rate, and retiree rate is more expensive than COBRA. So IBM knows how to collect more money from you. My FHA won't last more than 2 years. -CA Alliance member-

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Comment 3/12/10: You don't need to post this, just wanted you to have this article in case you want to link to it.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9169678/IBM_stops_disclosing_U.S._headcount_data -marbles-

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Comment 3/12/10: IBM stops disclosing U.S. headcount data:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9169678/IBM_stops_disclosing_U.S._headcount_data -anonymous-

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Comment 3/12/10: RE: "The good news is that I am getting my retirement benefits, AND my severence package, AND eligibility for COBRA.>>> Good to hear".
Also apply for unemployment ! -anonymous-

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Comment 3/12/10: "This is the first time in at least 5 years that BigBlue did not break out the US workforce."
I bet I know why. It is because with recent RA and RA's coming the USA workforce is now and will be no more than 99,999 employees and will continue to shrink. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/1210: This section is only to disclose and discuss Job Cuts and resource action information. Advice on whether you get the FHA, your personal choice holidays and/or vacation days before an RA, whether IBM pro-rates your bonus, GDP, Palmisano's compensation, etc. is not germane to this Job Cuts discussion! The Alliance is now at the "Breaking Point". So now it is not the time to ask folks what their reasons are good or bad for joining or not joining the Alliance! Thousands of your fellow colleagues have already lost and will soon be losing their jobs. The number in days and weeks and months forward will grow as long as employees don't do anything to stop it. If more folks joined the Alliance we might have been able to curb or even have stopped this from happening. If you want to discuss other general topics, general questions like those that were listed above, salary, PBC, etc. then join the Alliance and then the Alliance will make those discussion sections open for use again. Joining the Alliance is making a statement and is good reason why you want it's membership to grow. -sby_willie-

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Comment 3/12/10: You are so right! I just can't see today how an IBM employee who says they support the Alliance's cause yet fails to join for a year for just about $0.165 a day. The only way we can collectively save our jobs and benefits is to join, stand up, and fight IBM together. It is no excuse and poor judgement to not join even if these same IBMers are so convinced they will soon be RAed no matter what they do, since even as ex-IBMers who will some day become retired ex-IBMers, the Alliance is fighting to preserve what benefits we still have at IBM before they could disappear forever. The Alliance has been more than patient waiting for employees, and even ex-employees and retirees, to join the fight. The Alliance started in 1999 (and has roots originating out of Endicott even further back than that). -IBMUnionYes-

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Comment 3/11/10: If you're an IBM employee, and you dont think the employees need the protections a contract negotiated by a union offers, then ask yourself the following question; Why do execs like Palmisano think they need an employment contract with IBM? They make damn sure if something bad happens that could have a negative impact on them, that impact is more than offset by the protections built into their contract. Consider the case of Glen Tilton, CEO of United Airlines. His employment contract stipulated that should United go into bankruptcy (which it did after he was hired) he would receive an annual multi-million dollar pension, even if United's pension fund was to be entirely liquidated. (Which it was.) All of United\'s retiree's and future retiree's (United's active employee's) lost their pensions because all of the money in United's pension fund was used to pay their creditors. Glen's OK though. Nice, huh? -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/11/10: Did anyone read the latest annual report? It just hit the presses. This is the first time in at least 5 years that BigBlue did not break out the US workforce. Sneaky huh? Now we will never know the US workforce going foward. -hi-

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Comment 3/11/10: Regarding the HCSA flex account. Some here have suggested that your entire annual designation can be reimbursed if you incur the expenses prior to termination. Has anyone actually confirmed that? As I recall, the Acclaris site tracks not only your annual designation, but also your contributions YTD, and used to only reimburse up to the current contribution. Has this changed? -Austin Alliance Member-

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Comment 3/11/10: itd architect division 7 -anonymous-

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Comment 3/11/10: To reply to a recent post by Gorya, and with thanks to him or her, I believe a few additional comments >>> are in order:
I was told that IBM considers you of retirement age when you meet two conditions:
(age >= 55)& (age + years of service) >= 65)
Therefore, at age 63, two years of service would make you eligible for retirement.
I got RA'ed on March 1 and will be considered officially retired on March 31.

>>> Age and years of service are irrelevant if you were under age 40 in 1999. Many 'employees' fall into this category.
Here is one example:
AGE at "RA": 46 YEARS OF IBM SERVICE: 25 TOTAL: 71 RETIREMENT ELIGIBLE? Sorry, No.

The good news is that I am getting my retirement benefits, AND my severence package, AND eligibility for COBRA.
>>> Good to hear.

Another -anonymous- wrote this on 3/08/10:
"The only IBM jobs available will require you to go to either India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, etc." ...
Even BRIC may not be available. The 2010 packet says nothing about Project Match.
>>> Project Match was a joke, and I'm pleased to hear it has been discontinued.
>>> Why declare a 'project', when you, IBM, can already post jobs wherever you want. Heck, let your ex-employees decide whether to apply to work in developing nations. Right? -INVALID_ADDRESS@.SYNTAX-ERROR-

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Comment 3/11/10: Alliance, I realize you may not wish to publish this comment as it isn't directly related to an RA w/ statistics.
However, I will say that in my experience, 'protected classes', aren't protected. In my department of ten, at least four were RAed.
Two women, two men. One of the men gay, one not gay. Three of the four had health issues in the past one or two years.
At least one would have passed the fed guidelines for disability, but didn't claim it to IBM. I missed NO days @ IBM in five years. I worked ON MY VACATION, to help my ignorant manager to create her budget for (the next year - won't tell you the year, as this might identify ME).
I had four or five distinct, but related, careers in over 20 years at IBM. I chose my job progression.
I had over twenty managers in my career. As I said, I chose four career avenues. And, I saw managers churn over, whether every four months (one year) or every 18 months (IBM's personal best, I imagine. I made a big mistake in pursuing my last job role. The role itself - very engaging; allowed me to use my past experience to the benefit of both my organization AND me. The mistake: Not trusting my instincts when I interviewed with the hiring manager. She was arrogant, didn't understand our brand, and (later) claimed that 'I'm the very best _____ that our organization has', disregarding the negative comments from our target audience. Sample comment: '(Insert manager name here) has NO CLUE as to what we need. She presented on a topic which she clearly did not understand.'
Good luck to those who remain in IBM or in that organization. If they read this post, they may recognize the manager. -RAed already-
Alliance reply: Permission granted. Please consider joining or making a donation to Alliance@IBM, to show your support for this board.

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Comment 3/11/10: Discovered on Monday morning the ITD SSO mainframe Linux on Z series IGA account is migrating all work out of the US to Brazil by the end of May 2010. You know what the black outlook is for the former team mates now. Being North American is definitely third world now, no one wants you or your skills. -Survivor for another day or two-

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Comment 3/11/10: In Lexington, MA Cut from the Rational User Technologies group. I am an Instructional Designer -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/11/10: -disgusted more- There is plenty you can do. Organize your coworkers, vote in a union and get your GDP or other performance based bonus defined by your labor contract . It worked for AIG. Those folks got their contracted bonuses because it would have been a contract violation had they not been paid. It mattered not to their contract if AIG had to borrow the money to pay them or how hard the times are. A contract is a contract. Even the federal government in the end had to honor their contracts. If you can get IBM to sign a contract favorable to you without organizing into a union more power to you. I do not see IBM giving up one iota of its control over your employment and pay and even continued employment without one though. Just remember that the executives and their families appreciate all your hard work and sacrifice to keep them living large in the lifestyle to which they are accustomed, bad times and all. IBM will never play fair again. They will never respect you or your contributions again unless they are forced to by YOU. I hate to sound like a broken record but the only way to stop this abuse is through organizing. -Exodus2007-

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Comment 3/11/10: To the person asking what is a protected class, just Google it. See attached link from wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class -Anonymous-
Alliance reply: Just a reminder to would be posters to this comment section: This is for Job Cuts Reports. We have been a bit lenient recently, because of the massive firings, and allowed posts to veer off course of the purpose of this board. Today, we made an update to the list of fired employees, and added "GBS ASAA: 202" as yet another group being RA'd. The total is now 2901. Our advice is to post information here that reports Job Cuts, only. If you want to come here to rant, then why not sign-up or donate to Alliance@IBM? Members are allowed access to a "members only" discussion board, that we will be implementing soon. We appreciate your support.

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Comment 3/11/10: I was recently R/A as part of IBMs H/R Team. you are right 99% of H/R positions are off shore : Egypt, China, Etc. -Ana-

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Comment 3/11/10: last year I was a 2, and my GDP was over 4 grand .. this year I was a 2, and my GDP was 665 dollars. because of "hard times" .. yeah WHAT A CROCK. I suppose there's nothing I can do? Other than be glad it's over. -disgusted more-

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Comment 3/11/10: Where did IBM come up with the term RA(Resource Action)? In the 70's to 80's employees were considered an ASSET. Beginning in the 90's I was told many times by various managers that I was now an EXPENSE . And we must either reduce or eliminate expenses. Revenue minus Expense equals PROFIT. Nothing has changed today. The term Resource must be a joke. -Former Expense-

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Comment 3/11/10: PROTECTED CLASS - used to mean over 40 or woman, or minority or Vietnam era veteran. Essentially it was a "tickey mark" on your employee profile that got a little extra HR review when actions were taken with you (salary equity, promotions, layoffs, diversity balance in areas etc) Who knows if they even care about this any more. Probably not... -RAed last Jan-

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Comment 3/11/10: Just the facts: Forget applying for internal jobs, unless you want to move to BRIC countries with local wages. I have a relative who is an IBM exec and she says that they freeze internal hires (but do not announce it, natch) because the whole purpose of these RAs is to move more jobs offshore. -Joe Friday-

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Comment 3/11/10: Anonymous said --- I, who belong to a protected class in my group, was the only one being RA'd.
----- what is a protected class?? -Anonymous-

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Comment 3/11/10: To: anon 2+ and RA'd:"2+, WFH. and RAed. So maybe there is a pattern here. -anonymous- " Are you new to this site? Have you not been reading the postings here for years? Are you a member of Alliance? If you are posting you must know that PBC ratings have NOTHING to do with your RA. I continue to be amazed at all the surprised people that got RA'd and have a 2 or 2+ PBC. To think that really matters? It should be called a PBS for performance Bull Sh** review. Wake up! Don't cry about your job loss. The only way is to step up and Unionize. -Gone_in_07-

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Comment 3/11/10: To Anonymous, I have put the file that explains how you can collect unemployment AND your pension (old plan) at this web link (NO google id required). Good luck. http://groups.google.com/group/ppbiz-group/files file = "How UI works.txt"-Ben Dover-

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Comment 3/11/10: Q. Who enforces the W.A.R.N. Act? (especially in NY)?
A. NY State Dept. of Labor. NY checks the filings but IBM makes sure that they fall below the minimum number of layoffs per site so they never have to report it. -anonymous-

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Comment 3/11/10: "What's the difference in accepting the separation package versus being layed off?"
-acquired-: Mainly if you are a PBC 3 i