For Immediate Release

Tuesday, May 14, 2002

For More Information

Lee Conrad, Alliance@IBM, 607-729-4652

Massive Job Cuts Loom at IBM

Union Helps Workers Survive Layoffs

Alliance@IBM, the union representing IBM Corp. employees nationwide, are protesting the short-sighted and widespread job cuts that the company plans to announce beginning Wednesday, May 15.

Estimates of job loss range from 8,000 to as high as 10 percent of IBM’s workforce, said Lee Conrad, coordinator for Alliance@IBM, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America. About 160,000 employees work for IBM in the United States; worldwide, IBM employs 320,000 workers.

Conrad also noted that IBM’s action seemed timed to ensure that the company would not have to pay annual bonuses to workers let go before July 1. The “variable pay program” is an incentive program that awards up to 10 percent of an employee’s salary based on individual review, performance of the employee’s division and overall company performance, he said. Workers on the payroll as of June 30 will receive this pay next year, but those who are terminated will not, he said.

Linda Guyer, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1701, Alliance@IBM said the planned layoffs, “or work force re-balancing, as a company spokesperson called it, are eliminating the jobs of experienced and trained employees while retaining recent college hires and hiring temporary workers as replacements. This will greatly harm IBM’s ability to compete in the future,” she said.

Guyer also stressed that the union was pressing for recall rights for workers who are terminated. “Many longtime employees are receiving layoff notices, despite good performance reviews, with no fair layoff process and with no opportunity to be recalled. This is a disservice to dedicated, hardworking employees who have invested their talents and skills in IBM,” she said.

Guyer noted that while planning to terminate thousands of employees, IBM was spending $3.5 billion to buy back company stock. “These funds instead could be used to keep skilled employees on the payroll, not a stock buyback that mainly benefits IBM executives,” she said.

Alliance@IBM has prepared an “IBM Employee Job Cut Survival Kit,” full of useful information to workers about to receive a pink slip. The guide advises employees to locate copies of all their appraisals and performance reviews and calculate their salary and pension histories, among other advice.

The group also encourages all IBM employees to join the Alliance. “As we are seeing, without a union, management dictates everything about a layoff, from severance payments, timing and the lack of recall rights. With a union, employees have a voice in the policies that affect our careers and futures. That’s why joining the Alliance is so important, Guyer said.

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