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IBM Europe Workers Strike
csimoes writes "IBM employees in Europe are on
strike today. This is in response to the 10,000-13,000 job cuts that IBM is planning, most of them in Europe. Strikers will be wearing black and blue to signify their struggle. Here is their main union web site. Now I can't say I'm big union guy, but they do make some interesting points on their site. Such as: "IBM is a wealthy and successful company. Its first quarter profit for 2005 was $1.4 billion, and $9 billion for the whole of 2004. It increased the dividend to its shareholders, recently bought back $5 billion in IBM stock, and acquired 19 companies in 2004." The union also questions if other cost cutting mechanisms could achieve the same effect without cutting so may jobs."
The limbs on a tree can always come up with a reason why they shouldn't be pruned.
If IBM thinks they don't need these workers, they should be able to eliminate them. If IBM is wrong then the company will suffer and the worker will find a better job. If IBM is right they will benefit and the worker will need to get their sorry ass in gear or work at a crappier job.
After being through a half-dozen jobs in my life I realized that a capable person losing a job is an opportunity, not a tragedy.
Why would a company want to keep 10~13K employees that are obviously not necessary in the daily business? Simply because they are making a profit?
Because their corporate charter is a social contract, issued in the expectation of receiving some societal benefit, like employment for citizens.
I'm not a fan of layoffs either but a company is there to make money, nothing else.
Not in Europe. They actually retained some ideals from the Enlightenment, beyond their immediate usefulness in fomenting rebellion. You know, things like human rights come before other considerations, like profits.
Seems like every time I'm in Europe there is a major strike happening.
Their workers are not as cowed as ours.
Edith Keeler Must Die
Any tech worker, employed or not, should care when 13,000 tech workers get laid off. No, I'm not talking about moral sympathy, I'm talking plain old self-interest.
Because 13,000 more unemployed will be 13,000 more competing for what open jobs there are. Knowing that there are 13,000 more desperate workers, companies will adjust the salaries they offer at whatever openings there are.
Furthermore, the same amount of work, or more, is going to be done at IBM Europe (unless they are closing a division, which I'm not aware of in this case). That means the standard job at IBM will either be that more intense or require more of that wonderful unpaid overtime. That also changes the job market, as other companies will begin to expect that same work load out of you.
Even if you work over here, as I do, better believe that conditions in other countries effect the job market here. Can you say India?
It's the prisoner's dilema. Remember your game theory? You succeed together, or you both fail. That's what the job market does when it's moved by the invisible hand job. Said invisible hand job being the result of decisions like these by IBM management.
. This sig unintentionally left blank. I meant to put something here, but I'm busy.
Actually unions are important, otherwise we will run again into manchester capitalism at its worst, but the main problem is that unions used to be effective, but are not anymore because they only act on a local scale, they need to act globally nowadays, companies do, unions do not. A local strike only causes a laughter, a global strike really could hurt.
By comparison Google had a gross profit of 1.73B last quarter, with a couple thousand employees.
While IBM is doing fine, it's NOT very efficient these days.
The Raven
In the spirit of comparing european salaries to US, one must consider the current strength of the euro in relation to the dollar. European jobs are more advantageous to cut for an american firm simply by virtue of the exchange rate.