Staff at EDS to hold ballot

Up to 1,000 staff who work for technology provider EDS on IT contracts for the Department of Work and Pensions are to vote in a strike ballot as they express anger over the company's plans to cut 1,000 jobs.

The Public and Commercial Services union said the ballot will close on November 30, and warns of a series of one or two-day strikes if there is support for industrial action.

The staff work on government contracts worth £3bn that will not run out until 2015.

The voting staff are based in various UK locations including Newcastle, Washington, Preston and the Fylde Coast, and work in areas such as desktop and datacentre management as well as application maintenance and support.

Their complaint centres on the 1,000 job losses planned for the first half of next year, as well as a pay freeze, a growing workload, and voluntary salary cuts.

Some 3,400 staff have already been made redundant since Hewlett Packard bought EDS in 2008.

The PCS ballot offers staff the chance to vote on a series of strikes of one or two days, as well as action that falls short of a strike.

In a statement, HP said it “respects the rights of its employees” to be part of a union and would continue dialogue with the aim of avoiding a strike.