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CSC's UK techies get one extra month to find new jobs

Unite says US biz has taken its finger off the trigger

The Unite union claims it has succeeded in postponing compulsory layoffs by CSC in the UK in the aftermath of the NHS IT project fiasco.

CSC had announced two lots of cuts, adding up to 1,140 staff members at risk. The IT contractor said it would reassign workers or allow them to take voluntary redundancies, but added it would forcibly axe people if necessary. Unite was been negotiating for a plan that would avoid any compulsory redundancies and held a lunchtime protest last month.

Kevin O'Gallagher, national officer at Unite, told The Register that it had succeeded in stopping CSC from pulling the trigger on the first batch of layoffs for a month.

That batch of 500 staff was supposed to clear their desks from 3 May, but they've now got until the end of June to find new work.

O'Gallagher also said that Unite had got the company to collaborate with other contractors such as Atos so that their vacancies were advertised by the internal HR department to help workers find new jobs.

The second tranche of 640 employees will have until the end of September to secure new work.

CSC said it would only reiterate its previous position and refused to respond to Unite's comments.

"We are in the early days of a formal 90-day consultation process," a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "It is absolutely our intention to mitigate compulsory redundancies through voluntary redundancies and redeployment. Where this is not possible, we will provide support to help ensure that anyone leaving the business does so in the best possible position to secure alternative employment." ®

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