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Statement by Linda Guyer, president of Alliance@IBM, on the firing of more than 1,200 workers in IBM

IBM's announcement this week that it will fire more than 1,200 employees in its microelectronics division is bad news, not only for longtime workers who are losing their jobs, but for IBM which will need their skills for the planned expansion of its chipmaking facilities and the turnaround of the industry predicted for next year.

These job cuts mainly affect workers who design, develop and manufacture semiconductors in Vermont, New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, California and Colorado, as well as administrative, maintenance and support workers. Earlier this year, IBM cut another 1,500 jobs in its global services group.

IBM can certainly afford to keep these skilled employees, but instead has chosen to spend $7.8 billion to buy back its own stock in an attempt to prop up its short term stock price, an expenditure that does nothing for the long-term health of the company. IBM also is in line for a $1.4 billion handout under the House of Representatives's economic recovery plan. So money isn't the issue, but respect and loyalty to long-term employees is in short supply.

IBM's top executives continue to receive their same high salaries, options, and bonuses, making no offer to take a pay cut to help the company. Meanwhile, more than 1,200 longtime skilled workers, some of whom have been fired after 20 years on the job, have been sacrificed.

IBM has refused to treat its employees with the dignity they deserve; even workers with 30 years' service were abruptly fired with no regard for their years of loyalty and commitment to IBM.

Worse yet, these workers have no job recall rights. So when the semiconductor industry begins its recovery, as analysts and IBM officials predict will happen globally starting in the last quarter of this year, these workers, whose skills and expertise helped build IBM's microelectronics division, will have no part of the success they helped make possible.

Alliance@IBM/CWA will continue to press for respect and fairness for IBM employees, including recall rights for laid off workers. The workers who built IBM deserve much better treatment than they've received this week.
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