NEW YORK - IBM unions in the United States called on employees to dress in black and blue Monday to symbolise the pain being inflicted by massive job cuts announced by the computing giant.
The move was part of an international day of action announced by IBM unions in protest at a restructuring by the company -- nicknamed "Big Blue" -- that foresees the loss of 10,000-13,000 jobs, mostly in Europe.
"We've asked the employees to wear black and blue clothing, like a black shirt and jeans," Communications Workers of America organiser Lee Conrad told AFP.
"Black and blue means how the employees are bruised and beat up by the plan," he said.
At IBM's computer chip manufacturing plant at Burlington, Vermont, the unions called on workers to stage a 10-minute "silent break" outside the factory.
"It's too dangerous for the workers there to demonstrate as such, as our union has no recognition by IBM management," Conrad said.
According to the union official, 30 percent of the planned IBM job cuts will take place outside Europe.
He said the majority will target IBM's global services unit, which employs nearly half of the company's 130,000 employees in the United States.
"Cutting 13,000 employees won't help management to get back on track, but it'll rather affect the group's reputation," Conrad added.
IBM, which has sold its personal computer division to focus on back-office services, announced its restructuring plan on May 4 to streamline its European operations while shifting resources to higher-growth markets.
Most of the job cuts are expected in Britain, Germany, France and Italy, where similar protests were organised Monday.
05/23/2005 15:51 GMT