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Unions representing IT professionals have responded angrily to insider reports that Hewlett-Packard has tried to bypass IT trade unions when bidding for outsourcing contracts.
Computer Weekly has learned that HP has pulled out of the bidding process for two major outsourcing deals because IT staff at the potential customer's company are union members.
A senior HP source confirmed that it had recently pulled out of negotiations for a desktop outsourcing contract with Barclays, which was won by EDS, because it did not want to negotiate with union leaders at the bank.
HP, which is keen to expand into the lucrative outsourcing market, has also pulled out of the first round of the bidding process for a contract to supply part of National Grid Transco's IT oper-ations, due partly to concerns about union representation.
Given that unions are usually an important part of the negotiating process for proposed outsourcing deals in both the private and the public sector, outsourcing experts said that...