She plans to fire 15,000 people, starting six to nine months after the acquisition closes. Fiorina, who eliminated 5,700 positions in the year ended in October, has been criticized for not being sensitive to the company's culture of compassion as she cut costs.
A group of 15 members of the Compaq French Works Council union from Paris flew in to protest the acquisition at the Hewlett-Packard meeting Tuesday, complaining about the coming job cuts.
Still, all the fighting may help Fiorina in the end. Walter Hewlett says his campaign has forced Fiorina's team to put 500,000 hours into plotting the minute details of the integration, which could ease the transition.
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