i may be in the minority, but i think its crap that any HP employee gets the ax b/c of the inability to figure out a fair way to merge seniority lists.
I hate to say it US but your doors would be shutting any day if not for HP and every high seniority employee would be low on the list at the unemployment office.
I sure hope the unions and managment of both companies can avoid the catastrophe that happened with AA and TWA, although it would be the other way around with the weaker company winning in terms of seniority.