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** FILE ** A black ribbon hangs from a sign as a car leaves an IBM facility in Essex Junction, Vt., Nov. 28, 2001. After two weeks of stealthy layoff notices in more than a dozen plants around the United States, IBM Corp. has cut almost 5,000 jobs, according to fromer IBM employee and trade union member Lee Conrad from Friday, May 31, 2002. (AP Photo/Rob Swanson) --zu APD2620--