Nortel Employees in France Go on Strike

By Mark Evans | Published: July 7, 2009

About 200 Nortel employees in France have gone on strike today to demand better severance and other compensation in the wake of expected jobs cuts. For more, check out Le Monde.

Here’s a letter from Nortel’s French employees:

Châteaufort, Yvelines (France) – 7th July 2009

The employees of Nortel France (NNSA), the worldwide R&D centre for Nortel GSM are going on a general strike. For 800 French families, including the subsidiary (NNF), a veritable harassment has been endured for several months.

Our situation is as follows:

The company went into administration 6 months ago,

The payment of our salaries is called into question each month,

We are told of 500 redundancies and yet no buyer has been announced and the accounts remain unclear after 6 months of administration.

The North American parent company, which has cash reserves at its disposal, refuses to support the French subsidiary which has always been profit-making: the accounts of Nortel France have been drained by up to 300 Million dollars by a mutual transfer mechanism which in fact only works in one direction! Faced with this situation, the Law court of Versailles is investigating, the authorities have frozen the research funding and the AGS (an Association for employee debt guarantee management) has called into question its contribution to the legal minimum redundancy payments.

The management who have driven the Nortel group to insolvency are still in control and grant themselves 45 Million dollars in bonuses to carry out the liquidation! We no longer have confidence in this management without any industrial vision and who have established greediness as a merit.

It’s one more financial scandal, after the corruption of accounts which led Nortel in front of the North American justice in 2002; it’s also an industrial fiasco for a high-tech group which had over 100 000 employees worldwide, 2 000 of which were based at the French site in Châteaufort.

We have contributed to the wealth of the group whilst being subjected to relocation and collective redundancies; now the anger and exasperation forces us to go on strike to defend our rights at work. Conscious that the economic climate is unprecedented, we demand financial compensation and reclassification measures to help the families concerned to survive this difficult period which is looming.

The workforce of Nortel France (NNSA)

Here’s a video showing Nortel’s facility in France and striking workers:

This entry was posted in Financials. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

CCArchitect

Where did the 45 mil go hidden under friends name that Mike Z can pick up later after he has moved on. The French should be applauded for standing up to be counted/ All of us that are left should be follow in the steps
felixmk

How will anyone know if the French are on strike? I guess if productivity goes up and costs go down we know they are really on strike...
reasonreality

boy, now there is an intelligent comment! After all those years reading the economist and attending business school, your proportional equations with a peppering of xenophic rhetoric have truly enlightened me. Glad to see you joined the blogging as we really need a smart little dude to help add some perspective to the situation. I finally get it now.... wanker.
PS - no attempted jokes about hygene or garlic or 35 hour work week?
less

The least welcome were the French, seen as the meanest tippers and the rudest in Europe. The French were also the worst tourists internationally, accused of being bad at foreign languages, tightfisted and arrogant.
Expedia marketing boss Timothee de Roux, said: 'They don't go abroad much so they get stressed.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198707...
felixmk

I have some Michael Jackson jokes that are funnier than the usual French 35 hour-garlic-body odour jokes. Do you want me to post them?
reasonreality

No and I am quite sure that nobody else does either. This is a Nortel/tech blog and you should have a little respect for the family and friends of someone that has just passed away.
GoProto

Remember what i suggested about scalppeeler? Same applies here.
felixmk

OK, since you asked. What's the difference between Michael Jackson and a Grocery Bag? Ans: One is white, plastic, inert, and a danger to children, the other one is used to carry groceries.
scalppeeler

That's funny.
Poor mike. Never had a chance to be a kid.
There use to be lineups at his house when he was in the jackson five, under 10 years of age being treated like a reichsfurhrer. Pathetic.
He couldn't handle it later in life.
reasonreality

I certainly don't and I don't think the other bloggers would like them either given that this is: 1) a tech blog, 2) a Nortel blog and 3) MJ just died - love him or hate him, have a little bloody respect
A_Peon

Not sure how it works for you in North America and in other places in the world, but have a look at the OSM, for me it changed yesterday and I now can clearly see that I am part of the 500 being fired.
I am in Global ops operation, some of you might have surprises when reading it, for it is just illegal that such things are announced in a tool prior to any notification by a manager. and don't tell me that as it is mention on top of the page that OSM is not correct until the 29th of July....my last day in Nortel probably
ChaiTea

What was the exact change in OSM?
tryn2makealivin

Hey we go through re-orgs it seems once a week to try and make ourselves look better for potential buyers....I would not worry about it one bit.

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/news...
cooluswiz

Why r we all working here in US, listening to customers wrath and no cooperation, are we in denial. I have just put 70 hrs, while my manager was on hunting trip....i have no doubt in mind that they are going to liquadate data part of enterprise soon....and voice guys good luck working with other loosers in the industry.....we need a movement(Starting from RTP , Texas .....)
NTblinker

Hey Mark! where is the poll (NSN or MP). we have only nearly a week to July 21, and we would like to know what Nortel folks expecting for their future.
joremero

me thinks it's more like 2 weeks. (i.e. 8 + 7 + 7 = 22)
NTblinker

doesn't matter, we are on a terrifying trip from Jan 14, and we can wait one more week :) but if you take July 20 for the news agencies to announce the MP bid and if you don't count this week then we can say only next week is the barrier in front of us to jump over.
JL123

I totally agree with "reasonreality" and "compass".

This blog is "All About Nortel". and has nothing to do with Scalppeeler's Nazi ancestors.

Mark Even should STOP Scalppeeler from hijacking this blog for promoting his racism and hatred. NO one wants to read scappleeler's ugly & poisoning comments.
JL123

I totally agree with "reasonreality" and "compass".

This blog is "All About Nortel". and has nothing to do with Scalppeeler's Nazi ancestors.

Mark Even should STOP Scalppeeler from hijacking this blog for promoting his racism and hatred. NO one wants to read Scalppeeler's ugly & poisoning comments.
scalppeeler

Take a pill mother theresa.
GoProto

People should not respond/reply to ANY of his posts.. then he will go away .. do not give haters a platform and will stop performing.
A_Peon

by the way as said in the press communique that has been sent today.
it is the first time people are on strike in Nortel France, those who are organizing it are beginners at this. out of the 683 people from NNSA only 4 or 5 are unionized.
though we are by the law obliged to be represented by Unions, it is just the will of people that made it.
YOU DON'T NEED UNIONS TO BE UNITED !!!!
reasonreality

well done! You guys and girls are making a difference!
A_Peon

France employed up to 3300 people, after the move of manufacturing center in Chateaudun to Flextronics, the diverstiture of UMTS to Alcatel and 3 social plans in the past 8 years, we're now down to 800 with 500 to go by the end of the month.
Yes I am ready to move on and just after the fight. I was prepared to go without a fight but seeing so many people impacted and some very close friends in CANADA and UK being fired without any considerations made me sick and moved me to join and make others join the movement.
We're now in Day 2 of the strike and the fight is sarting to pay.
will let you know more soon.
for the moment a little video of today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUczMuiMuII
freqmgr

Hmmm...don't know if it means anything....but neither of the videos are running just now....says "errors" are the reason....maybe too many trying to see them at this time...
reasonreality

indeed it is and I applaud you all! I am glad you clarified the numbers on the various restructuring efforts in France. It is a widely beleived urban myth that France hasn't been profoundly impacted by lay-offs, etc... It absolutely has. Having said that, the labour laws in France are far different than the US and French employees have acual employment contracts with Nortel. This differs considerably from the US where employees are on "at will" contracts and can legally only expect a pat on the back when notified. It is unfair for American employees (or any other nation's employees) to cherry pick the "good" parts of French employment and ignore the "not so good" bits like the difficulty in getting a new job (because of the costs of termination) and the, relatively speaking, lower salaries and higher taxes.
NTblinker

D-Day plus 2
protosphere

A strike is a splendid idea.

All employees should have went on strike the second they refused to pay the severances.

This is a company who paid the largest fraud settlement in Canada under ultimatum while refusing to negotiate their exorbitant pay practices.

They gagged employees, refused to attend government inquiry before forced to do so, Manley's who advocated less regulation, his law firm defends Frank Dunn as fraud trials loom, settlement tanked with downplayed revisions and so many still there, they trade options for cash again while increasing lawsuit insurance as they battle past insurers, new lawyers get paid first as old lawyers become creditors, promote green pals, maintaining bonus craze while cutting severances, etc... it is so endless beyond belief. How can they be allowed to do this?

Is it any wonder they folded as they reward big business looting the employees after killing so many shareholders and a $300B market cap.

The small guy always loses. Look at the growing suicide rates for government sponsored gambling that is ironically contributing to fund health care after a mean spirited Harris who sold the 407 to look good. Mean methods to compensate for ill management at the expense of the greater. What primitive times we live in to allow a fraction of this, as we look at our bankruptcy laws.

Taxes, energy costs, government and big business scandals, what don't we know about.

Perhaps a mass protest is on order for better management than the personalities currently drawn to power under the guise of working in the interests of those who elected them when greater powers rule. Look at the contrary to what they are to do OSC.

If they want to play mean, the employees should have just picked up their ball and walked home. Without employees there is no company , nothing to reward cutting costs with, restructuring or even sell.

Inhibit ambiguities by executing one scandal at a time to work towards progress. A strike would be a good first step here.
ERworker

If they want to play mean, the employees should have just picked up their ball and walked home. Without employees there is no company , nothing to reward cutting costs with, restructuring or even sell.
______________________________________________________

Your right - there would be nothing left, no chance of Nortel's surviving (slim as it may be) and no chance for any of us to come out of this somewhat intact. While I applaud the efforts of our French colleagues, I really don't see what it will accomplish in the long run. Nortel is going to hide behind the bk proceedings and continue NOT paying any severances for as long as they can get away with it, or until the government forces them to, which is highly unlikely. A lot of noise may be made, but what will really come of it?

While Nortel's problems are huge, they are no more spectacular than the collapse of MCI several years ago. But, there are a lot of former MCI employees that survived to be picked up when Verizon bought them out that are still working there even today. I would like the chance for something like that to happen here. Striking and destroying what is left of Nortel will not allow that to happen.

Its a matter of practicality, not lack of will or courage.
less

Somebody opined that "shoulda woulda coulda" is, like, so not helpful, but watching this video I still think we in NA shoulda woulda coulda voiced our concern to our BoD by making them walk a daily, silent gauntlet of employees lining the halls leading to their offices of excellence.

No signs, chants, histrionics, or calls for Bushitler to be impeached - just a literal demonstration made by their underlings that "all eyes are on you".
Guest

I think they enjoy their dereliction, and that's exactly what I think the deadbeats are doing.

Just a bunch of "girly men", IMO.
GoProto

Are you referring to the French employees on strike, or the Nortel amangement and BoD when you speak of dereliction of their duties, being deadbeats and "girly men" ?
Guest

Management. The French employees have my well wishes and good luck to them.
GoProto

Sorry for the typo-dyslexia.. i meant "management"
less

Yeah, that Nortel BoD is a sack of sad and selfish lamers....
BonnetPhrygien

Your time is now folks!! Not in three months !!!
less

lol - the "Nortel Way" has always amounted to "12-18 months away."
free_agent

I suppose I should applaud their courage and determination. But since Nortel's management basically wants to shut down the French operations, and the French subsidiary has no cash, going on strike seems useless.
reasonreality

not so dude... a strike: 1) can diminish the value of the GSM asset, 2) scare of potential GSM bidders, 3) impact US customers through lack of TAS support, 4) soil the name of Ernst and Young and 5) force the adminstrators to declare the actual finances of the entity... A lot of good reasons to get out there and expose the "injustice". At the end of the day, despite the colouring of revolutionary rhetoric, the French employees have been incredibly factual in citing their issues and simply asking to be treating fairly by the law. Remember, employees are given a much higher priority in French law than in the US or the UK; hence;, French employees should share the cash that's left vs. it going into the hands of Mary Poppins and the other tossers at E&Y.
yes4aapl

I suppose I should applaud their courage and determination. But since Nortel's management basically wants to shut down the French operations, and the French subsidiary has no cash, going on strike seems useless.
free_agent

re
seems useless?
How do you know if you don’t try?
Are you a fox in the hen house?
Look what position you had before

“the executives probably have done the best job possible at extracting money. Even if they're mediocre, sacking the entire senior management team would put the company into chaos, cause sales to fall even faster, and cause every skilled manager (there must be some) to jump ship.”
free_agent
frenchguy

"Divide and rule". Our CEO, BODs, E&Y, ... made a good work since a long time.
I am pretty sure that they are very happy with us. We are very good employees because we continue to work and to say nothing.
Until Nortel employees ( from every countries ) will do nothing together , the bad guys will continue to play with us.
"Silence gives consent". Are you ok with the current situation ? Do you want them to continue to play with us ? We could all change things. Without unit, you can be sure that they will win but you won't be able to complain because you did nothing. Allaboutnortel is usefull but is not enough to change things ? Nortel Employees must show the world that they don't agree with current situation. It will be usefull for Nortel and maybe for other companies.
We must show that we are the workforce of company and we are strong. We made the value of this company. We are not responsible of the bad decisions and chap.11
If you have a voice, we would like to hear it and not only in this blog !

I believe in Canada, in US, in UK, in France, in China, in Australia, in Germany, in Spain, in India, in .... sorry the list is too long because Nortel is a very big company in tens of countries ... we are 26.000, don't forget this !

French employees are together to say "NO". UK guys made also something.
Nortel is a NA company but we had few things from NA ... I can remember only "We believe in Nortel" ...

I believe in Nortel employees ... Nortel employees are always there to do a great work.
I would like to hear your voice !
FraudEqualsJAIL

We should have said "NO" when Bill "I'm getting millions out of this" Owens was putting us all to sleep with his "you Nortel employees are so amazing and I'll be loving you for ever " nonsense, while steering the Titanic towards a suitably sized iceberg. Owen's must have told Z : tell 'em they're beautiful Mike, they LOVE it..You'll have them purring all over you...They'll kiss your butt wherever you take 'em...
Nortel employees were still clapping at Z's GIS last November... Z sounded at first like he'd never get out alive, wondering how it would feel to be ripped apart, but a few baseball jokes got the amazing Nortel employees under control in no time.... lambs...He must have laughed so hard in his jet that night... It should have been NO back then. So I wouldn't expect much from Nortel employees NOW... Too busy wiping the dust off their Thriller CDs anyway... lambs..The silence of the lambs.

Coz no mere mortal can resist the evil of the ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzriller... ha ha ha ha ha CLONK.
The psychiatrist

Too busy wiping the dust off their Thriller CDs anyway... lambs..The silence of the lambs.

I think you meant to say vinyls-their too busy wiping the dust off their vinyls.
S_O_S_This_is_HMS_Nortel

These French employees have had it good through many rounds of previous layoff due to the favourable employment law in France that you can't lay off full time employees without proving that their job is no longer required. They should have been let go many ions ago (with a package then) but they hung around...around..Now it's really time to go. Good..bye...

Get a another job and don't let this mess consume the rest of your life...move on. That's the difference between N.A based and these employees.
Moose_Chaser

" let go many ions ago " ?!!

IONS ? What, are you a chemist or something ?

It is EONS, you simpleton !!

Hahahahahahaaaa !!!!!

MC
Moose_Chaser

I would like to applaud our gutsy comrades in France for their strike action !

The SHEEPLE in Canada and the USA are too busy trying to squeeze whatever coin is left in the Nortel CORPSE and, frankly, don't have the balls or guts to do what you folks are doing !

MC
scalppeeler

Saw you at the pool the other day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4cmrMJul1g
horace_grimswold

Listen up, peeples of North America!

Get on the horn and call Jimmy Hoffa Jr. 202-624-6800. Teamsters union is still in business. They know some trucker buddies who can help. All ya got to do is organize.
FraudEqualsJAIL

A very moving video...
I hope justice will prevail. Soon.
Pauljam

Good luck to you in France. I hope you improve your situation but based on what we've seen of E&Y behaviour and attitudes in the UK I wouldn't hold my breath.

As to the xenophobic idiots that seem to infest this forum - your anger should be directed at the greedy and gutless execs and directors that created this situation and continue to pillage the company, not your colleagues.
reasonreality

giddy up!
A_Peon

people arrived at 6AM to block the doors this morning. and some are even sleeping in front of the doors of the site right now to be the first there tomorrow morning.
It's 4 AM and I am about to go to bed after having finished my little contribution to keep the momentum alive. and seeing this video (whatever the stupid comments that one might say about it) I am proud of us all who have the guts to do it.
And by the way, thank you Nortel for the AIP that you gave me. it made me sick when I received it but use it happily now to sponsor the paydays I will lose while on strike
reasonreality

agree with everything excpet one thing - do not feel sick about getting your AIP. AIP is not a bonus, but a variable part of your TTC (Total Target Compensation). You earned this as much as you earned yor salary. You should feel good about that. And if that is not enough, I can't think of a better place for the money to go than to the employees that have endured nearly a decade of stress and heartache, exaserbated by the lst 3 years of the Mike Z reign! Take the money and run (or strike) my friend and don't feel guilty for one second that you earned every centimes!
The psychiatrist

You earned this as much as you earned yor salary. You should feel good about that.

I wonder if these clowns at the top realize that employee production and efficiency has dropped somewhat due to the never ending uncertainty surrounding Nortel's future and various business lines.
reasonreality

the only thing people at the top care about is colelcting their KEIP/KERP payments and ensuring they are part of one of the divestitures (on the Nortel side) and collecting fees and paying back selected creditors (on the E&Y side). There is little regard for productivity, UNLESS, it impacts the success of the two above stated objectives. The strike at CTF is making an impact as many people are beginning to realize that spectacle is potentially devaluing the sale price of the GSM business and also making the business harder to sell. The longer the process goes, the longer people have to wait for KEIP and the longer E&Y need to wait for what will likely be a reduced sum. Chuck in potential legal and reputation issues and you get the motivation. There is 0% regard for the health and welfare of the employees unless they have a direct impact on a handful of objectives that will make a select view very happy
McBeese

We're all proud. Never mind the trolls - you have balls, they don't.
Moose_Chaser

STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE ! STRIKE !
NTblinker

STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE ! STROKE !
Compass

Herr Scalppeeler,

There is no room on our planet or on this blog for racists and bigots.
People like you make me ashamed to be Canadian.

You state that your ancestors fought in the Second World War. Were they Nazis like you?
scalppeeler

Here we go.
Little pathetic Canadian thinking the world is a beautiful place as he stands by willingly handing out his taxes to fund welfare, asylum and refugees.
Not my money.
My ancestors fought in everything. Wars, mercs. You name it.
Fighters. Like Myself.
Not carpets of tolerance like your ilk allowing people to walk
in with their dirty shoes all over you.
reasonreality

dude - you are a wanker with a very low intellect! Unless you are a native Canadian (or a Red Indian as you would likely refer to them), then you have no business posting this crap about your ancestors. Why is that you and your white bread views feel that you can soil this blog with your rants about being a real Canadian? Give me a break! As an fyi, the wars in Europe you are refering to were not fought to defend Canada, but to support the Brits... so get off your high horse and stop with the mindless rhetoric. And, oh yah, get the hell out of Canada - not sure anyone wants you.
GoProto

see above posts reasonreality....copied below
=============================
JL123 8 hours ago

I totally agree with "reasonreality" and "compass".

This blog is "All About Nortel". and has nothing to do with Scalppeeler's Nazi ancestors.

Mark Even should STOP Scalppeeler from hijacking this blog for promoting his racism and hatred. NO one wants to read Scalppeeler's ugly & poisoning comments.
================================
GoProto 4 hours ago ;
People should not respond/reply to ANY of his posts.. then he will go away .. do not give haters a platform and they will stop performing.

Please peeps- just S-T-O-P responding to him.
reasonreality

got it... will do. I am fairly new to the blog and just finding my feet. Thanks for the note.
scalppeeler

My God.
What a bunch of Chicken Heart, Bleeding Heart, Left Leaning, Overly tolerant, Overly accomodating, Gutless, give away the past Canuckistainers we have in here.
Hopeless.
scalppeeler

FU
Was that direct enough.
And you just made my point.
The heroes of yesterday would not fight for what Canada is today. Good Point.
I am Native.
Can't get out of canuckistan fast enough.
Asset_Number_XXX

I gather you either have or will have 3+ children. That should take care of things around here and influence immigration policies.
A_Peon

My motivation for being on strike is to show that we won't let these guys get rid of us without a fight.
It's because I am disgusted when I see how Nortel has treated one of my longtime colleague from Montreal, completely abandonning him and others once into Chapter 11, all our execs finding a nice cover behind E&Y who are just doing a wonderful job at dumping longtime and loyal employeés in the whole world.
thy did the same to a colleague in Ireland, and in Germay they ask employees (the 50% not being laid off) to sign that they won't sue E&Y while accepting only 80% of their salary.

The 300 M$ are part of the RPS that we paid for other BU. get your facts right Ex_exec. and for current employes be careful with the new RPS or whatever their new name to make sure they screw the most of us.
Moose_Chaser

>> LET'S STRIKE WITH THEM !!!! <<

>> WHAT DO WE HAVE TO LOSE ?!!! <<

MC
PeopleAreOurStrength

Today's strike in Chateaufort can be watched on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPB29A24ao0
yes4aapl

you tube is powerful!
check this protest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feat...
United breaks guitars.
Write a song!
yes4aapl

United breaks guitars.
Write a song!
======
update
yesterday it was 502,110
today 1,384,878 views
wow!
ex__executive

This is bull***t.
Where did they get the 300 million from and how was it transferred.
Nortel spent over $4.5 billion on UMTS. Most of it in France.
The rest of the company was paying the French salaries for years.
Pauljam

I don't know if you really are an ex-exec, frankly I don't care. Nortel and E&Y are playing games with funds - look at the monitor reports where they are withholding previously agreed funds under the transfer agreements for example. I imagine there are other "creative" activities going on.

As to most of the $4.5b being spent in France, I very much doubt it. You conveniently forget about the core network R&D funding for Richardson and especially the crazy OAM funding in Ottawa and China for example.

You also conveniently ignore the original R&D in Matra and STL that Nortel (including CDMA) benefited from originally.
ex__executive

Yeh, right. How many base-stations have you managed to sell in France? Also, what did you contriute to CDMA?
I'm not even counting the losses caused by the GSM crap that you’ve sold in India.
reasonreality

hey mis-informed clown.... about 20,000+ GSM BTS in France and another couple of thousand UMTS.... that is more BTS than Nortel has sold to VzW (I think). In any case, it basically means 50% market share in France.

What was contributed to CDMA? If you had half a brain, you would realize that CDMA was in the red for its first 5ish years... when GSM was profitable and funding it.

Re: BSNL? The BTS were profitable, it was the pricing on generators, towers and a monumental screw up on the calcualtion of duties and taxes that caused the losses...

Finally, in reference to your assertion up top, less than 50% of the UMTS R&D was sepnt in France... The BTS development was largely in Ottawa, the MSC and PC development was largely in Richardson and Ottawa and China had a chunk as well...
yes4aapl

BSNL? The BTS were profitable, it was the pricing on generators, towers and a monumental screw up on the calculation of duties and taxes that caused the losses...
=====
re
What if the calculation was good?
Would Nortel get the BSNL deal?
I don't think so...
Fact is Nortel lost $500 mill on that deal with the business Plan accepted by Bill Owens.
I think $500 mill would help you all today if Owens did not lose it...
ex__executive

Listen bonehead - go and check past quarterly reports and see how much you've contributed to Nortel's bottom line.
The truth is - the UMTS was always a black hole and the GSM didn't generate a single penny in profits.
If it wasn't for the CDMA and couple of other products, you would have lost your overpaid job 5 years ago.
PeopleAreOurStrength

Again ex_executive you seem to be utterly misinformed... Nortel GSM BTS installed base in France alone is roughly 25000 units today (Orange France + BouyguesTel). Definitely nothing to be ashamed of.
That's typically how Nortel France could recognize very significant $$$ of revenue during the 'golden age' of GSM & subsequent GPRS/EDGE rollout, when Operators invested a LOT. Part of this revenue was repeatedly 'sucked' by the corporation over several years, as part of the so-called 'RPS' mechanism that the letter is referring to.
ex__executive

Wow, 25,000 units over what; 10 years!!
That almost covered Pascal Debon compensation package.
reasonreality

I won't get into a name calling match with you as you are clearly a very clever person..., but I will say that 25K BTS (G and U) in France is "pas mal" and 225K G BTS and about 30K UMTS (until sold to ALU) is not too bad eitehr... any other products gave that kind of volume? And GSM has made money for most of its life... not sure where you are getting your info
ex__executive

This means that you must be even cleverer than I am. You've started the name calling...

BTW, on every GSM BTS than Nortel sold prior to Noy's "cost reduction” the company lost over $10K. After the "cost reduction" the BTS's were profitable but then, even BSNL didn’t want the crap, fork-lifted it, and replaced with Ericsson's gear.
Of course the UMTS was even a bigger black hole.
reasonreality

sorry dude - I jumped the gun on my response above... looks like we are generally aligned, however... great stuff!
protosphere

If only shareholders held they luxury of protest.
McBeese

Shareholders had all the power and chose not to use it. Shareholders elected this incompetent board of Directors and kept them in place year after year.

A very painful lesson in the consequences of apathy.
horace_grimswold

We did. It's known as pressing the "SELL" button at the online broker.
scalppeeler

Who cares what they do in France.
Place is more socialist than Canada but on the plus side they do take care of their own more than Canadians. Canadians take more care of other countries
and people they bring in more than established people who have been there for generations. You know that tolerant, visible minority, multicultural thing.
In other words a major crock.
France is all about unions.
What else would you think these people would do?
protosphere

"Canadians take more care of other countries"

The UN didn't think so.

Our envied health care system is casino gambling subsidized and
our most populated province dramatic cut social assistance to the most disadvantaged during the mean spirited Harris rule to the point the UN actually criticized the manner in which we treat our poor.

Today a Canadian company cuts severances to employees while maying their management bonuses. We are getting better, we at least inquired before they torched the farm the following day.
scalppeeler

Yer missing the point.
It is selective cutting.
The white, english established people get cut and discriminated.
Lots of money to go around for asylum seekers, refugee payouts, free legal aid for visible minorities, special interest groups, Arar, multiculturalism. Wake up.
Visit the courthouse in Toronto or Ottawa.
Get with the program.
Far as the UN. They couldn't find their way to the washroom.
Rwanda, Bosnia, Kofi Anan. Yea the UN are one potent informed voice that makes a ton of difference and has lots of credibility aren't they. So what are you saying. McGuinty is making up for perceived shortfalls of Harris in your opinion. We know you love
McGuinty.
unknownPath

Is this guy serious?
scalppeeler

Deadly Serious.
unshackled

Yep...Canada is too nice! So are Canadians. And we all know that in this world the good guy never wins! This world is jam-packed with people like Z who will always take advantage of "nice" people. It's to bad but that is how it is. So you have a choice. You stay nice or become one of them. And I'm afraid most Canadians just decided to stay nice.
scalppeeler

Believe me people coming into this country know that.
I believe Ontario let in half a million last year.
Incredible.
unshackled

Not to mention all the ones that come through Quebec claiming they speak french. Laughable!
scalppeeler

In Canada all you have to is "claim" and you win. Nobody will question you. Just claim racism, discrimination or abuse. Especially if you are in those special interest groups or have a lawyer doing all the work for you free of charge since the taxpayer pays for free legal aid dispensed across Canada to the ones who purposely qualify for it. I heard now even lawyers are complaining about free legal aid saying they are not getting paid on time by the government and the fees are not what they would get if they were paid by a real person who had to foot their own legal bills. I heard now to be considered a canadian francophone you only need to recite the first and 2nd line of frere jacques.
That's it. Ding Dang Don.
unknownPath

Canada is a better place than most other countries. It has flaws but I can promise you that the "you know that tolerant, visible minority, multicultural thing" is not problem with the country.

And the "you know that tolerant, visible minority, multicultural thing" doesn't really have a place on a Technology blog.
scalppeeler

Unknown is just that, unknown.
Let me tell you mister, you and your thinking are exactly the problem and your minority opinion has allowed this country to go into the garbage can.
The sooner I can get out of Canada the better.
It is not the place my ancestors died fighting for.
unknownPath

My ancestors died for exactly this specific problem with Canada. I am pretty sure Canada is not going to miss you when you leave. Good ridden.

But again, this isn't a conversation that should be a on a tech blog, go troll the Ontario's human rights tribunal.
scalppeeler

Your ancestors did nothing Blow Hard.
I have direct ancestors buried in Europe with an extensive military background myself. I had friends who served and died in combat.
MY ancestors, and the ones who did the real fighting didn't die for visible minority hiring quotas, reverse discrimination against white english males, trudeaus charter, payout to terrorists, welfare, refugee and asylum to abusers who come here and just do that, people who want to change and succeed in changing customs and traditions, etc. No, they definitely didn't die for that. The country has disintegrated into cow towing to everyone but the ones who built the place. And there is a great one. The Ontario human rights tribunal. You mean the same group that claimed ontario citizens were being racist for throwing asians into fish sanctuaries when they caught them red handed under cover of darkness fishing illegaly. Oh yea, that Human Rights tribunal
protosphere

Fighting both world wars, setting a precedent for the rest of Europe to follow in Nazi defiance, then have your estate robbed by Nortel. Makes Nortel look like the evil enemy of the state or people.

We protect lives but not misery. Like outlawing murder to promote torture.

So much for giving us freedom lacking death when we need money to live. =)
unknownPath

You do realize that what you are talking about has led the world down this destructive path. If you don't see how flawed the system is and was, I don't really have time to argue with you. Basic things like Equal rights you are saying is the problem with Canada. Which is really backwards. There is such thing as systemic racism which is what some of the complaints you have are trying to solve. read for your own good before you continue to make a fool of yourself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism
Compass

Hey Unknown Path,

I agree with you wholeheartedly.
You present good challenges to Herr ScalpPeeler's stunted vision.

No nation is perfect. I believe Canada is one of the best corners of the world to live in. I am thankful everyday that I live in a country that supports Equal Rights, and is described as too nice and too tolerant. Much better traits than the alternative ScalpPeeler offers.

Thanks,
Compass
A_Peon

I have had the chance to meet some canadians that are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met.
Talking about Canadians some died in my Village to liberate us at dusk of the 6th of June 1944.
We all need to aim at the only enemy...the one that put us into this Ch11
scalppeeler

That's right.
All the good ones are dead or fighting overseas.
A_Peon

You don't understand.
I am more than thankful for what canadian people did 65 years ago, but I am equally blessed to have met within Nortel canadians that simply struck me with their kindness. they are current or employees laid off in the few past months.
NortelTragedy

I'm thinking about giving up looking for work and going on social programs. Is Canada a good place?
scalppeeler

Only if you fit into one of these Six categories---<<<<>>>>>
Native American.
Bilingual with French sounding or French Last Name.
Visible Minority.
New Immigrant pining for asylum and or refugee status
with trudeaus charter in hand.
Member of a special Interest Group.
ABWE (Anything but White English).
NortelTragedy

Bad news for me ... looks like I'll have to keep working ... somebody has got to pay for welfare.
scalppeeler

You got it.
McBeese

A day off will not help. It will save a bit of money and it won't have much of an impact on any programs. It would be almost purely symbolic.

A global strike with the message "we're done working for those GEniuses and we'll come back when they're gone" would be interesting. Of course, MZ and his BoD would probably just run back to court shrieking "Chapter 7! Chapter 7!"
reveiad100k

I have a dream:
All employees, ex-employees, retirees JOIN together all OVER THE WORLD to demonstrate they are fed up to be treat as they are from several months!
They are human being with dignity and respectability that have hardly work for Nortel in which they believe...till now.
I still believe in power of people all together: "YES WE CAN"
Speak to your colleague, friends... and join a worlwide Nortel wave.
The psychiatrist

"I still believe in power of people all together: "YES WE CAN"
Speak to your colleague, friends... and join a worlwide Nortel wave."

your absolutely right with that assumption,the only problem is that the ones in power know that the ones below are in almost never going to unite and create a force that demands attention and so corruption shall continue in all facets of society.

Once in a lifetime we get to enjoy the rarity of witnessing an individual with unbreakable passion in his or her quest for change.

Money for the rarest of these individuals is never the motivator.
S_O_S_This_is_HMS_Nortel

I guess changing the chant from "I believe" to "Yes we can" would help a bit.... Better spending time searching for a new job in my opinion.

These execs have tuned out months ago...You are yelling to deaf ears.
horace_grimswold

...and into empty pockets too.
BonnetPhrygien

The folks from Chateaufort showed they had bollocks - to late, maybe.
At least, they'll be able to look at themselves in the mirror when it is over and if their action shows the way to others well it is definitely worth it.
Falstaff13

I know some ER cases raised by strategic customers have not been processed today because GPS was on strike.... If customers can't get their SLA this is going to make noise.....
S_O_S_This_is_HMS_Nortel

What customer SLA ?..

The only numbers that are important to these execs i(to some how justify their bonuses) inn operations are 48hrs, P95 , ER recovery time craps which the customers don't care about. We don't get paid a cent for these metrics.

Let's them drag Z and the rest of EVP in the escalations..They have done anything the last few months...and need a dose of reality check.
ERworker

If SLA isn't met, in some cases Nortel would have to pay penalties to customers. This would hurt Nortel's (and the execs) pocket book.
Teleguy

If it makes them feel better, why not?

It certainly is not going to make Nortel change its ways...
protosphere

If everyone went on strike it would.
Teleguy

No. If everyone at Nortel went on strike that would only accelerate the move to Chapter 7. And what would be the point? To force Nortel execs and BoDs to suddenly realize they were wrong not to pay severance and benefits to departing employees? Do you think they would? Even if customers are waiting for product deliveries? No, me either.

If the French employees want to strike in an effort to demonstrate the injustice of their situation and to feel empowered to continue fighting, then I think those are noble goals. If they are hoping to convince Nortel to treat them fairly, with respect, it is a lost cause.
unknownPath

I like this Idea in theory but logically I don't know if it makes sense. I am not sure about the laws in France, but since Nortel has been talking about cutting jobs etc, it seems like a pretty good deal for them to have all the employees not take salaries. When union dues dry up then what power do the employees have? this company is out for its self not to try to make people happy so I don't know if this is the right approach to take at this point.
GoProto

this company is out for its self not to try to make people happy so I don't know if this is the right approach to take at this point.

=========================================

Are you kidding? People that work(ed) there are not asking this company to "make them happy" !! They, and this letter renumerates all of the illegal ,fradulent, and outwardly conniving labor practises and bonus distribution not to mention shutting out the shareholders too. People work for a company because- they do the job that was asked of them, and in return, they get paid and get all of the compensation and benefits that were agreed upon at the time of hire, and if they can't afford to, they don't turn around and give out 45million in bonuses to the people in charge that failed to make the company a success. This company has not held up their end of the bargain, it's imple facts man, not about a feeling of "happiness"
unknownPath

I agree with you completely.... but I am challenging the usefulness of this strike. I think they have every right to strike but at this point, the company really can just let them bleed dry. They are not interested in future products they are developing at this point in time. They have the products that they can get money for now which is all they care about. Don't get all quick to angry on me, but stripping emotions from this situation and looking at this strike from a dollars in to dollars out, 200 people leaving their jobs is a saving of $540,000 per week that it goes on. Which in their mind may out weigh the delay in the future development of the products being created at the french branch.

just food for thought here, i wish them the best of luck.
A_Peon

to have the dollars right.
the 700 employees of NNSA cost 4M$ per months
GoProto

And.. any approach may be better than just sitting around and taking it on the chin..
unknownPath

The facts are that th employees have no control of the situation and all attempts gain some type of control I believe will be in vein. Because the company has demonstrated that their approach is strictly business without regard for the problems it will cause to many for the sake of their bosses. Which is technically their job. So again 540,000 a week plus operations costs saving etc may out weigh the downfalls in their mind.

Lets say that the entire company went on strike, how long could it really last without people crossing the line for a paycheck, and if it lasted too long it will be causing more harm for the employees future than the gain for the short term satisfaction of not "taking it on the chin".

Actually that would be an interesting social experiment to see what exactly will happen if the entire company strikes, but I predict that the company will enjoy the short term savings and the employees will fold pretty early cause people have mouths to feed at home. Which should be valued more than trying to make a point on a situation where you have 0 power or control.

anyways food for thought
PeopleAreOurStrength

Today's strike in Chateaufort is a sequel of the previous demonstration that Nortel french employees organized last month.
Cf online video available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA2N2zkCNss
According to this site, around 200 Nortel France employees demonstrated in front of the Palace of Versailles, June 22nd 2009, in an attempt to draw media attention and leverage national political event occuring at the same time (a solemn address of french President Nicolas Sarkozy to a joint session of both houses of parliament).
GoProto

Bravo ! How can these executives and BoD sleep at night? Read the letter posted several times and really let it sink in. Greedy bloodsucking leeches..
yes4aapl

The management who have driven the Nortel group to insolvency are still in control and grant themselves 45 Million dollars in bonuses to carry out the liquidation! We no longer have confidence in this management without any industrial vision and who have established greediness as a merit.
====
re
that is not acceptable.
and I would remind you murky role of BoD which have been ignoring shareholders demands for ages /read - google about shareholder activist Robert Verdun 2002/
anotheropsguy1

For once I find myself fully agreeing with yes4aapl!

I do not see much being acheived here but at least the French employees are trying everything thay possibly can.

I wish that those in North America and the UK could do more also but such is the nature of life, good luck to everyone involved.
unshackled

Well if all employees simply stopped working altogether, wouldn't that have somewhat of a detrimental effect on the azzhole's and BoD's bonuses?
reveiad100k

Why not?
Be crazy!
Imagine a whole DAY OFF all over the word in Nortel!
At the begining it was very difficult to convince people to be on strike.
But feeling of being abused, fear of their future in the international crisis without job during several month, year...
So people has joined and now strike is on going for several days!
So, LET JOIN US!
NortelTragedy

Set a date ... when?
InTheRoundEye

Probably would need ME to create a front page listing stating: Nortel employees call for global strike to get some traction.
BonnetPhrygien

Like Reveiad100k said, the strike will be maintained tomorrow and the day atfer too....
reveiad100k

Let say Thursday the 9th of July.

Sorry for the short delay but we are in a hurry:((
Moose_Chaser

HEY HEY !!

HO HO !!

Z-MAN AND CHOKER HAVE TO GO !!

HEY HEY !!

HO HO !!!

MC
uman

Way to go folks.
The_Deuce

Proud of you guys, I am embarrassed to work for this company.

	Facebook
	Twitter: markevans
	LinkedIn: Mark Evans
	FriendFeed
	Flickr

Nortel Employees in France Go on Strike

Mark’s Blogs

Find ME Online

Categories

Blogroll