Strike in France Grows; German Layoffs

By Mark Evans | Published: July 9, 2009

More than 300 Nortel employees in France are now on strike

In a letter written to the media, a group representing the workers said:

“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,” the group wrote in a letter published by various media outlets. “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.”

In Germany, meanwhile, there are reports that employees in Germany are being laid off under the watch of Ernst & Young.


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  • 27539

    Crimeny – Nortel is a dead horse. Climb off the saddle already – you don't have any rights anymore.

  • FraudEqualsJAIL

    Cause toujours loser- French employees are gonna kick azz..It's the right time of the year too…Does July 14th ring a cow-bell cowboy?

  • 27539

    Your can storm any castle you want, piss-stain – it's too late now.

  • freqmgr

    Somehow I think Z and his companions expected Nortel employees to go out quietly. No legal actions, no strikes, maybe only a some unsecured claims filed in the bankruptcy court which, as I was told prior to leaving, will never be paid. The increase in the legal defense fund shows that maybe they see their plan as having “difficult” times ahead. While they have asked the court to not allow law suits (at least in the US) somehow I don't think that request will be honored.

  • BonnetPhrygien

    At least dude we have some respect for ourselves.

  • wimaxOttawa

    Mike and his friends can not care less about any possible unrest among “working bees”. They are backed up by Canadian, US and EU governments. They can not care less about drop in workers productivity as they are busy creating “stalking horses” for various LOBs (or more appropriately “dead horses').

  • justproud

    Yep. we have absolutly no insurance we'll get a cents, but it does not matter. I refuse that Mr Clement and E&Y think they can f… us in silence.
    15 years spent for this company deserve a minimum of respect !
    What they propose today is simply insulting. Even if we have nothing more, I can watch me in the mirror every morning and think “i've tried”

  • ntpurgatory

    Meanwhile, oh what a little government help can do for a company in bankruptcy proceedings:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090709/ap_on_bi_ge…

  • less

    So what we gonna play till then, FreeCell or Solitaire on company time/dime?

  • GoProto

    Yep. Well, we can all thank Z & Companions and BoD for the lack of govt. help for NT. What govt would help a bunch of visionless “executives” whose only smarts and accomplishments seem to be in “executing” a successful plan to hand out bonuses and line their own pockets. They never put together a viable re-structuring plan, and had no one's confidence at ever being able to do so. So, therefore if you can't or won't help yourself, the govt. won't and shouldn't either.

  • GoProto

    Z and companions had no plan, BoD just as responsible for leaving them at the helm. You reap what you sow.

  • yes4aapl

    I'll remind all of us once in a while that bonuses handed out for management in last 3 years were handed out on false numbers, false managerial margin improvements, a measure not acceptable by AGAAP.
    BoD accepted the margins anyway.
    and I think everyone knows accounting fraud uncovered in 2004 and it was about bonus pay as well,;so called bonus gate 2004.
    I'm sure there are Directors sitting on the Board who remember year 2004.

  • OneOfTheFewLeft

    “Does July 14th ring a cow-bell cowboy?”

    Anniversary date of the last time France did anything for themselves without relying on another country to bail them out?

  • GoProto

    yes4aapl-
    Thanks for the reminder.. momentary lapse of conciousness.. how could i possible have implied that all the BoD was responsible for in the downfall of NT was the losers they left steering the ship?
    BTW, i was being ironic when i said they executed a “successful” plan to hand out bonuses and line their own pockets. My meaning was “successful”-for them, as they succeeded in their fraud and collected the money.

  • protosphere

    Largest fraud settlement in Canada with no fine from OSC, long extended repair of numbers as they were allowed to printed billions on what numbers neglecting pensions while pumping tax write off as a largest asset?

    Ultimatum settlement refused to negotiate pay practices they tanked with further downplayed revisions

    Endless contradictions and joke forecasts like never before, promoting pals, to selling the farm

    Gagged employees
    Strikes,
    government inquiries,
    layoffs…

    Heck we can go on forever

    Catalyzed carnage to be seen, overkill. Can anyone fathom a greater mess as they trade options and still pay bonuses right into the close. Ah, it is so endless… One must wonder how this evolution is legal.

  • yes4aapl

    One must wonder how this evolution is legal.
    ====
    re
    I don't think it's legal.
    I just know that the wheel of justice in Canada turns slowly.
    Accounting frauds in 2004 were not legal; that's why RCMP laid criminal charges against F Dunn & Co.
    Reporting false managerial margins was not legal; they were not in tune with GAAP.
    That's why we've seen new class actions started.

  • Another_Nortel_Watcher

    If a bus was being driven down the highway at nights with the lights off by someone who didn't know how to drive and was bouncing off the guardrails, dropping pieces onto the highway, the police would take action before anyone was hurt.

    With Nortel, we have a bunch of incompetent drivers who don't know their way forward, they're behaving recklessly, and they're hurting a far greater number of people than can fit on hundreds of buses. And yet nothing is done – they are allowed to keep bumbling forward. It's insane. It's wrong.

  • GoProto

    Wheels of Justice? Why aren't the headlines in Canada screaming about this on a daily basis? Why isn't it all over the news networks? Why aren't reporters sitting out side the executives' houses every day waiting to question them as to how could they do this to their employees and shareholders, where is the public outcry like there was in the US when AIG, Lehman, GM and Chrysler, Wachovia, BOA, Citi etc, etc went down? The efforts in France may be fruitless but at least it is a public display of the illegal practices and outright fraud going on before peoples eyes.

  • TongueInCheek

    You're an accountant correct?

    Why is it acceptable for Cisco to report non-GAAP amounts and to report Operating Income, which is the same as Managerial Margins, but not Nortel?

  • ntlifer

    You know what the greater mess is…..we had a colleague commit suicide last Monday instead of coming into the office….He had a masters degree in engineering..he had 32 years with Nortel and installed the first dms10…he designed circuit packs, worked in sales, training center, tas, and finally the nmc…where he was just tagged cdma….
    Nortel wouldn't let him take a early retirement last year becasue he was 54…this comapny has done more that ruin the living…it has destroyed many families.

  • Moose_Chaser

    >> The RCMP are a bunch of USELESS CLOWNS !! <<

    It is only because Conrad Black set up a head office in Chicago, that he got the justice he deserved, thanks to US Law Enforcement.

    The RCMP “red serge” and the whole mess belongs in Disney Land.

    MC

  • reasonreality

    chapeau!

  • reasonreality

    that maybe true, but the strike will reduce the value of the assets, which everyone cares about… It is never too late to focus the spot light on injustice, especially when the downside is limited! The boys and girls of CTF deserve a big chapeau

  • reasonreality

    fyi – French gave America, well, America,…. the 1783 Treaty that awarded the US its beloved indepednance is called, are you ready for this… are you sitting down… “The Treaty of Paris” because the French sailed into Yorktown in 1781 and kicked Cornwallis up the backside and saved the American bacon. Not asking for any congratulations, just ease off on the mis-informed “bash the French” crap. If the French had not of helped, the US would not be the US. No question that the US played a major role in WWI and WWII, but make sure you get all of your historical facts straight before you start mud slinging.

  • scalppeeler

    Suck it up.
    What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

  • scalppeeler

    Welcome to Canada.

  • OneOfTheFewLeft

    You're right.. everyone can just sit here and take the “cowboy” references from them and we shouldn't say a word because they are the all mighty French.

  • scalppeeler

    This is Canada.
    Things like that don't matter.
    Things listed below are items that make headline in Canada.

    Arar demands and will receive 10 million dollars.
    Not enough francophone schools in canada.
    New immigrants have hard time finding jobs.
    Visible minority hiring quotas too low.
    Natives deserve their land back.
    Canada allows six times more asylum and refugee seekers than the U.S per capita. Must increase to 12 times more per capita.
    Not enough french training in gov't jobs.
    More Mosques needed in Canada.

  • joremero

    But the colleague won't be there anymore

  • yes4aapl

    Why is it acceptable for Cisco to report non-GAAP amounts and to report Operating Income, which is the same as Managerial Margins,
    =====
    re
    first, I studied accounting at high levels
    second, I know about NT, less about CSCO
    third Nortel's managerial margin must be different than operational margin otherwise why Mike come up with the name for own creation?
    4th Mike's bonus was depending on that managerial margin /improvement/
    5th the margin was misleading public about improvements in business operations
    6th false and misleading revenue numbers were used to show “improvement”, “turning the corner”, “turning the ship”…choose one
    conclusion
    BK shows that above improvements were false

  • stillatnortel

    I ain't killing myself over Nortel. He obviously had bigger issues than Nortel being in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

  • yes4aapl

    Why aren't the headlines in Canada screaming about this on a daily basis? Why isn't it all over the news networks? Why aren't reporters sitting out side the executives' houses every day waiting to question them as to how could they do this to their employees and shareholders,
    ====
    re
    There was an activist representing NT shareholders during 2002 ASM.
    Robert Verdun.
    If the system worked for the benefit of shareholders we would not see F Dunn's accounting frauds in 2004
    If BoD was representing shareholders' interest they would listen and act on the cry from Robert Verdun and other shareholders.
    There were so many red flags and BOD neglected them all and the stock is in Ch11. zero!
    who is Bob Verdun?
    He was an owner of weekly newspaper /later Toronto Star bought out the paper/
    For his relentless fight for public good he was threatened and accused of crimes.
    In F Dunn case, there is gag order on the criminal trial proceedings.
    2002
    http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id…

  • broadbandbill

    No, welcome to Jack's legacy; the Welch My-Way…–bb

  • A_Peon

    and BoD even agreed to apy for the unethical behaviour of Mr Z when not respecting the contract clause about not joining competitor of Motorola.
    How did we trust this guy and BoD, this guy cost us 7 or 14 M$ (sorry I don't remember how much but we paid for what he owed Moto at this time) and that even before he even had done a thing for us. just like Kovalev moving to Ottawa and not scoring a goal next year ;-) at least he didn't go to Toronto or Boston ;-)

  • PeopleAreOurStrength

    Video summary of the 3rd consecutive day of strike in Nortel France is available here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsQ-hX3yis8

  • wimaxOttawa

    I agree, I wish them to succeed, but you need critical mass to see any attention.
    I am not a communist but their rule “Workers (of Nortel) get together” is quite
    applicable even today.

    ________________________________

  • Wapuka1

    As per Cisco's reported 3rd Quarter numbers, Cisco used GAAP. As per GAAP, Cisco had $1.3488B net income from continuous operations. Cisco did not have any non-reoccuring events (like discontinued operations or accounting changes) so that its GAAP net income was $1.348B.

    I always find it funny to see Nortel types always try to somehow falsely paint Cisco in a negative light. Cisco uses very conservative accounting methods and has only one P&L, unlike Nortel. And of course, Cisco is the dominant player in all of its market areas – even though there are the funny types who somehow thing that the garbage that Nortel is attempting to sell is leading edge and that the networking user community just does not understand any better.

    Cisco makes profits and Nortel is bankrupt and its carcass is in the process of being picked apart by vultures (including its own executive management team). It took more than MIke Z and his team of jackasses to sink Nortel.

    Polish up your resume and hope that you have some friends at Cisco or Nokia who might help you get an entry level job.

  • scalppeeler

    Agreed.

  • scalppeeler

    Didn't jack welch make grape juice?

  • broadbandbill

    If he did, he would have off-shored it to a “lower cost geography” – like Macedonia..–bb

  • ave_joe

    You seem to purport that Nortel professionals are, all 100,000 that worked there over the last decade, falsly painting Cisco in negative light, and the 60,000 plus Cisco employees have never done this to Nortel?

    My Picasso, what a broad stroaking brush you have.

    I can't sense an ounce of bias in your statement. It simply shows your lack of charachter and sense of self. Somehow you get a chubby by kicking a dog when it down?

    I'd say you're just a coward with keyboard, perhaps you work for Cisco and lurk competitor blogs or make a living in one of their proud ecosystem of 2% margin channels rebooting their routers (on a swing shift)?
    I suspect Nortel folks get no joy in whatever garbage is written about Cisco in the blog world. I know the customers are not enthralled with neither their technology (Cisco's), price (30% of the ports with 70% revenue), or their Smartnet nickel and dime death of a thousand cuts to your budget business practices.

    But that is where the rubber meets the road, many Customers have a high opinion for Nortel and Cisco. Some have a negative opinion.

    If you had the chops to make it in IT, you would already understand this.

    But hey, you feel better about yourself now, what else is there to do on Thursday night if you're a Cisco fan.

    Dude, get an actual life.

  • tryn2makealivin

    And the crowd goes silent. Well put….

  • Compass

    How terrible for this man, his family and friends.

    Our identities are so closely tied to our jobs that many have difficulty coping. It is tragic this man felt he had no other way out.

    I was in an Open Door Session with an executive and one of our colleagues raised the lack of severance and the underfunded pensions.

    Of course we were told what a difficult decision it was for the Nortel Executive. She called the Executive Bonuses “blood money”, which is more accurate than any of us realized.

  • less

    Hm. If I were 50, would I apply for the job requiring CCNA, or send my resume to land a Meridian gjg?

  • less

    Like Mike Z. Nortels future doesn't effect him one bit.

  • yes4aapl

    one more reply for you from Wapuka1 so you can find that reply in your email box
    Wapuka1

    As per Cisco's reported 3rd Quarter numbers, Cisco used GAAP. As per GAAP, Cisco had $1.3488B net income from continuous operations. Cisco did not have any non-reoccuring events (like discontinued operations or accounting changes) so that its GAAP net income was $1.348B.

    I always find it funny to see Nortel types always try to somehow falsely paint Cisco in a negative light. Cisco uses very conservative accounting methods and has only one P&L, unlike Nortel. And of course, Cisco is the dominant player in all of its market areas – even though there are the funny types who somehow think that the garbage that Nortel is attempting to sell is leading edge and that the networking user community just does not understand any better.

    Cisco makes profits and Nortel is bankrupt and its carcass is in the process of being picked apart by vultures (including its own executive management team). It took more than MIke Z and his team of jackasses to sink Nortel.

    Polish up your resume and hope that you have some friends at Cisco or Nokia who might help you get an entry level job.

  • felixmk

    Sad, my sympathies. However, the root cause of suicide is rarely the loss of a job, or a marriage breakup, or similar. The root is a mental illness, usually depression that is untreated or did not respond to treatment. If you think of suicide over something like work, you need to seek medical help – you are just as ill as someone with a heart condition or diabetes and deserve proper treatment.

  • protosphere

    ntlifter is right on.

    may I suggest reading Emile Durkhime before trying yo come on as some kind of authority

    loss of a job or loved one often accompanies depression which can lead to suicide.

    and with Nortel you can be sure there must be plenty of untold stories… plenty

  • protosphere

    “Cisco did not have any non-reoccuring events”

    Analysts were questioning Nortel's “one time charges” that were not one time at all but reoccurring in following quarters, like the BSNL. I wonder how they got away with pulling that stunt while always playing musical chairs with numbers or product groups. =)

    You have always been a informative and respected poster with proven insight. Great to read your posts here too.

    I also remember the genesis of critics like Apache who calling Nortel for Sale, like folding, for ages and was right on too. If so few caught this so early, what the heck were the visionaries at Nortel doing feeding us all this total crap while feeding themselves bonuses over the years…

    Plenty reasons to see further inquiry or penalty they always downplayed before they bust. How the heck did they, and do they, get away with it is beyond me…

  • protosphere

    Cisco's training and certification also remains more diversified and respected which is a direct reflection of their products and dominance.

    They may have spit at each others behind closed doors at one time but today Nortel can't hold a candle to Cisco, No comparison, Cisco paid billions for Sci Atlanta and it makes money than any stupid PEC or Tasman deal.

    Screw Nortel, call me a Cisco fan too if you like. I even like Chambers. =) Nortel blows a big one… evidently bankrupt, delisted, and breaking apart into smithereens …and thankfully so, after so many lies to carnage.

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