French Strikers Blow a Gasket

By Mark Evans | Published: July 15, 2009

With frustrating mounting over the non-payment of severance, some Nortel French employees staged a fake bomb threat today by placing empty cooking canisters outside the company’s plant in Chateaufort, France with a sign reading “boom”.

The employees were upset after a meeting with Ernst & Young was cancelled.

Nortel’s French employees are asking for 100,000 euros (US$140,878) each in addition to their standard severance pay.

Source: Bloomberg


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  • yes4aapl

    frustrated employees shot dead the manager /CEO/?
    =====
    re
    I googled that to see 2 incidents..
    SILICON VALLEY/MUMBAI: Less than two months after the managing director of Italian firm Graziano's Indian subsidiary was lynched in Noida by sacked workers, IIT-educated Sid Agrawal, the CEO of a US semiconductor company, was shot dead by a laid-off worker in California. ( Watch )

    Police are searching for Jing Hua Wu, 47, who worked as a lead product test engineer for the four-year-old firm, SiPort, till a few days ago when he was laid off. Wu is also reported to have shot SiPort's vice-president of operations, Brian Pugh, and a woman whose identity is withheld. It is not clear if Wu was retrenched because of the economic slowdown.
    ====
    wow…
    and yes
    in last 10 years Nortel defrauded millions of investors, fired 65k employees, and paid billions in bonuses to managers and Directors.

  • GoProto

    ;o} thanks for the visual …

  • justproud

    what violence ?
    We all knew the bottles were empty: it was only to call the attention of the TV and newspaper.
    Don't you think that most of the movies coming from US are far more violent for our children, but for what purpose !?

  • Moose_Chaser

    Tsk ! Tsk !

    Violence BEGETS violence !

    Witness a previous calamity that occurred in France :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce8CgJRkr_I

    MC

  • less

    I used to work in Richardson

  • less

    I predict the bomb threat will be as effective as its opposite, the “I Believe” initiative.

    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42820712269

    A group dedicated to the success and resurgence of a great Company. Together we can make a difference. Lets prove the naysayers wrong.

    -I think it's time to end the group
    -Do you still believe?
    -Are there any more asses to kiss by taking part in this pitiful, pitiful, group?

    Looks like quite a few of the I BelieveD crowd live/work abroad judging by their names/stats.

  • less

    Workers at collapsed French car parts maker New Fabris made similar threats on Sunday, demanding they receive payouts by July 31 from auto groups Renault SA (RENA.PA) and PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) to compensate for their lost jobs.

    Such threats of violence could become a strategy of disgruntled workers, who have detained managers at factories across the country in recent months in a spate of so-called “bossnapping” incidents.

  • The psychiatrist

    Two wrongs don't make a right, or do you not have that in French? The “wimps” over here are pursuing their rights through the courts, who will ultimately decide their fate, and yours by the way.

    Sheesh

    come on since when have the courts served everyone equally?

    don't you know that the courts work well for those with deep pockets and who make the rules as they see fit.

    The french have hit the nail on the head with this publicity stunt which has resulted in more air play and media coverage.

    The difference between them and most of the other Nortel employees who are being victimized by the garbage that is the current management group is that they know that in the end Mike Z and the rest of his circus act will walk away with millions even though it is clear that they don't deserve one penny form their conduct,so why not embarass them before the “court approved” E&Y turn out the lights and those french employees are left in the dark.

    They deserve credit for attempting to have a say in the travesty that is taking place right now instead of whining on a blog all day long.

    Oh yes that's right….violence is never the answer-only when your government ships out thousands of troops overseas to go and kill the enemy does it become “the asnwer”.

  • less

    I wished employees had made Mike and chums walk a gauntlet of quiet stares daily.

  • less

    It gets confusing when, say, Iran accuses the US – death to it – of meddling in its country's affairs by so obviously inciting the post-election riots, then, in the same week, urges Muslims to wage terror in France over their burka ban, lest the passive Muslims be punished by Allah personally.

  • A_Peon

    funny, just heard we had iranian TV on site to understand situation.

  • A_Peon

    This would be nice material for a new Nortel Downfall, it's been too long since we haven't had the chance to view desk Jockey talent.

  • ExNtrl

    Don't use violence..Inject bugs in designs (also it can't be proved or tried in a court of law since this is part of the design cycle right? wink wink nod nod). This will cost the BoD and executives more than the payouts.
    Yes I know very unprofessional but so is what the BoD, Zero and Hack are doing to the workers.

  • yes4aapl

    Why would you want to harm customers?
    Are you sick? or is your other ID Toungeincheeck so you can blame this blog for stupidity…?

  • mpexpenses

    And yes the courts….
    Judges Approved $2.45 Billion Nortel Settlement In Accounting Scandals in 2006 to reward unfortunate Nortel shareholders after Frank Dunn eposide. Judge Loretta Preska wrote: “The settlement is approved as fair, reasonable and adequate”. So yes let's leave Nortel employees to continue rely on sympathetic tribunal…they'll bite the dust.

    http://www.crn.com/networking/196702136;jsessio…

  • mpexpenses

    The threat of redundancy to get people to work like slaves, repay 19 billions of company debt, then pay heavy executives pay and bonus, then pay shareholder 2.5 billions in compensation IS financial violence. It just does not capture your imagination teleguy that's why you accept it.

  • Montjoiesaintdenis

    connard

  • Blogger4life

    Its like a 4 foot midget trying to get a drink at a five foot tiki bar. You hear noise and see movement, but there are other taller customers to serve. The only real bombs in France were made by Germans. Its time to surrender! (again)

  • scalppeeler

    You from China, or just as everyone else on here grinding your axe?

  • scalppeeler

    ooooooohhhhhh nothing like a gauntlet of quiet stares to shake one to the core.
    So Canadian

  • ThisIsTheEnd

    For the ones who are against violence :
    You have to fight against pirates as Heads of Nortel here. They got 43 M$ bonuses, while they tell you there is no money! They are selling every Nortel's technology for millions and you won't ask a piece of the cake? 100k€ sounds much, yes, but after thinking, this is just a part of the fruit of our job, except if you prefer those bastards keep everything by saying nothing.
    Violence is not a solution, even fake ? I hope for you that if you're in the middle of the see and if you meet a shark that wants to bite you, you will try to punch it to save your life even if you're part of WWF !!
    You are the ones who have the right to keep guns at home (plenty of kids) so don't tell us about violence.

  • forgive

    It is not easy to get a gun in Canada, while it is piece of cake to get a powerful army use weapon in US.

  • felixmk

    Get back to work, I mean, get back to hanging around Chateaufort doing nothing, Frenchy.

  • felixmk

    Learn to write English and spell before posting please. You can also use the other French blog: Toujours Sur Nortel Pour les Paresseux

  • scalppeeler

    That's one of the things that make America better.

  • GoProto

    It is confusing.. but predictable too.. it is human nature to promote and support actions that are in your own best interest, and if others take similar actions, but you don't agree with their viewpoint, their actions, which were the same as yours, are now wrong.Everything is constantly shifting in today's world, and we must be understanding the (their) current paradigm if we are to attempt to understand any group's position on any given day. Sheesh, now i have a headache just thinking about it.

  • GoProto

    A_Peon-

    what was any outcome of this day's activities.. are you going to be awarded an audience with E & Y or the gov't?

  • GoProto

    Are you replying to ExNtrl? Because i find his post quite disturbing., sinister and just out there.. who in the hell is this guy??

  • yes4aapl

    Are you replying to ExNtrl?
    —
    Sure I was
    yes4

  • less

    Remember when tender poet Sean Penn (again) assaulted paparrazi at his bro's funeral? Mike's a tender poet, he would crack. Joel did once too and he's an alpha male.

    Now imagine a mass of people ogling you at work rest or play for the next 12-18 months, without a camera, like zombies, just watching your every move like some Six Sigma blackbelt out to streamline them noble metrics.

  • horace_grimswold

    Where's Ashton Kutcher and the crew of “Punk'd”??? All for naught?

    If it's a hoax, why not bring some flashpots and a camcorder to add to the effect? It would break the summer re-run lull on Youtube.

    Everyone in NA got a laugh out of this today, except scalpee'r, he's cranky 24/7.

  • AlemdagCaddesi

    “Sabotage is a term of French origin coined during the railway strike of 1910, when workers destroyed the wooden shoes, or sabots, that held rails in place, thus impeding the morning commute.”

  • Norterrible

    I never said that this would make Nortel pay back the severance you mental midget. This stunt did make the canceled meeting happen and once again put Nortel back into the news so it did indeed work like a charm. You are not too bright if you cannot figure this out.

    What the executives are doing is also criminal but passive sheep like you let it happen and ensure that it continues to happen, and will surely happen again.

    Are waiting for the same courts that approved $43M in bonuses to save the day for the screwed employees? Then you are stupider than I ever could have imagined.

    When peoples careers, severance, and retirements are stolen by these white collar criminals they get desperate.

    Now go back to hugging your tree and eating granola.

  • ExNtrl

    To consolidate the response
    AlemdagCaddesi – nice bit of info
    Forgive – Guns are available in Canada – handguns are hard to come by
    Scalppeeler – ah no, not Chinese – North American
    yes4aapl – The BOD and the zero crew have already done the customer and no not tongueincheek just another ex employee that has be raped by the GEniuses.
    Other people, I find the suggestion of explosives more disturbing than my statement (think terrorism)
    Now focus the response you gave to me on the Zero executives and BOD

  • Pauljam

    I think you perhaps meant to say something along the lines of “Learn to write English properly and spell correctly”?

    The spelling is fine and I can understand the posters statement thank you.

    You must be from the land of so-called free speech …

  • Pauljam

    You don't need to inject bugs, the SLT thought of that already. Over the last year or so they have been outsourcing real-time/telecoms product support and R&D to web programmers in India etc.

    Brace yourself for some really creative problems with mobile and wireline phone systems … well the ones that still use Nortel gear.

  • nt_whatever

    Pretty shameful : considering this is being done for “more” severance – apart from additional safety nets provided by the govt – these are selfish acts that could jeopardize any chances for the rest of the fellow workers and sale of the units..

  • bulletproof

    Consider that Nortel is dead and that many of us (employees, BoD, top management, subcontractors, attorneys, banks, shareholders…) are trying to get the most most we can from this dead corpse. I sincerly prefer this money to go to the employees that have built this company than to all these parasites.
    Should all the employees of Nortel be rewarded for their loyalty to the company by a better severance, instead of giving bonuses to these greedy incompetent guys. France is showig the way, may all the others follow and leave Nortel with dignity.

  • FraudEqualsJAIL

    selfish acts that could jeopardize any chances for the rest of the fellow workers and sale of the units..
    ==========================

    Rubbish. The only selfish shameful acts that have hurt workers and company value are those of CEOs, BoD and their fat-cat entourage since Roth abandoned ship with his 135m$ a decade ago.

    Not a word of compassion from ex-Nortel CEOs since Jan 14th, btw? Very very quiet. Except for admirable admiral Owens who joined the line of creditors to fight for the remainders of his “pretty shameful” absurd pension.

    I suggest a web cam be placed in front of every Nortel building in the world so that employees can be seen and speak as one.

  • Kelly_McDonald

    Of course it is implied violence, it is a veiled threat, that next time the bottles may not be empty. To suggest otherwise is dishonest.

    That's why you got the media attention through threat of violent action, nothing more.

  • less

    I just wonder what customers and investors are thinking. They used to come first, long before satisfying internal Six Sigma metrics, getting desperately buzzwordy in mandatory, if redundant, Career Development meetings, and lights-out-in-the-cube policy.

    They're the ones ultimately paying my bills in return for my personal investments of blood, sweat and tears.

  • wimaxOttawa

    I totally agree with you. 100000 Euros looks as a big sum, but please tell me how much of overtime all of you have unpaid for years?

    I have heard about expensive executive cars parked in garages in Nortel Ottawa. Sell those first, sell all executive jets to get money to help people who are most hurt.

    I feel sick when thinking about people with disabilities who will be left with nothing, starved to death. Can current and ex-Nortel employees start thinking about others and not only about their own situation?

    I would be more than happy to provide money to a Solidarity Trust for Nortel employees who are most at risk (sick, large family to take care off). Let's start working towards solutions !

  • justproud

    This idea of gaz botles (linked with a CAT5 cable !) doesn't come from the employees but from a journalist who recommend it to obtain more visibility in the media.

    Knowing that, don't you think the way NN employee in US and CAN have been fired/treated by their management is far more violent (a TRUE violence)?

  • less

    I think the “journalist” is a Cisco shill, which has endless miles of CAT5 at its disposal. It probably charged customers for, and wrote off, that cable at a premium.

    But yeah, NT has perped what could be deemed as spousal abuse in an domestic setting.

  • GoProto

    That is a scary, yet interesting question.. How long do you think it has been since they came first? Investors-if not, should be hopping mad, Customers-if not, should be disgusted with the level of ( actually sub-par levels) management and direction (less) ;o) of a company they HAD a relationship with. How could it come to this? is what both groups are thinking.. we know how, but why no one listened to the whistle-blowers along the way.. kinda like the guy who tried to blow the whistle to the SEC on Madoff- i think he tried like 4 times, and was completely ignored..you know, as in NT, there was insider complicity to get away with it.

  • forgive

    Just wonder what if one guy sends any $1 “small toy gun” from dollar shop in the mail to these executives like Zeroman, what consequence will be?

  • anotheropsguy1

    However, I will leave with full dignity knowing that I have done all I can in a professional manner. I did not carry out obvious illegal activities and give a very poor impression of my fellow workforce to the media.

    Scare mongering is a very poor way to raise attention and it is painfully obvious that there has not been a major act of terrorism in France for many years or this kind of action would not be glorified by small minded fools.

    I know that severance will not be paid, I am just bringing in pay month by month.

  • Kelly_McDonald

    Sounds like a journalist more interested in generating an interesting news story, than helping accomplish anything for those laid off or soon to be laid off.

    You also realise that you are making the French division completely unpalatable for anyone seeking to aquire those assets within the company.

    As someone who was laid off in March with no severance and 6 hours to pack up my stuff and leave, it was unfair, immoral, and wrong, but it was in no way shape or form violent.

  • justproud

    unpalatable: what a word!

    X years of service reduced to nothing in 6 hours (and i don't mention the impact on his family): you don't think this is psychologically violent ???
    I guess your colleague said “thank you” when they kicked his ass. I suppose this is for you a model of courage, THIS is for me unpalatable.

    You know what? We'll obtain a better package than your colleague simply because we claimed what we deserved: a minimum of the respect.

  • A_Peon

    the outcome of this is for the moment 17 hours discussions with E&Y since yesterday, all day today negociations were at the ministry of industry with rep of government and rep of E&Y . tomorrow part 3 of the negociations. will let you know of the outcome once everything is fully validated

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