Nortel Directors Get a Raise. Huh?

yes its surprising me what the need of giving more money to Nortel’s directors. when the company situation is so. Indie

This could be culture related. Not only Nortel, but also other bad managed western companies act the similar way.

In Asia(Japan, South Korea, China etc), it is impossible for CEO/Directors of poorly managed companies(run to the ground/bankruptcy) to get any bonus or any pay raise. It is about "Shame"

Many such CEOes in Asia even used suicide for the sin or harm they did to the company. Any American/Canadian CEO suicided for such "sin"? None

I don't intend to encourage such suicide, but I do expect some big guy say "Appologize" or "Sorry", unfortunately None. Every big guy said he did right thing at right time with professional manners.

I wouldn't want anyone committing suicide over Nortel. I will settle for public flogging in front of the parliament for the board and the key executives!

Public flogging is too good for the Nortel exec, How else can they account for the total districion of shareholder captial, However the board must carry a lot of the blame, What do you expect when they hired a telephone man used to pushing a failed business model.

Anti Zman

How about tar and feathers? or a L on their forehead for Loser?

Can we or Nortel share holders raise objection with the appointed judge or anyway to block it.

Why not? They have managed to hire talent capable of running a 100+year history rich company to the ground in 3 years. That is very difficult to pull off/accomplish and requires very special talent. Z-Hackattack

They all should have a suit next to Bernie Madox in Raleigh NC.
That is what they deserve, maybe when the authorities finally get thier act together and lern their own job this kind of corporate theft will stop. After all it all go back to the tax payer that will end with the bill

Uh - that would be Bernie Madoff, not Madox !

Maybe you meant Joe Mannix ? <chuckle>.

Peace....MC

What the hell they are all crooks anyway, lol

Not only is this news shocking, it is plain corrupt.

How many weeks of severence will now line the pockets of the BOD instead of helping loyal NT employees feed their families?

The BOD needs to stand up and say not only are we not going to accept the raises, but we will give back all salaries we earned while asleep at the wheel.

The BOD is as responsible for NT's demise as is the Macedonian.

Blame Canada.
With Nortel being a canadian company the gov't should have fallen over itself and lined every town, city and village with nortel gear. They should have had a monopoly on everything relative to the telecommunications industry throughout the entire land. And I mean everything. That along with their presence in the states, thanks to the many people nortel employed there would have taken care of problems long ago.
Just look at how the Chinese gov't subsidize and prop up huaweii.
No less should have been expected from the Canadians at all three government levels, but as mentioned they've more pressing irrelevant things to do on a daily basis, like deciding how much they will pay to someone who sues them for perceived charter violations.

Kudos to you Mark for pointing this out. I hope that the press pick up on this, although I think they have almost abandoned NT as a news item. An 80% raise for a part-time job that is now very simplified, when people are being thrown out on the street without severance? This is disgusting. Why is a BoD even required at all? As others in this blog pointed out, it is not like the work load is greater due to the departure of the other six directors. Could we see weekly reports from these guys on all the hard work they are doing for NT?

"...why the need to give Nortel’s directors more money ..."

It's traditional! ;o)

D. Leonida

The number-one idiot here is the judge, just a pathetic puppet!

Business schools will be studying the demise of Nortel for years to come. It is a classic example of a failure of leadership from the Board on down. One can only hope that other companies heed the lessons of this colossal failure to avoid going down the same path!

The remaining leadership team has no morals left. Recently sales folks are laid off one day prior to being eligible for that month's commission. Coincidence? No somebody planned it that way to screw those folks one last time before they got the boot!

Just proves that rats still leave a sinking ship first, Captain Edward John Smith was at least far more honourable. The Z Man stole the last life boat and gold plated the oars, leaving the crew (AKA Staff) to go down with the ship.

The carcass of Nortel will be routinily examined by business schools in the years to came. Selling the Carcass to Avaya just means the management still think nortel is a telephone company even in death.

Through all this I continue to work. I literally have been so busy I couldn't read AAN this morning (which is pretty damned busy I'll have you know), and this is what I have to read! I so want to ply my trade for a company that deserves it!

What? You read AAN at work, on company time and with company resources?

That's effectively stealing,. And no, I'm not joking. I'm sure you have no problem justifying your theft, but it's just so ironic how people complain about senior management's over reach in entitlements while ignoring their own.

This board's a gas.

If it is anything like when I worked there, he/she is spending 20 minutes a day surfing or playing a game or whatever just to take a breather from the business. But to even it out they probably do 4 hours of free overtime so get off your pulpit.

Oh, please !

Climb down off your pulpit !

MC

a double shot of Kool Aid, eh exnt_x_2??

In the vein of "there is no such thing as a minor sin" and "thinking is just as bad as doing" I have to conclude that its unethical for any Nortel employee to ever read and/or participate in the Nortel Buzzboard on Nortel property, be it during or after business hours.

Doing so on breaks still costs electricity and bandwith, and printing materials to take home is tantamount to flying to and from work in the company jet.

It adds up.

The more employees resorted to watching the NT ticker the more the stock went down due to the increase in electricity used.

"Hey Bob, the stock goes down a notch everytime I check it"

"Lemme take a look at it from my own personalized taskbar (thank you Mike Z, snicker), Earl, - sure enough, it just went down another 12-18 cents!"

Bob (yelling across the cubes) "Hey folks. NT is tanking! Look at it!"

30 people @ -12-18 cents per = Ch 11

Cant accuse Mikey of being obsessed by it all.............

exnt_x_2 If you are not joking then you are a real Richard Head. If you believe spending a little time online is theft I guess taking a walk, grabbing some coffee, getting a water break is theft, Pllllaaaaaaaaaeeease.

And as for your stealing comment - get real. That's just nonsense. Comparing visiting a non-work related website during work hours to mismanaging a company to death is frankly...stupid.

Have you never checked the weather, called your spouse, made a doctor's appointment or taken a piss between 9 and 5???

Every year my manager makes me put an item in my priorities stating that I will learn more about Nortel as a company and not just the small bit the I touch directly every day. It's like a breadth knowledge requirement or something, or maybe it just fills a text box in SAP? I don't know.

Anyway, it helps me feel better about reading AAN at work!

I would hardly compare blogging on your break on a company computer to senior management's over reach in entitlements i.e. 45 million in bonuses to people at the helm of a tanking BK company while squelching severance pay because "there's no money for that" as Z claimed publicly.

You are assuming people are putting in the 7.5 hours they are paid for, not the 9 hours many I work with are doing every day. If they want to read this at work while taking a break and are putting in lots of time, then how is it theft? This is allowed in our usage guidelines.

Besides, what are they going to do.. fire us with no severance!

If you're using company resources and time for personal reasons then it's theft. I think some of you are going to have to find out what working in the real world is like again.

Actually no. I am using my time, at work (since I put in extra time) and I am not using excessive internet. Personal use of the internet is allowed at Nortel (and most tech companies) as long as it is not abused and you don't view inappropriate material.

As for the real world, I don't know any of my friends at other companies who don't read the internet and blogs at work when they need a break, nor do their companies have an issue with it.

If Nortel doesn't think it is theft, then who are you to say it is.

I average a minimum of 65 to 80 hours per week every week since I have been employed at this company. I did not know there was a position that only worked you 40 hours a week. Please list them I want to apply for one.

Yesterday I put in 18 hours, literally, all of it at home. It is almost 8pm and, other than a break for dinner, I am working.

I am online at home 24/7 and if something needs to get done it gets done. And if there is nothing to do, I claw time back. It's a struggle sometimes, but the flexibility is completely worth it. My organization is super flexible. It is great for the employees and I would argue that way more work gets done than in organizations that have a strict 7.5 hour/day policy.

After all, at the end of the year I am judged on my contribution in terms of the real work I do, not how many hours I worked.

I guess If you work a traditional 9to5 job I would agree with that. But today's business professional blends work and personal time continually. I have no issue read AAN during the day just as I have no issue working from 10-12 every night. This mentality belongs in the 50's when folks worked 9-5 jobs.

Sorry folks! Call me olde fashioned, but I don't "blend" my work and personal time. I have my priorities straight, and my epitaph will never read "If I had only spent more time at work!" But perhaps for some people, their priority is the corporation for which they work. Blending personal and work time and 80 hour work weeks is a sure prescription for stress, divorce, and an early grave.

Who says divorce is a bad thing.

Disgusting.
Immoral.
Diabolical.

And not surprising.

MC

"... why the need to give Nortel’s directors more money at a time when the company’s assets are being sold off to the highest bidder?

Because they earned it.

They "earned" it? How did these 3 people earn it in the few days since the other 6 were given the boot? Didn't they also "earn it"? Or it's just TFB since they're not around anymore? Makes Zero sense, unless you'd like to enlighten me.

Well, shoot, if only one of them celebrates the raise by upgrading their Verizon phone this still helps Nortel, no?

COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT (CALEA):

The CALEA software RTU license for all Nortel DMS-100, DMS-10, DMS-MTX, and DMS-MSC switching platforms installed or deployed in the United States on or before January 1, 1995 is $101.8 million (“total license fee”)

It never ends, They feel they have won the lottery when they were assigned a director's postion and it is their duty to fill thier pockets as fast and and much as they can.

There is clearly no justification for this since there job is to only see the sell off of the company. Unfortunately for many corporations these days this is what it is all about. Get to the top and loot as much as you can before its over or it is someone elses turn.

The corporate directors who try to build a great company, products, build shareholder value and grow true company value are far and few between.

Unfortunately again these folks are strictly in it for the money.

"Mr. Richardson is the former Chairman of Ernst & Young Inc. (Canada) and a former Executive Partner of Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Richardson was also a member of the Management and Executive Committees of Ernst & Young LLP, national managing partner of the firm's Corporate Finance practice and the senior partner in the corporate recovery and restructuring practice until his retirement from the partnership in 2002."

I 'smell' a "conflict of interest" here!!!!

These Leaders will most definitely accept the raises, which I feel rather nobly consolidate the pain and frustration of the numerous ex-employees who lost a combined $300k in severance and benefits into one convenient lump sum burden to be shouldered by a select few.

Thats a lot of people these Leaders provide *for free* all the tools needed to learn the value of income and a decent job, and that by living without either finally comprehend that money isn't everything. Hopefully the "exes" can then finally move on.

E.g. if I were given $100k I'd still only be worth -$20k. But with cash in hand these Leaders can offer jobs to interior decorators, car dealers, travel agencies, spas, etc. loving them long time

These NT directors are clueless; they appointed an incompetent and also clueless CEO, Zafirovski

The obvious question is why the need to give Nortel’s directors more money at a time when the company’s assets are being sold off to the highest bidder?

----------------------------------------------------------
Mark- An even bigger question is why the need to give them a raise when, as stated, E & Y are really in charge now? Perhaps the thinking is that now that six were booted out, the remaining three have so much more to oversee.
Unfortunately, there is nothing logical about it, you can't reason it out. Companies that have not fallen by the wayside have let at least 10% go and then pay raises are frozen, forced leave with no pay, etc... These disciplines are all aimed at the "common employee", while the management and board reward themselves for "cutting costs" and hand out retention bonuses to keep the chosen ones.

Let's not forget that there are 1,000 layoffs coming by the end of Sept.

I have not had a raise since 2001 albeit I was well compensated then in the heady days as well. Am I an idiot or what? (I know the answer to that is "yes").

The answer is quite simple. GREED ! GREED ! GREED !
I have never seen a company run by a bunch of such greedy, Souless Bast***s.
They could care less in who knows it as well.

and why does it not surprise me??
they are all at the trough, sucking everything and anything they can

after seeing this looting happen at Nortel over so many years and down in the US with the bank bailouts, failed CEOs get massive bonuses, all happening with impunity, I'd like to join the party.

the alternative is slaving away with less than 2% of a raise.

But then things such as honour, responsibility and respect become paramount in a world where little of it exists.

Think about it. As old fashioned as it feels now, how much value would you put on a person with those traits today? I can assure it would be a great deal more than a year ago. Those are the qualities that keep Nortel's from happening. And they're the very qualities I would be looking for in any potential future employer, and as an employer for any employee.

A raise in pay for the remaining BOD? How disgusting. In my final 8 years at this company, I watched as teams and projects were whittled down to virtual non-existence. Yet there was work to be done, and if you wanted to keep your job, you had no choice but to take on "additional responsibilities." And in my final 8 years at this company, I personally did not get ONE additional cent raise in pay for the additional responsibilities I took on. I do admit to being well paid, a result of the heady days. How naive to think that good, hard and honest work would help the cause. All it got me and many others was a termination with no severance and a reduced pension.

Now Nortel is seeking “additional powers for the Monitor.” The description of those additional powers sure looks like a director’s job description (but without the liabilities). So if E&Y is now functioning as Monitor and director of Nortel, what justification is there to give the remaining BOD a pay raise???

This is just more evidence how the Nortel BOD, and the leadership team (at all levels) take care of themselves first. Any concern for former or current employees is nothing more than crocodile tears.

As for the above comment by Asset_Number_XXX about "house cleaning", you must realize that any increase in pay that a person receives now will ultimately increase their claim against Nortel on wind-up, which is to the detriment of the claims against Nortel by the truly deserving people.

"This is just more evidence how the Nortel BOD, and the leadership team (at all levels) take care of themselves first. "
Dude, you're laughable. This was SOP at all levels of Nortel, and you know that.

"I do admit to being well paid, a result of the heady days."
Yeah, and who and how many did you suck off to get that? We all know how it worked. You're just pissed because you won't get to be last at the trough, but if you could, you'd push yourself right to the head of the line.

You, and all those that hide behind anonymity, should take a look at the following:

http://michaelfertik.com/news/legal-impact-of-t...

But then again, the real meaning probably escapes you.

I get your point, but I don't see anything remotely like what this person did happening on this site. Tempers may flare but no one is out for character assassination. That's what "I believe". :o}

I've seen something similar happening on Wall Street, to people I know. It looks like a raise but at the end of the day they are getting less money because the bonuses are gone. Base salary is (or used to be) pocket money for some people.
This could be the same.

125K is not much of a director salary if you take away bonuses and the pension plan. Expect this type of "house cleaning" before a sell. Sudden or long due promotions to manager or up the management scale are also happening.

125K is not much of a salary. Ok 16 max meetings over the year makes it $8,000 per meeting of 2 to 3 hours. That is about 2000 per hour assming they attend all 16. Most attend 5 or 8 since they squat on multiple boards.

"That is about 2000 per hour ..."

Actually, that's a pretty fair consulting fee.

For E&Y it might be. Not for normal mortals.

I don't know. I do OK. It just depends on who you know.

Shouldn't it really depend on "what you know?" If it's "who you know" then you're just another crony...

In practice it comes down to who you know. It's just hard for some people to accept that.

On the contrary, it is both. Because if you don't know what you're doing, you're not worth the money. No matter who you know.

And this is the point. No one would object to the board's salary if Nortel's story where different. But in light of current events, this is cronyism at best.