Should Nortel Keep the KEIP?

It is obscene that the BoD, the Governance Board and the courts would approve this. This company underhandedly filed in Canada federally specifically to bypass the Ontario labour laws allowing 1 wk for each year served to a max of 8wk severance. Now they apply for Incentive Bonuses that is directly tied to improving the bottom line to meet their quota. Can we say no brainer. Just layoff more folks and you have met your objective- Bonus check in the mail.

Would be very interested as to who is getting $’s. Yup! What a wonderful system we have at work in capitalism. Let’s reward the folks who got us in this mess in the first place!

This is so disgusting. Dammit, even us peons havent seen bonus in years.
Their bonus should be based on a negative number too. I feel for the severed folks.

This is disgusting. Wow dare they screw investors and employees, and then get bonuses. I hope that executives rot in hell. Anyway this company is fucked.

Why does the ELT bother making us all go through Ethics certification year after year when they don't keep up their end of the bargain? It KEIP & KERP the right thing to do when the company is in Chap11 and struggling to stay afloat? And in this economy when jobs are tough to come by, how does the retention incentive make any sense? That too while in Chap11. Sad to see the top level ELT lobby for this!

Obscene is a good word for what the checkpoints that supposed to have added sanity to this request were supposed to do. It is negligent that they should proceed with the KEIP. There is not a single quantifiable reason that any of the executives should receive a bonus. They were the ones entrusted with making the business decisions for the past 8 years that have driven Nortel to the brink of bankruptcy. There is no need for them to receive a bonus, nor a severance, nor any compensation for continuing to make bad decisions. if they don't want to say - let them go, its not like it can get worse with them gone. I have no idea how the lawyers were able to provide a convincing case for the proceedings, I do hope that a criminal case is opened against all that were involved in pushing this request through the courts. Greed is bad at the best of times, it is so much more disgusting when applied in situations such as the present one Nortel finds itself in.

The outrage to this was aired on Canada AM

Bonuses created largest fraud in Canada
Bonuses they fought to keep at kangaroo AGM

OSC fined them nothing for largest fraud in Canada, they printed paper to pay the fallout and creditors to revisions after settlement

Protected under safe harbor and bankruptcy, they still want bonuses for making the company insolvent.

Taxpayers pay above EDC exporting jobs through UIC so they can cut severance costs and employees, cost cuts = bone us. If they restructure, more bone us.

Everyone knows they maintain exorbitant pay practices paying lotteries but this is criminal. There should be better laws in place relative to performance and bonuses then pay through an army of legal might and loopholes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqFcYfEXjk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allaboutnortel.com%2F&feature=player_embedded

Will NEVER buy anything that has to do with Nortel, Lets make this company go under unce and for all! Before that can cash in!

If the executives of this company can decide to provide no severance packages for the employees, essentially restructuring the company on the "backs" of the people that were loyal to this company for many years.

Then the executives should not receive any bonuses, let them fix the mess they have put us in, or jus leave I am sure there are enough competent people left who can take over, with better values who will do the work without expecting large bonuses and get the job done

Ok let's have a look at the poll results so far... 142 votes for "yes". What does this mean?

Ok let's say 92 executives got bonuses. Half of them are married. Each votes "yes" along with their spouse. We get exactly 138 votes. lol

Any of us remaining Nortel employees are sad to see that we will potentially get bonuses at the cost of our fallen comrades. its unfair. I am happy just to have a job, which may still disappear faster than I can say "Mike Zafirovsky". No bonuses should be given out to retain anyone in these difficult times, and for anyone that believes they deserve a bonus, lay them off, many good executives were laid off and are out looking for a job right now and im certain would be happy to do the job without expecting a bonus.

The thing that confuses me about the bonus is understanding what problem the approvers they think they are addressing. Retention bonuses are for those you think will either leave on their own or be lured away by a competitor. Who is going to lure away one of the top 90 execs in Nortel right now? "I've just hired so and so from Nortel and he/she is here to fix things". ????? I don't think so. Its a tough enough market right now, and they are not hot commodities out there, regardless of their personal skill sets and accomplishments.

Maybe its not retention. Per the acronym, perhaps its Incentive. Again, ..you're spending money you don't have to. If these execs aren't motivated by their CURRENT salaries, and/or the need to demonstrate successfully managing something .. to go out and achieve the three milestones you've posted out there, you've laid off the wrong ones.

Nortel's executives have successful driven the company to the grounds by first outsourcing to India, East European countries thus slowing/delaying product deliveries and creating internal turmoil and employee comflicts; secondly acquiring companies without good planning or thorough investigation thus losing multiple hundred of millions (I bet you some has made zillions out of these deals); and thirdly by promoting non-qualified and inexperience employees to lead/manage projects with the only reason to facilitate co-ordination with the India outsourced projects. This is like the blind leading the blind.
As shareholder, if you ask me, I will kick out all the members of the Broad of Directors as well as top mangement. They are greedy and naive, believing that they can make money out of a sinking ship without getting caught. If we appoint a normal, decent person with common sense to lead a company, Nortel will not fail and sink so fast. Both the Board of Directors and top managment should not be compensated, indeed, they should work without pay for the company until it was turned around and pay off all debts. Otherwise, they should be kept away or repay every penny that they have made from Nortel.

Nortel's top managment already made enough money, why compensate them for the mistakes that they have made. This is called "Negative Reinforcement". Why not help those who really rolled up their sleeves and work, sweat, and compensate them with their hardwork. These engineers, normal office employees get laid off instead, without any surveillance package, even though they have work for long years, and long hours each day. Are we acting the ethical day to allow bonuses being paid to the greedy and rich?
I don't know why this bonus has been approved. It's not making any sense to me at this point. Perhaps they will say I am not looking at the big picture. However, who wants to spend money to RETAIN a bunch of the losers? How much are they worth for their work and their brain? Someone, please enlighten me. Thank you.

Seriously?? Is there no justice left in the world? I guess not. In addressing issues like this one, I have to fall back to my faith and believe that the greedy, selfish few who are reaping the benefits by taking from those who need it will get their "reward" in the end.

I want to be angry by this blaton act of GREED, seeing people loose their jobs thier homes and some even their lives due to the lack of leadership at the top but then I am reminded by my Father that is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven!!!! Justic will come in the end_ I'm thankful that my identity does not come from this Company or the position I hold with it but from Christ who is in me. I will trust and will "Believe" in Christ _ because he knows the plans he has for me....