Nortel Faces Wrath of Laid-Off Workers in England

Former Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) workers in Harlow, England, part of the London commuter belt, marched on Parliament Tuesday to call attention to their recent layoffs.

The jilted employees say their dismissals were unfair, especially since bankrupt Nortel’s court-appointed administrator, Ernst & Young, gave very little notice of the firings and did not even pay 90 days’ salary*, rather than severance and benefits.

Ernst & Young insists its actions were lawful.

But many of Nortel’s now-ex-workers in the U.K. disagree and protested at Parliament today before heading to demonstrations outside of Ernst & Young’s London offices. On Wednesday, the protesters plan to lobby Nortel’s customers and partners and talk to them about the company’s treatment of laid-off staff.

*Editor’s Note: This sentence has been corrected to reflect that Nortel actually did not pay 90 days’ severance. The statement that Nortel paid 90 days was an editorial mistake and we apologize for the error.