John's Right
A Nortel pensioner, John Watson, tweeted a response in regards to my post from yesterday, concerning Thomas Hobbes and his worry about a "war of all against all." My words vexed him and discouraged him ... and he was right. Let me quote him verbatim: "As a Nortel pensioner, I was already totally in our pol processes, but your view of Hobbes and H's Canada! Grim."I thank John for writing in and we should all be feeling vexed ourselves over what has happened to the former employees of Nortel. To help us understand his disillusionment (including my writing), here is a bit of background.In January 2009, Nortel filed for protection against its creditors in order to restructure its debt. Six months later, it announced instead that it would sell off all of its business units, but not before it handed out $14.2 million to 7 executives. It also paid out #1.4 million to 10 former and current directors, and some $140 million to those helping to oversee the bankruptcy proceedings. Nortel pensioners awoke to discover that they had lost huge amounts of their pensionable income. Both France and the United States moved to protect worker's pensions at Nortel, but they received little assistance federally in Canada. The global recession was on and people were concentrated more on stimulus rather than the financial security for retirees from a company that no longer existed and showed little or no inclination to follow through on its responsibilities to employees that had worked their entire adult lives for the company. Tom McSwiggan, president of the Nortel retirees' chapter in London, recounted how Nortel had been a Canadian icon with its stock reaching $124 a share. "They were heroes. They were worshipped," McSwiggan said.Well, they're not anymore.The Nortel situation is complicated, but imagine what it is like for those employees who manufactured a great product, rewarded the company with loyalty, and participated generously in pension and benefit plans for when their time came to retire. To suddenly realize that much of what you put aside for the transitional phase into retirement was now gone, with the company out of existence, and nowhere to turn for assistance. Nortel pensioners turned to the federal government for assistance but in the end ... nothing. In Ontario, the provincial government is holding hearings to see what can be reclaimed. There's a sliver of hope there.So, no wonder John reacted to my posting. If we were in his shoes, we would have acted similarly. Just a reminder to John that my post was not about Hobbes's view but his worry about what would happen if society and its governments failed to live up to their responsibilities. I have met with Nortel groups repeatedly in London and Ottawa and I'm also frustrated at their predicament. The people of Nortel were solid contributors to this country and developed products that were marketable around the entire globe. It's no help to them when an MP points out how difficult the next few years will be for all of us. It's my job as a Member of Parliament but not one I take any pleasure in. It's time we all gathered around these pensioners and lent our support. You spend your entire working life putting aside money for your retirement, only to have it taken away through events outside of your control. And when you can't look to a federal government for protection, there's not much between you and the poor house. Social justice was never applied in the Nortel case.