There's now another reason for Nortel pensioners and laid off workers without severance to be angry with the company.
Nortel is confirming a plan to give bonus payments of $7.5 million to 72 executives.
The head of the Nortel Pensioners Association, Don Sproule who is based in Ottawa, told CTV Ottawa on Friday that the plan is "just too extravagant."
Sproule says incentives are needed, but not at this level. He said if they offered him a $500,000 bonus, he "would be happy to go back to Nortel."
The plan is an update to a program that was put in place back in the spring, paying out about $40 million in bonuses.
Nortel will not confirm if this package of cash has gone to the courts for approval.
Tony Marsh, also with the pensioners group, tells CTV Ottawa they were never made aware of the proposal.
He says the plan is "out of whack with reality; it is crass, greedy and disgusting." He adds that current laws allow executives to basically draft their own bonuses, while at the same time laying off people without severance and reducing money for pensioners.
The biggest benefit will go to John Doolittle, who has become corporate manager from his previous position as treasurer. His compensation will rise to $1.68 million this year, compared to $560,000 in 2008.
Those on the benefit plan are people on the corporate side of the company who are working to wind up its operations. It does not appear to apply to anyone in divisions of the company that have been sold or are being sold off.
In the House of Commons question period today Mike Lake, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of industry, said, "We share the outrage of others. It is incomprehensible that the executives at Nortel would choose to give themselves bonuses, court-authorized or not, at a time when the rest of the country is tightening their belts."
Nortel confirmed the plan and issued a statement late this afternoon justifiying the payouts.
"As Nortel works through the highly complex tasks of this restructuring, it is critical to have the right specialist resources in place across the company to provide the skills and know-how that we need to manage and complete this process successfully," the statement read.
"Any steps taken around these individuals has been within the context of a previously approved compensation plan, taken in consultation with the creditor committees, external legal counsel and the Canadian Monitor. This is about giving us the best resources possible to maximize value for all Nortel stakeholders."
The plan was laid out in September, but the pensioners group - which is supposed to have a law firm at the table with the company and the creditors watching what goes on - says they had been told nothing about this deal.
Bonus plans stretch out as long as two years and the aim is to keep people from leaving while they go about the job of wrapping up Nortel operations.
The bonus plan became public when CBC News received an internal document dated from September of this year. Nortel has only said there is a plan for bonus payments.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Paul Brent
