Nortel CEO: We Will Help ‘Current’ Employees

One week after choosing to decline an invitation from Canada’s House of Commons, Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski made a mandatory appearance before lawmakers in Ottawa this morning.

Zafirovski told them it was a difficult decision not to hand out severance packages to employees the company laid off during bankruptcy proceedings, but he stressed that he plans to meet its obligations to those who are still working for the telecom giant.

Some of those laid-off workers will get their chance at the mic during the hearing as well.

Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January. It stopped paying pensions to many former workers and denied severance checks, while paying out bonuses to company execs at the same time – enraging many. The company has lost many millions of dollars and let thousands of employees go during its tumultuous financial ride.

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