More jobs cut at telecoms giant

Ex-employees have protested outside Ernst and Young's London offices

Telecoms giant Nortel has laid off another 150 staff across the UK without redundancy pay.

Nortel Networks UK, which has its headquarters in Berkshire, went into administration in January.

The posts are being cut from the Maidenhead headquarters, Newtownabbey in County Antrim and Harlow, Essex, according to former workers.

Administrators, Ernst and Young, said "economic reasons" made it necessary to implement further redundancies.

More than 220 staff were laid off in March without any pay or warning, mostly from Maidenhead and Newtownabbey.

Further jobs cuts are expected to be announced on 7 July.

'Significant decline'

Ex-employee Lynn Forbes said: "The redundancies and how they've been handled are appalling."

She added the former workers had informed the EU's Employment Commission over the lack of pay and a statutory redundancy consultation period.

Ernst and Young said it could not give redundancy pay if it was to ensure the survival of the business.

A spokeswoman said: "Because of economic reasons it has been necessary to implement a further redundancy programme in the UK.

"This is a result of a significant decline in revenues for Nortel Networks UK.

"It is unfortunate that we have had to make further headcount reductions but they have been necessary to reduce costs in the ongoing business and are essential to the ongoing survival of Nortel Networks UK."

Executive bonuses

Ex-employees have been holding a series of protests outside the Maidenhead headquarters and the offices in Northern Ireland.

The former staff said Nortel workers in France and Germany who were made redundant had been given "full recognition" and redundancy pay.

They are also angry that a retention bonus was paid to executives in the US and Canada soon after the March job losses, which reportedly amounted to $23m (£13.9m).

Ernst and Young said the bonuses had "nothing to do with the UK administration".

Nortel had employed about 1,200 staff at its Maidenhead site, with another 800 employed in offices in Harlow in Essex, north Lanarkshire, London and Newtownabbey.