pico Posted July 30, 2012 Share #1 Posted July 30, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ex-Kodak Employees Blast Bonus Plan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Hi pico, Take a look here Kodak - American Exceptionalism in action. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jplomley Posted July 30, 2012 Share #2 Posted July 30, 2012 After I use up my last sixty rolls of Tmax 400, I'm done with Kodak. I refuse to support such an idiotic management. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
miklosphoto Posted July 30, 2012 Share #3 Posted July 30, 2012 Do we know whether Ilford or Fujifilm treats thaie employees better? But it is sad nevertheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted July 30, 2012 It appears that Kodak cannot likely infringe upon UK employees' pensions as they can against USA employees. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgcm Posted July 30, 2012 Share #5 Posted July 30, 2012 After I use up my last sixty rolls of Tmax 400, I'm done with Kodak. I refuse to support such an idiotic management. +1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 31, 2012 Share #6 Posted July 31, 2012 Aha! Kodak's secret plan is working! First, tick off socially progressive film users with this bonus plan - and then tick off conservative film users with a government bailout (to be revealed later ). Then use the reduced sales as an excuse to cease film production. (Remember the guy who murdered both parents - and then pled for leniency on the grounds he was an orphan....) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen in Montreal Posted July 31, 2012 Share #7 Posted July 31, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Do we know whether Ilford or Fujifilm treats thaie employees better?But it is sad nevertheless. This is a rather shocking statement actually, given the ride the people of Rochester have had to endure over the last few years! Ilford was bought by a group of the employees years back after management screwed up that firm too, yes, they treat their own better than the current form of Kodak does, and they treat their end clients better too! As a result of that treatment, my freezer is far more white than yellow. I really miss ole yellow, but not "this yellow"! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share #8 Posted July 31, 2012 Ilford was bought by a group of the employees years back after management screwed up that firm too Interesting. Citation? . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 31, 2012 Share #9 Posted July 31, 2012 2005 ILFORD - Why ILFORD? History Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgcm Posted July 31, 2012 Share #10 Posted July 31, 2012 Do we know whether Ilford or Fujifilm treats thaie employees better?But it is sad nevertheless. In most of the European countries they would be prosecuted for driving the company to bankrupcy and would be liable for losses exceding the net worth of the company. If an Italian or German company screws up pension funds or retirement funds during administration, directors are sentenced to jail. Franco Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalArts 99 Posted July 31, 2012 Share #11 Posted July 31, 2012 Ilford was bought by a group of the employees years back after management screwed up that firm too That's right, but more specifically it was a management buyout. Ilford was bought out by the former managers who renamed it Harman Technology Ltd after the original founder of the 19th century era Ilford Ltd (Alfred Harman.) But there are actually two Ilford branded companies now: Harman Technology Ltd and Ilford Imaging Switzerland which is owned by a Japanese company, Oji Paper (dba Ilford Inkjet papers.) But I think the irony here is that Ilford went into receivership after the US company, International Paper, had purchased Ilford in 1989 and then slowly ran it into the ground. There seems to be a pattern here somewhere..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted July 31, 2012 Share #12 Posted July 31, 2012 In most of the European countries they would be prosecuted for driving the company to bankrupcy and would be liable for losses exceding the net worth of the company.> Sadly not in my European country. It now seems common practice for senior executives full of hubris to ruin fine companies whilst trousering some of the most ludicrous salaries and bonus packages imaginable. Marconi (the former GEC) is a classic example of this corporate vandalism but there are many others. Maybe if some of these CEOs took their noses out of the trough for a while they'd be able to see more clearly the damage they are doing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgcm Posted July 31, 2012 Share #13 Posted July 31, 2012 Sadly not in my European country. It now seems common practice for senior executives full of hubris to ruin fine companies whilst trousering some of the most ludicrous salaries and bonus packages imaginable. Marconi (the former GEC) is a classic example of this corporate vandalism but there are many others. Maybe if some of these CEOs took their noses out of the trough for a while they'd be able to see more clearly the damage they are doing? You are right. The bonus system is spreading worldwide from USA and UK, mainly in banks, but too often bonuses sound like robberies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted July 31, 2012 Share #14 Posted July 31, 2012 Bankruptcy to reduce or eliminate pensions seems a way of life in corporate America. I can't see how unfunded pensions were ever allowed or agreed to by the workers. Except that at one time Kodak was considered one of the best companies to work for. So maybe trust blinded people to the risks. The airline industry is probably one of the worst for this. US Airways and other airlines went through bankruptcy and shifted their pension "responsibilities" onto the Federal Government's Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC.) The end result was that workers had their pensions cut dramatically and the number of bankruptcies has stressed the PBGC's resources. Going bankrupt became a strategy for airlines to use in order to compete with each other by eliminating the pension in the contracts that workers negotiated for a long time ago. These promised pensions were considered benefits in lieu of higher salaries. It seems criminal to me as I know a lot of flight personnel who were affected severely. As for bonuses for Kodak's top execs... especially Perez... I could have driven the company into bankruptcy for far less than his salary. And why would anyone think that these people can formulate any kind of plan to get Kodak out of bankruptcy? So keeping them on and rewarding them seems crazy as they are just sucking more out of the company for themselves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted July 31, 2012 Share #15 Posted July 31, 2012 This chronology is more detailed; see especially 2004-2005. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joachim123 Posted July 31, 2012 Share #16 Posted July 31, 2012 When Kodad discontinued slide film it was the last time I bought their products. I have now switched to Fuji. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucisPictor Posted July 31, 2012 Share #17 Posted July 31, 2012 If an Italian or German company screws up pension funds or retirement funds during administration, directors are sentenced to jail. Franco Is that so? I have never heard of a German director going to jail because he caused a near-bankruptcy. Normally, they get a high severance payment and find a new job somewhere. The employees are the victims! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digbyhp Posted July 31, 2012 Share #18 Posted July 31, 2012 I believe that in some US corporations, and some US federal and state Govt depts, that they have a pension arrangement that is known in Australia as a 'defined benefits plan'. It means that the final retirement payout is calculated on a formula rather than depending on accumulated returns from the investments on which the plan is based. So the plan has 'liabilities' of future payouts which it must fund in case the investments are under-performing (definitely an issue these days). It is these future liabilities, which may or may not eventuate, that are crippling the finances. Far-sighted companies have used the 'good times' to shift away from those sorts of plans into regular accumulation funds where there is no liability, but in companies where there have traditionally been strong unions, it has not been so easy and has been one of the factors leading to uncompetitive cost structures. I don't know specifically if this has been the case with Kodak, however. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Messsucherkamera Posted August 1, 2012 Share #19 Posted August 1, 2012 Kodak’s plan proposes to set aside $8.8 million in cash and deferred stock for 15 “key management employees,” including nine executives, deemed “essential” to Kodak’s ability to successfully restructure. Would that gang of fifteen also be the administrators who ran Kodak into the ground? Perhaps I'm just not, uh, "visionary" enough (yeah, we'll call it that) but I can see no reason why the buffoons who left Kodak in flaming ruins should be paid performance bonuses (on top of their mega-dollar salaries) for destroying what once was one of the true giants of the photo industry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamey Posted August 1, 2012 Share #20 Posted August 1, 2012 When Kodad discontinued slide film it was the last time I bought their products. I have now switched to Fuji. Same here. Ken. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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