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Select your choice below and click on the "Submit Vote" button to submit:

a) US Way b) Nordic Way

Nordic leaders claim they have the right to unreasonably delay compensation schemes and seize our share of a great success. They seek to use a legal fig leaf and “the way we do things here” to justify seizing our earnings and assets. That plays well in Nordic parliaments. But it is just plain wrong. It violates all of the legal, moral, and ethical standards Nordic business and political leaders claim to stand for.

Our team got far less than the “most favored nation treatment” required by long-standing trade agreements. Indeed, we got “least favored nation” treatment. Sonera gave similarly situated and “most favored” Nordic employees retroactively priced incentive schemes. Sonera shifted our “least favored” team to a new and worthless scheme with virtually no chance to share in any of the great value we created.

Sweden and Finland’s actions violate protections of our rights and assets contained in their Constitutions. Their actions also violate numerous international treaties, agreements, and guidelines as well as the strong moral values and high ethical standards they claim to support in TeliaSonera’s Corporate Responsibility Report 2008.

• Sonera and TeliaSonera’s seizures violate the Finland-US Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights Treaty of 1934. This treaty provides in relevant part that “In no case shall [nationals of Finland and the United States] be accorded less favorable treatment in respect of [commercial] matters than nationals of the most favored nation.” “Their property shall not be taken without due process of law and without payment of just compensation.” Sonera chose to protect Finnish nationals’ earnings and assets while seizing United States nationals’ earnings and assets.
   

• Sonera and TeliaSonera’s seizures violate the General Agreement on Trade in Services (Uruguay Round Agreement) which provides in Article II-Most Favored Nation Treatment that “With respect to any measure covered by this Agreement, each Member shall accord immediately and unconditionally to services and service suppliers of any other Member treatment no less favourable than that it accords to like services and service suppliers of any other country.”
   

• Sonera and TeliaSonera’s seizures violate OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. These guidelines provide in relevant part that companies should “Observe standards of employment and industrial relations [including compensation and working time arrangements] not less favorable than those observed by employers in the host country [United States].” Sonera chose to substitute Finland’s employment and compensation standards for the relevant United States standards.
   

• Sonera and TeliaSonera’s seizures violate constitutional protections, including “The property of every citizen shall be so guaranteed that none may be compelled by expropriation or other such disposition to surrender property to the public institutions or to a private subject …” (See Swedish Instrument of Government, Chapter 2, Article 18)
   

• Sonera and TeliaSonera’s seizures violate the following provisions of their Code of Ethics.

  • Do the right thing. “Treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves.”

  • “None of us should ever lie, cheat, trick, misuse, mislead, or do anything that can be perceived as any of these.”

  • “Don’t take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, misuse of information, misrepresentation of facts, or any other unfair or dishonest way of acting.”

  • “Being truthful, trustworthy, honest, open, candid, and considerate are the right things to do.”

  • “And when things still go wrong – because sometimes they do, for all of us – stand up and admit it. In this way, you will earn respect and we can all help fix the problem.”

Please Read, Evaluate, & Vote for Honesty, Fairness, & Justice.  Thank You.