Nielsen In The News

"Oldsmar allows Nielsen to be lazy

How sad it is that the City Council in Oldsmar is so wishy washy with the Nielsen Co. (one or two did stand up, one being council member Janice Miller) and didn't stand up against what Nielsen is doing to its employees and stealing our tax money. (They took tax money on the promise of more jobs.)

Heaven knows the local Chamber of Commerce (I refer to it as the Chamber of Horrors) will not speak against Nielsen's bad choice of replacing its employees with people from another country. I think it's appalling that this company's only choice for increasing its profits is to bring in cheap alien workers."
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Stories of fired Nielsen employees:

"The day she was let go, Elliott said she asked new call center director Steve Houghton, "Do you mean to tell me, after 26 years, you don't have anything for me?"

He shook his head, Elliott said, and said, "No."

She was quickly ushered out a side door and not allowed to pick up personal belongings or say goodbye to co-workers.

Houghton started working for Nielsen on Feb. 4, according to the company. The firings started soon after.

Rose Schulz, 79, of Clearwater said after 16 years, it took about two minutes to be fired and ushered out the door.

"I'll need to work, will you give me a reference?" she said she asked Houghton.

"Number of years worked and your position," she remembers him saying. "That's standard."

Schulz doubts that years of service, attendance or work ethic were considered in letting people go.

"I think they've ruined a lot of people's lives without a thought," she said."

Big Bucks Boss

"While striking writers and Hollywood studios are still negotiating a contract, CBS Corp. Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves has a honey of a new one.

Here's what Moonves, 58, is getting in the agreement that runs through October 2011:

A base salary of $3.5 million.

A target bonus of $10.5 million, three times his salary. That's what Moonves gets essentially for showing up. There could be more if he performs, though nothing is specified.

An option covering 5 million shares.

An annual grant of free shares worth $7.6 million on each of four grant dates during his contract. To earn them, Moonves will have to achieve a performance target for budgeted free-cash flow.

A make-whole provision so Moonves doesn't face the higher income tax that New York state and New York City levy compared with California. That allows Moonves to spend whatever time he wants at his company's New York headquarters and not suffer any monetary consequences compared with spending all his time at CBS in California.

For this, Moonves isn't required to work more than five days a month and eight hours a day. Assuming he works the maximum hours, his pay rate, including cash and the current stock price, would be a lovely $9,800 an hour."