Former Nortel employees gathered on Parliament Hill to ask for government help to ensure they continue receiving pension and disability payments - regardless of what happens to the beleaguered telecommunications firm.

Organizers said ex-Nortel employees were bussed in from Montreal and Belleville to attend the demonstration, which took place at noon on Wednesday. They were accompanied by Canadian Auto Workers union members and leaders from several federal opposition parties.

The protesters are seeking amendments to national bankruptcy laws. Their goal is "to give pensioners and people affected by the Nortel insolvency a higher priority ranking in the bankruptcy courts," Don Sproule, chairman of the national committee for Nortel pension plan members, told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.

Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Since then it's been selling off assets. And in June, the company's shares were delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Former employees say their pensions are less than 70 per cent covered because the company is in bankruptcy proceedings.

Pensions are a provincial responsibility in Canada. But bankruptcy laws are federal, and the protesters say their pension and disability payments are not protected under the current legislation.

"Right now, unsecured bond holders are treated the same as Canadian seniors who have pensions from their employers," said Diane Urquhart, a financial adviser who has been working with ex-Nortel workers.

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, NDP leader Jack Layton and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff were expected to join the protest.

Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Ignatieff said he wanted to thank the Nortel pensioners "for stepping up and making the question of pension security, particularly the question of pension security in the case of bankruptcy, the national issue that it's become."

Ignatieff pledged to work with the group to change federal bankruptcy laws to "make sure this kind of thing never happens again to another Canadian."

Sproule said Nortel is paying out around an average of $12,000 per year for unionized former employees. Former white-collar employees receive approximately $22,000 a year.

"So you take a 30 per cent haircut off that, and it's going to leave people in real hardship, in possible poverty and having to sell their house," he said.

Nearly 20,000 workers have been affected by Nortel's financial troubles, according to Sproule. About 17,500 are pensioners. Another 2,000 were let go without severance, and 450 remain on long-term disability from the company.

"The feds like to talk about how sound our financial system is and how we weathered the financial crisis today because of sound legislation," Sproule said.

"I don't think anyone was watching the store in terms of what was happening to pension plans. This dirty little secret's been going on for a long time. It's only the high-profile cases like Nortel that are causing the issue to percolate to the top again."