Turbulence Over Executive Pay

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

American Airlines executives should have been celebrating last week during their annual stockholders' meeting, the first in six years at which they could spotlight an annual profit.

Instead, chief executive Gerard J. Arpey spent much of the session fending off questions from irate employees. After agreeing to accept massive pay cuts in recent years to keep American flying, the employees said they were upset that the carrier's top officers have been given stock-based bonuses worth millions of dollars. One employee at the meeting called Arpey and other executives "arrogant, greedy, selfish and heartless individuals."

The anger over airline leaders' pay is not unique to American. Employees who have taken pay cuts at United and Northwest airlines and US Airways are also battling their executives over similar deals.

Labor groups say the unhappiness has led to at least two showdowns with managers over contractual issues. Some say demoralized workers could also hurt service.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/21/AR2007052101516.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[sutz12]

1. It's not unique to the Airline industry, either....

It runs pretty rampant throughout ALL of Corporate America.

[tularetom]

2. Bye bye middle class

These people can bitch all they want - they are tools of management just like the rest of us. They can be replaced by illegal immigrants if need be in order to keep salaries down.

I think the problem was that too many working people were acquiring the trappings of wealth - large homes, expensive automobiles, exotic vacations, million dollar pension plans, etc - and it was beginning to concern the truly wealthy who felt that only they should be entitled to these perks.

There are a lot of professional and middle management folks who are truly getting fucked by corporate Amurka and these are people who were accustomed to thinking they were part of the elite. Now they are finding out they were valued no more than the Wal Mart clerks, unskilled laborers and burger flippers they used to look down their noses at.

[Sherman A1]

3. We all need to question this vigorously

If you own any stock through those companies that you own and through our elected officials. The wage gap is just insane and needs to be challenged in every means possible. We may not be able to change it but we can make noise about it and keep it in the news.

[denverbill]

5. Part of the problem is 401k's and mutual funds.

I own tons of stock, but 95% of it is owned via mutual funds. I can't vote directly for the boards of these companies. The same is true with most other Americans. I can vote against the directors of the mutual funds, but it's very unlikely I'd be able to have any impact on their votes.

[qdemn7]

4. Little Tin Gods

There is WAAYYY to much concern about under-compensating management. Just why the hell corp. management has to be treated like a bunch of little tin gods, is beyond me. Throw the workers out, cut THEIR pay, THEIR pensions, THEIR benefits, but OMG, don't touch management's stuff.

There are plenty of people with MBAs out there, and boards always having to always focus on a narrow pool of talent for CEOs is just another example of idiots sitting on boards. There is too much incestuousness of one CEO sitting on another company's board and rubbing another CEO's back.

When things go well it's because of the BRILLIANT management decisions, Never because of a good economy, a favorable dollar or the hard work of employees. When things go BAD then it's EVERYONE'S fault BUT management.

There is too much of an attitude in this country that CEOs are somehow infallible. Sorry, the only person I know that is infallible is the Pope, and that is a matter of faith, not fact.