Forum Post: info on CEO vs staff wage ratios?
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 14, 2011, 1:59 a.m. EST by traveltash
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Anyone know somewhere that summarises this information so that I can use it to decide from which company to buy things?
I'm thinking that spending my money with the best behaved companies is more likely to make the badly behaved ones listen than me putting up my tent in a the middle of a city.
Make sure any sources with CEO vs. Worker compensation ratio data is legitimate. Here is what I was able to find that is legitimate:
http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/pay/ 'Chief executives at the nation’s largest corporations received $9.25 million in average total compensation in 2009, according to the AFL-CIO’s analysis of available pay data from 292 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Although average total compensation for these CEOs declined 9 percent from the previous year, executive retirement benefits increased 23 percent.'
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2011/08/11/why-ceo-to-worker-pay-ratios-matter-to-investors/
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/CEOsNearRecordPayRatios.aspx (unclear on actual date of this, looks like 2006 based on data?)
'A typical chief executive at a U.S. company earned 262 times the pay of a typical worker in 2005, according to a recent report.'
OK, now that you see others have done research by doing the time consuming work of going through public companies' financials via annual reports and filings other areas to be equally concerned about concern the actual treatment of workers.
Truth be told, most of us cannot conceive of the 'rarefied air' that those earning 7 figures and above live and function in (which for them is 'normal')
Since we are compensated in the equivalent of so much 'belly button lint' it behooves us to become more aware of the reality of our position/'priority' in the scheme of our relationship as rank and file workers by asking important questions( and observing) such as 'How important am I to this company' in observing a high CEO vs. Worker wage ratio and seeing for example that your pay as a worker at the most basic level (ie:working as a retail sales clerk at a multi-national multi-million dollar company) if your pay is so low that you qualify for PUBLIC and PRIVATE assistance programs well then, you just know that your company does not value a long term worker/employer relationship and you should only remain on your JOBLET for no more than 3 months before relocating to a position where you do not require reliance on PUBLIC or PRIVATE handouts to survive.
Also, see if your company is among any of the following lists. If it is, you should seriously consider charting your course out of that company perhaps starting your own business or considering another career in which you are somewhat self employed or work for a smaller, private company where you are a little more important than you would be at any of those mega-companies listed:
Note: the following is from an earlier couple of posts but if you check out the links I think you will be surprised at what can be found to help you decide whom to conduct business with.
Why does it not surprise me that Honeywell as described at this site: http://KleptocracyChronicles.com is listed among many of the same names posted at this link among the list of tax dodgers from ctj.org? Thanks for sharing your link which I have saved. Another thing, while we're talking pollution check out http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/forum/218 keep going back to the site regularly along with www.fairewinds.com truth is stranger than fiction when it comes to industrial pollution of any stripe. Also, knowing what I do now I completely understand the reasoning for one member of Greenpeace's choice to quit consuming seafood products-the ocean is truly a sewer and who in their right mind would want to eat from one?
http://deadpeasantinsurance.com/which-employers-bought-policies-on-the-lives-of-employees/
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf
30 Corporations Paying No Total Income Tax in 2008-2010
Company ($-millions) 08-10 Profit 08-10 Tax 08-10 Rate
Pepco Holdings $ 882 $ –508 –57.6%
General Electric 10,460 –4,737 –45.3%
Paccar 365 –112 –30.5%
PG&E Corp. 4,855 –1,027 –21.2%
Computer Sciences 1,666 –305 –18.3%
NiSource 1,385 –227 –16.4%
CenterPoint Energy 1,931 –284 –14.7%
Tenet Healthcare 415 –48 –11.6%
Atmos Energy 897 –104 –11.6%
Integrys Energy Group 818 –92 –11.3%
American Electric Power 5,899 –545 –9.2%
Con-way 286 –26 –9.1%
Ryder System 627 –46 –7.3%
Baxter International 926 –66 –7.1%
Wisconsin Energy 1,725 –85 –4.9%
Duke Energy 5,475 –216 –3.9%
DuPont 2,124 –72 –3.4%
Consolidated Edison 4,263 –127 –3.0%
Verizon Communications 32,518 –951 –2.9%
Interpublic Group 571 –15 –2.6%
CMS Energy 1,292 –29 –2.2%
NextEra Energy 6,403 –139 –2.2%
Navistar International 896 –18 –2.0%
Boeing 9,735 –178 –1.8%
Wells Fargo 49,370 –681 –1.4%
El Paso 4,105 –41 –1.0%
Mattel 1,020 –9 –0.9%
Honeywell International 4,903 –34 –0.7%
DTE Energy 2,551 –17 –0.7%
Corning 1,977 –4 –0.2%
TOTAL $ 160,341 $ –10,742 –6.7%
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf
http://ctj.org/ctjinthenews/2011/11/new_york_times_biggest_public_firms_paid_little_us_tax_study_says.php