MUST READ
U.S. CEO-to-worker pay ratio rose to 299:1 last year: union
Reuters
By Ross Kerber
July 14, 2021
“Working people bore the brunt of COVID-19 and its impact on the U.S. economy,” said Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation.
PAYWATCH/CEO PAY
CEOs made 299 times more than their average workers last year
CNN
By Moira Ritter
July 14, 2021
“This is consistent with what we’ve been seeing year to year,” Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, said in a press conference with reporters Wednesday. “Inequality, the imbalance in our economy, is clear by this report that the pay of CEOs and working people continues to be a major problem in this country.”
CEOs made 299 times the salary of what the median employee received: analysis
The Hill
By Caroline Vakil
July 14, 2021
Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler noted during a press call Wednesday regarding the report that while CEO base salaries were slightly lower “the average S&P 500 company CEO’s stock-based pay increased by over $1 million. And that doesn’t even factor in the dramatic rise in the stock market we saw in the second half of the year.” Additionally, she noted that chief executives saw their pay increase at a slightly higher rate over the past year than that of their average employee.
Executive pay, pay ratios continue to climb in 2020
Pensions & Investments
By Hazel Bradford
July 14, 2021
Pay inequity between workers and CEOs grew in 2020 to an average 299-to-1 pay ratio, according to the AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report released Wednesday. The Executive Paywatch searchable online database of CEO pay found that CEOs of S&P 500 companies averaged $15.5 million in total compensation in 2020, an average increase of more than $700,000 over the previous year. The average CEO-to-worker pay ratio of those companies was 264-to-1 in 2019. On a call with reporters, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler dismissed the executive salary reductions announced during the COVID-19 crisis as lip service. "Some companies furloughed working people, then tried to make a big deal about cutting CEO's base salaries. But in reality, CEOs enjoyed big increases in their equity compensation. While CEO base salaries decreased slightly, the average S&P 500 company CEO's stock-based pay increased by over $1 million. And that doesn't even factor in the dramatic rise in the stock market we saw in the second half of the year," Ms. Shuler said. Many of those stock grants are worth even more today, she added.
It takes 300 worker salaries to equal the average CEO's pay, data show
CBS News
By Kate Gibson
July 14, 2021
The pay gap was smallest among utilities, where the ratio was 97-to-1, a scenario that AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler attributed to the sector's heavy concentration of organized workers. "It's no coincidence that, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, 20% of utility workers are members of unions," Shuler stated.
Top CEOs Made Nearly 300 Times More Than Average Employee During Pandemic
Common Dreams
By Julia Conley
July 14, 2021
"Inequality, the imbalance in our economy, is clear by this report that the pay of CEOs and working people continues to be a major problem in this country," said Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
AFL-CIO: Paywatch data shows need for PRO Act
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
July 14, 2021
The yawning gap—and in many cases, a chasm—between rich company CEOs and the rest of us, especially their workers, is yet another reason Congress should pass the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler says. And the labor federation will take that message, among others in favor of the legislation, on the road in a week-long on-the-ground grass-roots campaign from July 17-23. It’ll use data from its latest Executive Paywatch analysis, released July 14. “On average, CEOs of S&P (Standard & Poors) top 500 companies were given a big raise” in 2020, she said. They received $15.5 million in total compensation. Compared to 2019, that’s a pay increase of more than $700,000, during the worst public health crisis in a century,” Shuler said in releasing the report, available at www.paywatch.org.
Business Insider
By Sarah Jackson
July 14, 2021
The gap between the salaries of CEOs and their workers grew wider in 2020, according to a new analysis from the AFL-CIO. The average CEO of an S&P 500 company made 299 times more money than the median employee last year, the union federation said in a press release issued Wednesday. This is greater than the CEO-to-worker ratio of 264 to 1 in 2019, Reuters reports. "2020's growth in pay inequity between workers and CEOs confirms the 'executive base salary reductions' touted during the COVID-19 crisis were just lip service," the AFL-CIO said in the release.
EDUCATION
Randi Weingarten Rips CRT Critics for ‘Trying to Stop Us From Teaching Students Accurate History’
The Nation
By John Nichols
July 9, 2021
But Randi Weingarten is unafraid of the right-wing speech police. The American Federation of Teachers union president took them on this week with a robust defense of public education that teaches the whole story of America. “Let’s be clear: critical race theory is not taught in elementary schools or high schools,” she said. “It’s a method of examination taught in law school and college that helps analyze whether systemic racism exists—and, in particular, whether it has an effect on law and public policy. But culture warriors are labeling any discussion of race, racism or discrimination as CRT to try to make it toxic. They are bullying teachers and trying to stop us from teaching students accurate history.”
IN THE STATES
New Bill Reforming Maine's Unemployment System Signed into Law
Maine Public
By Robbie Feinberg
July 14, 2021
Labor advocates say a newly signed law will bring about some of the most meaningful changes to the state's unemployment system in decades. Like much of the country, Maine saw an enormous increase in unemployment claims as businesses closed last spring, and many workers struggled to access benefits. Andy O'Brien, with the Maine AFL-CIO, says the policy signed into law on Monday will address many of these issues through a number of steps, including a new peer workforce navigator program in which community groups will help laid-off workers access benefits and find jobs and training. "Right now, it's very difficult to get through to MDOL and get good answers that you can understand," O'Brien says. "So these groups can help them get benefits, and also help them get into a good-paying job."
JOINING TOGETHER
MSNBC Newsroom Staffs For Every Show Vote Next Week On Whether They Want WGA East Representation
Deadline
By David Robb
July 14, 2021
MSNBC and the WGA East have reached an agreement to hold an election to determine whether the writers and producers on all of the network’s shows want to be represented by the guild. The election, which will be supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, involves 315 writers, producers, booking producers, fact checkers and planners at every program airing on MSNBC and on Peacock’s The Choice. Ballots will be go out on July 20, and must be returned by August 17.
The Fate of the Met Opera’s Fall Season Lies in Its Orchestra Pit
The New York Times
By Julia Jacobs
July 13, 2021
“The Met has a simple decision to make,” Adam Krauthamer, the president of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, which started negotiating with the opera company more than three months ago, said in a statement. “Do they want to continue to have a world-class orchestra? If so, they will need to invest accordingly.”