1 min read

Season 6, Episode 92

Exploring the wage gap between workers and CEOs

onlabor

 

Guest Name:


Andrew Strom

Guest Website:


OnLabor 

Guest Social Media:


Twitter

Supportive Documents:


Andrew Strom, a labor lawyer and OnLabor contributor, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the disparity between CEO and average worker pay, the ineffectiveness of disclosure laws and CEO benefits that further expand wage disparity.

Strom began by discussing the “staggering disparity” in CEO pay compared to the average worker’s wages. The CEO to worker pay ratio has skyrocketed from 30 to 1 in 1978 to over 200 to 1 by 2007, with some companies like Starbucks reporting ratios as high as 6,666 to 1. Strom said the dramatic increase underscores the widening gap in income distribution and raises questions about corporate priorities and fairness.

Next, Strom discussed the ineffectiveness of disclosure laws intended to regulate CEO compensation. Despite the Dodd-Frank Act's requirement for companies to disclose pay ratios, these measures have not curbed the rise in executive pay. Instead, Strom said they have inadvertently fueled a competitive environment where boards aim to pay their CEOs above average, further escalating compensation packages for top executives.

Finally, Strom talked about the perks that accompany CEO roles, such as mandatory use of corporate jets for personal travel, financial planning services and relocation expenses. Often justified as security measures or business necessities, these benefits highlight the additional layers of privilege that executives enjoy, contributing to the overall compensation disparity. Strom discussed the impact these additional perks have on the workers' wages and benefits, and why they contribute to the greater disparity in pay between the workers and CEOs.

To hear more from Strom, listen to the show above.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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