Corporate Profits Soar 81 Percent but Few Jobs Created
On the eve of tomorrow’s unemployment report for April, we get this news from Fortune:
Profits of the 500 largest U.S. corporations soar by 81 percent ($318 billion), the third largest percentage gain in list history…Wal-Mart holds the number one spot for the second year in a row…Exxon Mobil leads profits with $30 billion, for the eighth year in row.
The stunning leap in profits is so excessive even Fortune writers are writhing in their leather chairs:
We’ve rarely seen such a stark gulf between the fortunes of the 500 and those of ordinary Americans….The profits derived partly from productivity gains, including workforce reductions. And many 500 companies are growing faster overseas than in the U.S.
Here’s the full list of the top moneymakers: http://bit.ly/mnrPsI.
So what are Wall Street CEOs doing?
At American, Passengers Pay for Bags, Execs Get Bonuses, Workers Get Shaft
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Passengers are paying fees for bags, blankets and maybe someday for those tiny restrooms at the back of the plane, but top executives at AMR, parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, are set to rake in millions in bonuses next week. The Transport Workers (TWU) says those bonuses are “Excess Baggage.”
TWU, which represents 28,000 ground workers at the two airlines, yesterday kicked off a new advertising and text campaign protesting the bonuses. Several hundred TWU members marched outside American’s terminal at the Dallas International Airport to let passengers know those bag fees are being turned to executive bonuses.
The ads feature suitcases full of cash under the heading “Excess Baggage,” and invite readers to join a campaign to curb sky-high executive pay by texting “Excess” to 30644.
For more on excessive executive pay, visit the 2010 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch website here. Read the rest of this entry »
Richard Trumka Live on PayWatch
The 2010 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch highlights six Wall Street corporations using taxpayer money for big bonuses and lobbying and updates info on CEO pay data. We’re tweeting AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka live as he discusses the PayWatch info and talks about the union movement’s campaign to hold Wall Street accountable.
2010 PayWatch Exposes Corporate Lobbying on Financial Reform
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The nation’s biggest banks helped create the current financial crisis that required a $700 billion taxpayer bailout. In return, the banks cut back on lending to consumers and small businesses but paid out a record $145 billion in total compensation in 2009.
The 2010 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch, which launched today, shows the same Big Six banks—Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo—are spending millions of dollars lobbying on financial regulations, including limits on executive pay and risky actions like the ones that caused the current crisis.
In six case studies, PayWatch examines how the companies paid out big bucks to executives and lobbyists:
- Citigroup received more than $45 billion in bailout funds—the largest bank bailout and employs nearly 50 lobbyists. Citigroup’s highest-paid executive, Institutional Clients Group CEO John Havens, received more than $11 million in 2009.
- At Bank of America, Thomas Montag, the head of global banking and markets, collected $30 million last year. And Kenneth Lewis, who retired as CEO at the end of 2009, could collect as much as $83 million over his retirement. The bank has lobbied federal officials and lawmakers on derivatives, executive compensation, oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
SEC Proposals Would Expose Conflicts on CEO Pay
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The AFL-CIO today applauded rules proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to give shareholders better information about the potential conflicts of interest of compensation consultants who help set pay for senior corporate executives.
A December 2007 congressional report found that CEOs of companies that use compensation consultants who have potential conflicts, such as providing management with other services, received considerably higher pay than CEOs of companies that used independent compensation consultants.
In a statement, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said “better disclosure is needed to bring these conflicts of interest out of the shadows.”
Outsized compensation packages for senior executives hurt shareholders, including pension plans investing the retirement savings of America’s working families. Labor union members participate in pension plans with more than $4 trillion in assets. Union-sponsored pension plans hold about $450 billion in assets. Excessive pay packages for top executives are a giveaway of our members’ money.
