Ohio’s CEOs Collect Raises While Workers Collect Pink Slips

[iwasthere]

sarge do not believe what your government tells you. it will leave you with a shocked face of disbelief. the athletes and the starlets are over paid but i am the one that goes to the dollar movies. it is the owners of those sports franchises that should have their head examine for these ridiculous salaries. all of us can be replace for a cheaper price.

[sfc_oliver]

People are losing their jobs? And here I was certain that the Government was saying things were getting better.....

   

[irishbobcat]

Yes......

[Dan Moadus]

Just curious Dennis, do you think the pay scale of star athletes and entertainers is too large as well?

[iwasthere]

i say they deserve those pay raises due to all thier hard work that they help ship jobs outside of the usa.

[irishbobcat]

Ohio's CEOs Collect Raises While Workers Collect Pink Slips

While the unemployment rate in Ohio hovers at nearly nine percent, and legislators consider bills attacking the rights and pay of private and public sector workers, numbers released by the AFL-CIO's Executive PayWatch last week show that Ohio-based chief executive officers like Michael Jeffries, CEO of the New Albany-based Abercrombie & Fitch, haven't had to worry about making ends meet.

Jeffries, one of the six CEOs highlighted in case studies released by the AFL-CIO today, received a total compensation of $36.3 million in 2009, up from $23.3 million in 2008.  That's 719 times more than what the average elementary school teacher made in 2009.

Not surprisingly in this recovering economy, a majority of shareholders expressed their displeasure at the Abercrombie & Fitch 2010 annual shareholder meeting by voting against the company's pay plan for executives.

And excessive CEO pay isn't just limited to Ohio.  Millions of Americans struggled to get back on their feet after the worst economic downturn in decades, yet CEOs of the nation's largest companies got an average pay of $11.4 million in 2010 – a 23 percent increase in one year. 

"CEOs here in Ohio are making millions while the state legislature is introducing bills benefiting millionaires and CEOs at the expensive of average Ohioans.  Doesn't Gov. Kasich think we should make sure corporate CEOs pay their fair share?" asked Terry Hicks, a maintenance technician from Columbus.

The release of the searchable online data bank is part of a broad campaign by the AFL-CIO to strengthen Wall Street reform, close corporate tax loopholes and ensure that poor and middle class Americans are no longer required to pay for the greed of corporate CEOs.

"While corporate CEOs and Wall Street financiers continue to rake in millions in bonuses and salary across Ohio, Ohio working families are facing an unprecedented assault.  Over 500,000 Ohioans are unemployed but instead of working to get Ohioans back on the job, Gov. Kasich and his political allies would rather punish the working and middle class and our local communities with SB 5, budget cuts and other anti-worker legislation. Kasich seems to have plenty of room on his bus for his corporate pals but when it comes to the rest of us, there seems to be no open seats," said Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga.

Executive PayWatch's searchable data bank enables users to get information by state, industry and top-paid CEOs and compare the pay of top CEOs with the median pay of nurses, teachers, firefighters and other workers.  For the first time, Facebook users will also have access to the information and to participate in the campaign. 

The AFL-CIO's CEO pay estimate is based on 299 companies in the S&P 500 Index whose executive compensation data is available for 2010.  The 299 CEOs received a combined total of $3.4 billion in 2010, enough compensation to support 102,325 jobs paying median wages. The median wage for all occupations was $33,190 in 2009, according to the latest available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.