
Strikers and supporters in the early hours Friday at a Ford plant in Wayne, Michingan. Photo: UAW, Twitter.
Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond
From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas
Strikers and supporters in the early hours Friday at a Ford plant in Wayne, Michingan. Photo: UAW, Twitter.
By Jake Johnson – Sep 15, 2023
Last year, the CEOs of the Big Three U.S. automakers received staggering pay packages, fueling workersâ ongoing push for better wages and benefits.
Forty percent.
Itâs a figure that United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain cited repeatedly in the run-up to the unionâs historic strike against the Big Three U.S. car manufacturers as he called attention to the exorbitant compensation of the companiesâ top executives.
Over the past four years, the CEOs of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis have seen their total pay jump by 40 percent while the wages of the companiesâ ordinary employees have risen by just 6 percent. The Economic Policy Institute observed earlier this week that autoworker wages across the U.S. have fallen by 19.3 percent since 2008.
Last year, the CEOs of the Big Three automakers received staggering pay packages, fueling workersâ ongoing push for better wages and benefits. Fordâs Jim Farley took home around $21 million, Stellantisâ Carlos Tavares pocketed nearly $25 million and General Motorsâ Mary Barra â the highest-paid of the groupâbrought in roughly $29 million.
Barra has received more than $200 million in compensation since becoming GMâs CEO in 2014.
âWeâve went backwards in the last 16 years â backwards â while the CEOs gave themselves 40 percent pay increases in the last four years alone,â Fain said from a picket line in Michigan early Friday. âAnd they want to call us greedy.â
The contrast between CEO and worker pay at the large, profitable automakers is striking.
The shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow, which tracks CEO-to-worker pay gaps at U.S. companies, noted Friday that Fordâs chief executive made 281 times as much as the companyâs median worker last year.
United States: Battle With the Big 3 Auto Companies Is On as UAW Strikes All Three in Historic First
The gap was even larger at General Motors, where Barra was paid 362 times more than the automakerâs median employee in 2022.
In a CNN interview on Friday, Barra insisted it is fair that General Motors is only offering its workers a 20 percent pay increase over the course of a four-year contract after she got a 34 percent compensation boost over the past four years.
General Motor CEO Mary Barra defends her pay raises as the United Auto Workers union goes on strike https://t.co/lHr4LZS6ea pic.twitter.com/9g7LJFBu19
— CNN (@CNN) September 15, 2023
Rosanna Landis Weaver, director of wage justice and executive compensation at As You Sow, said in a statement Friday that âas a consequence of out-of-control executive compensation, shareholders are now faced with striking workers at a critical juncture as these companies transition to EV production.â
âUAW members see the CEO pay disparity as a measurement of how they are undervalued,â said Weaver. âSkyrocketing CEO pay is linked to worker dissatisfaction and lower profits, making excessive pay a distinct material risk that shareholders must take seriously.â
UAW Files Lawsuit Against General Motors Claiming Breach of Labor Contract
Progressive lawmakers who have expressed solidarity with the UAWâs fight for a fair contract have also condemned runaway executive compensation and declining worker wages.
âThe Big Three auto companies have already raked in $20 billion in profits this year. Their CEOs make millions. They can afford to pay their employees a living wage,â Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) wrote on social media Friday. âIâm standing with UAW as they start their strike. We got you!â
In an appearance on MSNBC Thursday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) noted that âover the last 20 years, real wages for automobile workers have gone down by 30 percent when you account for inflationâ as CEO pay has risen.
âI really applaud the courage of Shawn Fain and the workers at the UAW for standing up and saying: âYou know what? Enough is enough,’â Sanders added. âNo one thinks that three people on top should own more wealth than the bottom half of American society. That CEOs are making 400 times more than their workers â thatâs not what this country is supposed to be about. Thatâs what the UAW is telling the American people, and I think thereâs massive support for what theyâre trying to do.â
According to the Economic Policy Institute, CEO compensation at the top publicly traded companies in the U.S. grew by 1,460 percent between 1978 and 2021 while typical worker pay grew by just 18.1 percent.
Robert Reich, the former U.S. labor secretary, argued in a blog post Thursday that the combination of âhumongous executive pay packages,â massive automaker profits, low wages for hourly employees, and tiered pay systems that harm newer workers have increased âthe likelihood of a long strike.â
âCEO pay at the Big Three is out of sight,â Reich noted. âOverall, CEO pay rose 40 percent over the last four years. And thatâs not counting all the other executive salaries under the CEOs that have been ratcheted upward as CEO pay has gone through the roof.â
Jake Johnson is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
Support Groundbreaking Anti-Imperialist Journalism: Stand with Orinoco Tribune!
For 6.5 years, weâve delivered unwavering truth from the Global South frontline â no corporate filters, no hidden agenda.
Last yearâs impact:
â˘Â 150K+ active readers demanding bold perspectives
â˘Â 158 original news/opinion pieces published
â˘Â 16 hard-hitting YouTube videos bypassing media gatekeepers
Fuel our truth-telling: Every contribution strengthens independent media that actually challenges imperialism.
Be the difference:Â Donate now to keep radical journalism alive!