Pay injustices

Dan Price (the guy in the previous post) has been posting examples of pay injustices in the US on Twitter:

Airlines spent 96% of free cash flow on stock buybacks for a decade, then cut 90,000 jobs as soon as trouble hits. Then they got a $50 billion bailout.

GE promised its CEO a huge bonus if stock hit $19. It didn't. So GE re-did contract so the bonus kicks in at $10/share. The CEO cut 20% of aviation staff to increase profits and raise the stock to $10. His bonus: $47M. If it goes up again he gets $270M

JCPenney:

April: furloughed 85,000 employees
May 10: Gave CEO $4.5 million bonus on top of $17 million/year in pay
May 15: went bankrupt
Oct: laid off 15,000 people
Dec: closed 150 stores
Now: CEO left with $4.5M bonus after stock fell 88% in her 2 years

Boeing. Spent almost all of its cash on stock buybacks over the prior decade. In the past year, it cut 27,000 employees. It also fired its CEO over 2 deadly plane crashes and ensuing coverup, and gave him a $81 million exit package

On Jan. 6, when the mob stormed the Capitol, the stock market went up 250 points to a new record, handing the richest 1% an extra $300 billion. Also that day, a new report showed employment dropped for the first time since April and a then-record 3,900 people died of Covid.

Albertsons, America's 2nd-largest grocery chain:

*Profit is up 256% in pandemic
*Stock at record high
*Owned by private equity
*CEO made $29M last year
*Fired all California non-union drivers to replace them with gig workers with no benefits/min wage

The stock market for the 500 biggest companies ended the year up 15%, among the biggest gains ever. Also in that span, those companies lad off a record number of people, and wait times for food banks hit a record high.

As part of the first stimulus, the Fed pumped about $3 trillion into the stock market, which helped it soar to record highs. At the same time, a record 30% of small businesses failed and unemployment tripled.

Since 2009, the stock market is up 233%. Since 2009, the federal minimum wage is up 0%.

Coca-Cola

This decade: spent $48 billion on dividends and over $20 billion on stock buybacks
2018: CEO got 58% pay increase
2019: CEO got 12% pay increase, to $18.7 million
2020: Company makes $8.3 billion profit
And it just laid off 12% of workers

Among the biggest 50 companies, they spent 79% of profits on stock buybacks and dividends in recent years to enrich executives and mostly-wealthy shareholders. Last year, those companies combined to lay off over 100,000 workers.

Disney stock is up 21% in the past year to a new record high. In recent months they laid off 32,000 people. One of our employees lives near Disney World. Recently there was a line of cars outside his house for a drive-thru food bank 7.5 miles away.

In the pandemic, total stock value has grown by $16.6 trillion. $8.3 trillion of that went to the richest 1%, and they pay a lower tax rate than those who are unemployed and need help.

Salesforce. In the last five years, Salesforce has bought 27 companies for tens of billions of dollars. It just bought Slack for $27.7 billion. Its stock is at record high, up 23% in the past year after revenue surged 29%. And it just laid off 1,000 people.

In November alone, the average member of the top 10% gained an average of $200,000 from the stock market while 7 million people plunged into poverty.

On one day in November: *The stock market hit 30,000 for the first time. *Elon Musk became first person to gain $100 billion in a year. *A Census report revealed 6 million people face imminent eviction

Uber + Lyft spent $200 million on November election ads to convince Californians they shouldn't pay drivers minimum wage or benefits. In the two weeks after it passed, Uber stock went up 39% and Lyft stock soared 52%. In return, all drivers were denied basic benefits.

Average stock gains over 10 years. CEOs with above-average pay: stock up 160%. CEOs with below-average pay: stock up 280%. And yet CEOs are rewarded whether the stock goes up or down.

AT&T. 2018-2019: bought Time Warner for $100 billion, cut 29,000 jobs. May: gave departing CEO $64 million pension ($274k/month for life), laid off 4,700 more workers. August: laid off 600 more workers. Now: laid off thousands more - news sent stock up 2%

Marriott

2018-2019: made $3.1 billion in profits, spent $5B on stock buybacks
April: furloughed most employees, paid $160M in dividends to shareholders, gave CEO a 8% raise and 200% bonus
Sept: laid off 17% of HQ staff
Now: made $100M profit

$3 billion: what Jeff Bezos cashed out in stock in one day, as Amazon profits tripled in the pandemic. $2.1 billion: cost to give all Amazon warehouse workers 2 weeks paid sick leave and a year of hero pay (they got none of either now)

84% of stock market value is owned by richest 10%. "but what about 401(k)s". Half of Americans don't have one. The average 401(k) balance has *declined* $5,000 in 6 years after inflation, because employers put in less & people can't afford contributions

MGM. Laid off 18,000 people while giving its CEO $700,000 in stock. The value of the stock doubled to $1.4 million after the stock went up, partly because of increased profitability due to the layoffs.

Wells Fargo made $10 billion in staff cuts, meaning tens of thousands of employees lost their jobs. Wells Fargo also made a $2 billion profit. Wells Fargo also did $24 billion in stock buybacks last year and paid its CEO $36 million.

There's tons more.