New Searchable 2016 Executive PayWatch Report: www.PayWatch.org
LANSING – A new report from the AFL-CIO reveals that S&P 500 CEOs in Michigan were paid 318 times more than average Michigan workers in 2015. The annual Executive PayWatch report shows that average compensation for S&P 500 CEOs in Michigan was $13,699,619 in 2015, while average pay for working people was just $43,038.
“There’s something really wrong with this picture,” said Ron Bieber, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “America is supposed to be a place where if you work hard and apply yourself, you can earn enough to sustain a family. But that’s not what we’re seeing. CEOs have manipulated the rules in their favor, and the numbers speak for themselves. We need an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy. The best way to restore opportunity is by empowering working people to speak up together for fair wages, strong benefits, and a secure retirement.”
The Executive PayWatch website is the most comprehensive searchable online database tracking CEO pay. This year’s report highlights Mondelez International, which represents one of the most egregious examples of CEO-to-worker pay inequality. The company, which makes Nabisco products including Oreos, Chips Ahoy and Ritz Crackers, announced earlier this year that in order to reduce costs, it is sending 600 family-sustaining jobs from Illinois to Mexico, where workers face poor labor and safety standards. Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld made $19.7 million in 2015 – that’s $9,471.15 per hour.
This year’s Executive PayWatch report also found:
– The average S&P 500 CEO in Michigan earns approximately $6,586.35 per hour. At that rate, these CEOs only have to work about 6.5 hours to make as much as an average worker earns in an entire year.
– S&P 500 CEOs in Michigan were paid 771 times more than full-time minimum wage workers, who earn just $8.50 per hour.
– Nationally, the average production and nonsupervisory worker earned approximately $36,900 per year in 2015, a wage that when adjusted for inflation, has remained stagnant for 50 years.
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