this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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Journalist asks GM CEO Mary Barra about $29 million paycheck after UAW strike — On average, the Detroit Three's CEOs are making 40 percent more today than they did four years ago::On average, the Detroit Three's CEOs are making 40 percent more today than they did four years ago

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Reading some of these replies in here are cringe as fuck. Not because I don't agree with the overall sentiment, but rather in the fact that you guys don't know what language to use. In essence, you don't know your audience. Speak in the language that your audience can relate to.

When she says that her pay is dependent on the company performance, the reply isn't to talk about worker this and worker that. The correct reply to that is to point out that GM stock has been essentially flat for the last 4 years. Her job as CEO is to increase value for stockholders. Stockholders haven't seen a 40% increase in 4 years. So if shareholders haven't seen a 40% increase in that time, then how is she justifying her pay increase.

And ultimately, her pay isn't determined by her. It's determined by the board of directors. And there lies the problem with all these out of control CEO salaries.... it doesn't cost anything for a director to increase some CEO's pay. It's not taken out of their pocket. It doesn't affect them directly in any way, so to them it's like monopoly money. You get a raise, and you get a raise and you get a raise. Every CEO gets a raise because the director that approves one CEO's pay might be the CEO of another company who's director is the other CEO who just got a raise. You scratch my back, and you scratch mine.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

GM has increased their EPS by 50% over the past 4 years. That 40% increase actually seems appropriate, although I think the amount is too high. Basically it started from too high a number, but 40% seems ok.

She is not in charge of the stock price. Her job is to make sure they make money. She has done that.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes but one of the primary ways corporations are making money these days is by not hiring enough workers and not paying current workers 3x the salary even though they're expected to do the work of 3 people. So in that way, her salary IS directly tied to exploiting the workers

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

these days

Do you think JP Morgan or Andrew Carnegie were generous with their workers? Only when they had to be.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

(I'm really referring to times since the modernization of stock valuation since the other comment refers to technical financial data like EPS.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wrote that comment. EPS isn't technical, it's just the amount of profit made per share. It existed when Andrew Carnegie was around.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not sure I understand your point here. Yes, Andrew Carnegie made money by exploiting workers. That's why that period of time saw the birth of the American labor movement. Which is also why these workers are going on strike.

I'm glad you agree with me?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You said:

Yes but one of the primary ways corporations are making money these days is by not hiring enough workers and not paying current workers 3x the salary even though they're expected to do the work of 3 people.

Why would you say "these days" when that has always been the case, except for a short period from 1940 to 1980?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because there was a short time where that wasn't happening, which proves that it's possible. I can amend my statement to "these days just like they did back in the gilded age" if that helps somehow?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I guess, but usually "these days" doesn't include last century (80s and 90s).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

You're splitting some seriously irrelevant hairs

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