21 Apr Kellogg Locked Out Workers to Cut Costs, Paid CEO $8 Million
According to the 2014 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch, released April 15, it’s 331 times better to be a CEO than an average worker.
All you need to do is ask BCTGM Local 252G President Kevin Bradshaw, who along with more than 220 other union workers, has been locked out of the Kellogg cereal plant in Memphis, Tenn. since last October.
And while the locked union members have not received a paycheck since the illegal lockout began on October 22, 2013—Kellogg CEO John Bryant pocketed nearly $8 million in 2013 compensation, reports the AFL-CIO’s 2014 Executive PayWatch.
But apparently that’s not enough, because the lockout is part of Kellogg’s plan to replace steady, middle-class, full-time jobs held by Local 252G members with newly hired employees who would make significantly lower wages and receive substandard benefits.
“Kellogg says its labor cost puts it in an unsustainable position in the cereal market…Yet, somehow, last year the company found a way to give its CEO a 21% raise, putting his total compensation for 2013 at $8 million.”
Bradshaw is one of several workers at companies headed by CEOs who are highlighted by the AFL-CIO’s PayWatch because they are rewarded with millions while their workers struggle with low wages. You can read Kevin’s full story here.
PayWatch is the most comprehensive searchable online database tracking the excessive pay of CEOs of the nation’s largest companies. The website offers visitors the ability to compare their own pay to the pay of top executives, highlights the 100 top-paid CEOs, and breaks out CEO pay data by state and by industry.
The site also tracks and grades votes cast by 78 of the largest mutual-fund families on executive compensation at the public companies they invest in. Mutual funds own more than one-fifth of all shares in U.S. public companies, giving them a great deal of influence in determining executive pay at these companies.