September 24, 2013
I’m writing in support of a strong Dodd-Frank rule 953(b).
Inflated salaries and benefits for corporate CEOs are factors in the appallingly inequitable disparity between the wealth of the 1% and the penury of much of the 99% in the United States.
Boards of Directors, in the exercise of their fiduciary duty to shareholders, should know the difference between the CEO's salary and that of the company's lowest-paid full-time paid employee.
Shareholders and potential investors need to know this, too.
Outrageous pay even for failing U.S. CEOs is all too frequently the case. Yet, ordinary employees' finances are squeezed ever tighter, their pay and benefits flat or declining even as prices rise.
For the economy as a whole, it's a recipe for disaster.
As I understand it, Dodd-Frank would require a corporation to disclose the ratio of its CEO's compensation to that of the average pay of other employees.
Whatever the exact math may be, the figures will shed a salutary bit of light on outrageous and reckless pay practices such as helped to fuel the 2008 crash.
Knowing which corporations heap riches upon their executives, while impoverishing their employees, will be useful to me as well. I boycott Amazon now because of its brutal mistreatment of its employees.
It seems fair for Americans to know how, if they wish, they may avoid patronizing or investing in businesses that underpay their employees and overpay CEOs.
Business interests want Rule 953(b) weakened or abandoned.
You must stand firm.
First, Dodd-Frank is the law.
Second, the SEC's duty is protect investors and the American public against the self-serving interests of those seeking to undermine this rule.
Sincerely,
Sarah McKee
Amherst, MA