October 12, 2013
I support Dodd-Frank rule 953(b), which strikes me as being all about the intersection of pay equity and investor value.
American workers are more productive than ever, but, year after year, studies show working Americans earning less and less, even as CEO pay balloons and corporate profits soar.
Disclosing corporate pay ratios between CEOs and average employees will finally show which corporations are driving this trend, which siphons money away from investors, and into the pockets of CEOs. In 1990, senior executive pay absorbed 5 percent of corporate profits. Today, according to Government Metrics International, it absorbs 10 percent.
Fairer pay structures mean stronger companies and a stronger economy – both of which are important to me as a consumer and as an investor. I would certainly get rid of investments where the CEOs were being given bonuses that the corporation wanted to hide given the pay of the average worker. My experience in getting raises that didn't even come up to the increase in the cost of living when my bosses were getting huge increases in salary makes me painfully aware of the pay disparity and its effect on those of us who effectively earn less than we did.
No doubt there are a select few who benefit from the status quo of keeping the pay disparities undisclosed, but they are NOT the average worker, nor in danger of moving from middle class to poor. Stand firm, and implement the law as written.
Thank you for considering my comment,
Cathy Day
Ypsilanti, MI