PRESIDENT’S ARTICLE - Doug Jones

            It seems as though all everybody is talking about lately is the economy.  I would like to talk a little bit about a paper put out by Hugh Mackenzie (former head of the National Steelworkers Research Dept) about the incomes of the 100 highest paid  CEO’s of Canadian corporations.  Donald Lindsay, CEO of Teck Limited, is 92^nd on the list at a mere $3,631,977 with a base salary of $1,100,000. 

            Now, even though he is far from the top salary of $51,515,518, he did manage to make the list.  The average pay for the top CEO’s rose by 22% from its $8.5 million average in 2006.  In contrast, the average Canadian earnings rose by 3.2% and that’s the best increase in the past five years, a small fraction of the CEO’s pay hike and barely enough to keep up with inflation. 

            Canada’s highest paid CEO’s pocketed the average Canadian’s annual salary of $40,237 by 9:04 a.m. on January 2, 2009.  Last year, it took them until 9:45 a.m.  Get this, if you made what most consider a substantial salary of $100,000 a year, the top 100 CEO’s would have put that in their pockets by noon on Jan. 5^th, 2009.

            Hugh writes, “.. Things have certainly changed since 1960 when then General Motors CEO, George Romney (father of Mitt Romney) turned down a $100,000 bonus, kept his salary at $225,000 a year and declared that no executive should be paid more than 25 times the factory wage.”  Today, the top 50 CEO’s make 298 times the pay of the average worker.

            Incredible isn’t it?  Or should I say criminal?

            Our National Director, Ken Neumann, also had some interesting comments.  He said, “.. For years, Steelworker economists and the labour movement have spoken out against the long-standing problems of an increasingly global and integrated economic system that has relied on the shifting sands of rampant speculation instead of job creating investments in the real economy.  Deregulation has been the mantra of corporate-backed governments, disguising accepted greed and risky behaviour with words like “choice” and “innovation,” “flexibility” “synergy” and “competitive dynamics.”  Meanwhile, senior corporate executives have run off with huge salaries and bonuses while the wages of working families have stagnated. 

            We warned about the effects of that too.  And, we warned about the over-reliance on the export of raw resources (Softwood Lumber Agreement anyone?)  that has led to a deep crisis in manufacturing and forestry.  And we warned about the massive global financial imbalances driven by unbalanced and unfair trade.” 

            Ken went on to say, “ And now, governments defanged by their own policies of deregulation, are scratching their heads about how, even whether, to re-regulate the economy.  Unfortunately, at the recent G20 Summit in Washington, our Prime Minister just as he has blocked global process on climate change, pushed against European-led efforts to restore regulations to international financial markets.” 

            Here’s hoping that Barrack Obama’s policies will be quickly noticeable.  I believe his attitude toward workers and the respect he has for people in general will have a profound effect on the world.

            I know that Mike Martin is making his way through Trail operations, explaining the Company’s current plans.  Hopefully, your questions were answered.  If not, feel free to call the Union Hall for clarification on any of the presentation that is of concern to you.

            At our March Membership meeting, we will hold nominations for Union Executive Elections which will be held in April.  To qualify, a member needs to have attended 1/3 of the meetings in the last 24 months.  For more information, call the Union Hall.

In solidarity, Doug.

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