Looks like many other American workers are dealing with the same issues we are fighting with this strike. Don’t Blame Retail Workers for Poor Service, Blame the CEO’s by Felix Allen has the story.
Ever get mad at a delivery driver for bringing your pizza late? I used to. Now I assume it’s late because an overpaid boss is probably making two employees do the job of 10.
Such understaffing leads to frustration for customers and burnout for employees who have to hustle like mad for a paycheck that barely covers their bills. CEOs argue they just don’t have the money to hire more workers or pay family-supporting wages. But their actions say something else.
A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies shows that Lowe’s spent nearly $35 billion over the past three and a half years on stock buybacks. This is when a company takes money that could go towards worker wages or other productive investments and uses it to artificially inflate the value of their stock — and the value of their CEO’s stock-based pay.
The Economic Policy Institute paints the same picture for the auto industry in UAW-automaker negotiations pit falling wages against skyrocketing CEO pay…
- CEO pay at the Big 3 companies has jumped by 40% during the same period and the companies paid out nearly $66 billion in shareholder dividend payments and stock buybacks.
(graphic via Robert Reich and Reddit)
