What CEOs Earn - You'll Be Surprised

Wal-Mart Chief Scores Bigtime Even With Controversy

The AFL-CIO has just released the 2005 version of the Executive
PayWatch website and database. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott presides over a
company that just settled
legal cases involving child labor violations (for $135,540) and
hiring undocumented immigrants as janitors (for $11 million).
Scott's company still faces a massive sex discrimination class
action suit and numerous legal actions accusing the company of
forcing hundreds of thousands of Wal-Mart employees to work "off
the clock."

Wal-Mart's in the hot seat for closing down a Canadian store
rather than bargain with workers who voted to form a union. A
former executive is accused of cheating on expense
reimbursements to fund secret union-busting projects, according
to The Wall Street Journal. Wal-Mart pays employees too little
to keep a family of four out of poverty--and because of low
wages, high costs and corporate manipulation, fewer than half of
Wal-Mart workers have company health care coverage. CEO Lee
Scott got a 2004 pay package worth almost
$23 million!

An average worker would work 901 years to match Lee
Scott's take for 2004 alone.

Scott is just one example of gigantic CEO pay--and he's not even
at the top of the list of overpaid corporate execs. That spot is
taken by Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, who raked in
$109 million in total compensation last year.
In 2004, the average CEO of a major company received $9.84
million in total compensation--a 12 percent increase over 2003,
compared with the inflation-ravaged 3.6 percent raise the
average worker got.

Critics say Every dollar these CEOs are overpaid is a dollar that could be
going to shareholders--including working folks saving for their
retirement or to put a child through college. That's why union
pension funds are taking on runaway CEO pay right in the
boardroom with shareholder proposals to limit stock options and
tie CEO compensation to performance.

Visit AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch. See what CEOs
are taking home, how your pay compares.

http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/C7ay1e61Dqr7/