The Dodd-Frank act mandated that publicly listed companies would have to
publish an annual figure listing the ratio between their CEO’s pay and
their median worker’s pay: now, after nearly a decade of stalling
tactics from corporate lobbyists, those figures are emerging, and
they’re equipping cities with the tools they need to crack down on the
most unequal companies in the world.
It’s started with Portland, OR (of course), where any company whose CEO
makes more than 100X median worker pay has to pay a 10% surcharge on
gross earnings; if the gap is 250X or more, the surcharge rises to 20%.
Other cities are poised to enact similar rules, including San Francisco;
and states also considering state-level action, including Minnesota,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, and Massachusetts.
The punishments for inequality include surcharges and also exclusion
from consideration for government contracts, a major source of revenue
for the biggest firms.
The existence of this data also allows the participants in large
investment funds – including institutional investors like pension funds
– to boycott companies that practice excessive inequality.
There are plenty of big firms that fail this test: Manpower’s ratio is
2,483 to 1; Six Flags’ is 1,920 to 1; and Del Monte’s is 1,465 to 1.
ugh 