October 14, 2013
I support Dodd-Frank rule 953(b), which strikes me as being all about the intersection of pay equity and investor value.
I work for Catholic Charities, where we serve not only low income people but also formerly midde income people who find themselves in financial crisis due to loss of employment. The greed that led to the 2008 crash destroyed the livelihood of many people. Now people who have never asked for government help are in our office, signing up for SNAP (food stamps) and home heating assistance. We cannot make it as a country if we continue to destroy the middle class.
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.
No doubt there are a select few who benefit from the status quo of keeping the pay disparities undisclosed. Stand firm, and implement the law as written.
Thank you for considering my comment,
Laurie Konwinski
Ithaca, NY