November 8, 2013
Dear Securities and Exchange Commission:
I am an investor in publicly traded companies through my retirement plan and personal savings.
I strongly support the SEC’s proposal requiring companies to disclose the CEO-to-median worker pay ratio, as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Pay ratio disclosure will help investors evaluate CEO pay levels when voting on executive compensation matters. The ratio of the CEO-to-worker pay is a valuable metric for investors, because it places CEO pay levels into a broader perspective.
For example, investors may use pay ratios as a factor when casting say-on-pay votes. Pay ratio disclosure also will help investors better understand their company’s overall compensation for all employees.
High CEO-to-worker pay ratios can have a negative impact on employee morale and productivity. Disclosure of the pay ratios will help the capital markets better allocate capital to those companies that invest in their workforces.
The CEO of ATT has announced that starting 1/1/2015 they will NO longer provide medical benefits for it's retiree's. Now that we are in a place where these benefits are critical to our welfare they have decided to cast us to the wind and let us fend for ourselves!! If the top 100 executives of ATT would take a 1% pay cut, it would probably pay for the medical benefits for all it's retiree's. When we hired on with ATT, one of the things they told us was, " you'll never have to worry about medical coverage , even after retirement !!
Sincerely, Phyllis Thumudo
Phyllis & Bob Thumudo
Fort Lauderdale, FL