UAW STRIKES AT AUTOMAKERS HIGHLIGHT SKYROCKETING US CEO PAY

When the CEO gets a 40% raise, what do the workers deserve? That question is at the heart of the United Auto Workers union's strikes at assembly plants owned by Ford (F.N), General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI). UAW President Shawn Fain initially asked for a 40% increase in worker's pay over the next four years - a figure based off an approximately 40% increase in CEO pay at the companies over the last four years at a time of stable profits for two of the three automakers.

U.S. auto companies are not alone in handing out massive payouts to chief executives.

CEO pay and benefits have skyrocketed in recent decades, but worker pay has not kept pace. The ratio of CEO pay to the average, non-supervisory production worker at the biggest U.S. companies has jumped from less than 40 to 1 over the last four decades to nearly 400 to 1, the Economic Policy Institute calculated in 2022.

Learn More