In a survey of 800 non-supervisory workers conducted for Change to Win by Lake Research Partners in March, 68% of respondents agreed with the statement: "The goverment doesn't do enough to rein in greedy and unethical behavior by coporations and CEOs."
Sixty-six percent agree that "when corporations are profitable, the benefits are not shared with workers but go only to the top."
Apparently, corporate shareholders are getting the signal from working America.
Today, the New York Times reports that a majority of Verizon shareholders (50.18%) voted in favor of a say-on-pay resolution that would give them a voice on executive pay practices. With a market value of $124 billion, Verizon is the largest and most widely held company to pass such a measure.
“It was a vote whose time had come at Verizon,” said Brian Foley, an expert on executive pay in White Plains. “People were frustrated with the way management had been paid relative to performance and even though performance in the last year had been better, it was coming off a low.”
Ivan G. Seidenberg, Verizon’s chief executive, received a pay package worth $20 million last year, an 11 percent increase over 2005...
Shareholder dismay over executive pay has been a common theme at annual meetings this year. At yesterday’s meeting for owners of J. C. Penney, a proposal to limit executive severance payments won majority support.
Advisory votes on executive pay are an annual event at public companies in Britain and Australia but most United States companies that have received such proposals from their owners have lined up against them...
Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill sponsored by Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Financial Services Committee, that would give shareholders the right to an advisory vote on executive pay.
