North Carolina CEOs Made How Much in 2013?!
For Immediate Release
N.C. CEOs PAID 108 TIMES AVERAGE WORKER, 277 TIMES MINIMUM WAGE WORKER
2014 Executive PayWatch exposes high paid CEOs in the low wage economy
www.PayWatch.org
Contact: Jeremy Sprinkle, [email protected], 336-255-2711
RALEIGH, N.C. (April 15, 2014) – According to the AFL-CIO’s 2014 Executive PayWatch website, the average CEO of a company based in North Carolina made $4.2 million, 108 times more than the $38,984 earned by the average North Carolina worker. When compared to the earnings of minimum wage workers who make $7.25 per hour in North Carolina, the gap between CEO and worker pay jumps up to a 277:1 ratio.
This year, the highest paid CEO in the state of North Carolina is Bank of America CEO Brian T. Moynihan. He makes 338 times more than the average worker and 871 more than minimum wage workers in North Carolina.
While many companies may argue that they can’t afford to raise wages, across the country the nation’s largest companies are earning higher profits per employee than they did five years ago. In 2013, the S&P 500 Index companies earned $41,249 in profits per employee, a 38% increase.
“Here in North Carolina, we are working every day to create a movement of southern workers who can bargain for better wages and demand lawmakers raise the bar. CEO PayWatch is an effective tool to show everyone that CEOs can afford to raise workers’ wages,” said NC State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer MaryBe McMillan.
Many of the CEOs highlighted in PayWatch head companies, like Walmart, that are notorious for paying low wages. Meanwhile, U.S. CEOs – the highest paid in the world – pocketed an average of $11.7 million in 2013. That means CEOs were paid 331 times that of the average worker and 774 times more than workers making minimum wage.
“CEO Executive PayWatch calls attention to the insane level of compensation for CEOs, while the workers who create those corporate profits struggle for enough money to take care of the basics,” said Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO. “This database is relevant to every community in the country. And we’ll use this data to organize and mobilize to lift millions of workers out of poverty and to strengthen the middle class.”
PayWatch is the most comprehensive searchable online database tracking the excessive pay of CEOs of the nation’s largest companies. It offers visitors to the website the unique ability to compare their own pay to the pay of top executives. This year, PayWatch highlights five low wage companies through worker testimonials at Walmart, Kellogg’s, Reynolds, Darden Restaurants and T-Mobile.
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The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is the largest association of local unions and union councils in North Carolina, representing over one-hundred thousand union members, fighting for good jobs, safe workplaces, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and quality public services on behalf of ALL working families. PO Box 10805, Raleigh, NC 27605.
Get the 2013 CEO PayWatch data at www.paywatch.org