CWA Collective Briefing

HAPPENING NOW

Cracking Down on Excessive CEO Pay

Last week, Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Rashida Tlaib, along with Senator Bernie Sanders, introduced the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act (H.R. 5066/S. 2849) to curb the extreme gaps between CEO and worker pay. The bill would pressure corporations to curb the outrageous pay gaps that are the norm today by imposing graduated taxes for companies that pay their CEO more than 50 times the pay of the median worker. The tax penalties would begin at 0.5% and rise up to 5% for companies compensating chief executives at more than 500 times the rate of workers.

While worker wages have largely stagnated, CEO pay has skyrocketed over the past several decades. Last year, the average S&P 500 CEO made 287 times the median worker pay. The more corporations channel into executives’ pockets, the less they have for wages and other investments.

CWA is glad to see Congress tackle the issue of excessive CEO pay. Corporate bosses must be held accountable.

CALLS TO ACTION

Stop Attacking and Jailing Philippine Trade Unionists

Disturbing reports from October 31st indicate that military police have been making false accusations and arresting union and progressive organizers in the Philippines. These efforts to silence and intimidate those seeking to improve the lives and conditions of Filipino workers are unacceptable.

The arrests of our union family members, Mary-Anne Krueger (aka "Anne" and longtime organizer in the Philippines and ally of CWA especially during the 2016 Verizon strike), as well as an organizer for the BPO Industry Employee Network, were meant to sow fear but we are here to say #HandsOffUnionists! After 12 days of incarceration, Anne was temporarily freed from prison. CWAers continue to speak out against the mass arrests of union organizers in the Philippines. (Click here to retweet this important news.)

We condemn the raids and stand in solidarity with those who were arrested and face charges. Tell President Rodrigo Duterte and Local Law Enforcement Officials to stop repressing working people and that we will not be silent until they release all our union sisters and brothers from prison!

LABOR CHAMPIONS

Congresswoman Cynthia “Cindy” Axne (IA-3)

Congresswoman Axne is a U.S. Representative serving Iowa's 3rd congressional district. As a newly elected Representative, she has hit the ground running with legislation to stop offshoring and hold big corporations accountable for outsourcing jobs.

Axne co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize ("PRO") Act. She was the lead sponsor of the CWA-endorsed Outsourcing Accountability Act, which would provide transparency about companies' job creation or cuts in the U.S. vs. other countries, and which passed the House in October. She stood up for Committee for Better Banks members at Wells Fargo who were being mistreated by the company by being given unfair sales metrics. She also pressed the company’s CEO to reveal the truth about its push to send work overseas. She spoke out against the Trump corporate tax cut and the corporate greed of stock buybacks by Wall Street banks.

A DEEP DIVE

Labor, Ever So Gingerly, Tiptoes Into The Insurgency [Article]

Delta’s Flight Attendants Are Organizing [Article]

As Income Inequality Soars, Languishing Labor Unions Make A Return [Article]

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