‘Bizarre’ pay for executives

It was nice to see another article exposing the shameful salaries of CEOs (Business, November 28). I believe Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo is correct that the time has come for a more equitable society.

These rumblings have been appearing for a while but little has been done to reshape out-ofcontrol capitalism and its effects on communities and the planet. That large companies continue to increase profits on one hand, and on the other deny a good standard of living to those who make those profits possible, fails the ethical test of fairness.

Institute of Directors chief executive Kirsten Patterson misses the point when she uses the word fairness to compare New Zealand CEO earnings to those in other countries. When a family needs three jobs to get to the end of the month without being able to save a cent, can she see the injustice there and the greed on the other side of that?

We are becoming a feudal society where the most important workers in a pandemic are on survival wages if they are lucky – the Countdown strike being a case in point.

Claudia Ugarte, Palmerston North

‘‘Nice work if you can get it’’ was a poor headline on scandalous executive pay packets, which are not justified by common sense, research or any valid measurement.

Defenders of such payments have long responded to criticism by relying on discredited ‘‘market forces’’ and matching overseas salary packages.

Anyone familiar with the topic knows that to address the issue, three things must occur. Firstly, a formula needs to be applied; secondly, bonus and performance payments as part of the packages need to cease; and pay ratios between the CEO and employees must be disclosed in all reports.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner was on the button – ‘‘bizarre’’ salaries at the top and people struggling along on the minimum wage. Inequality, greed, and continual feeding at the executive trough has been the shameful situation for the past 30 years.

Alec Waugh, Richmond