We have entered the season of corporate annual meetings and their annual disclosure of executive pay. (Note: Website has been removed as of 2010).

You will be as shocked as I am at the level of greed in corporate America. At the same time that CEO’s are racking up millions – sometimes tens of millions – in cash, stock, and perks, they’re demanding ever-larger sacrifices from workers and attacking our health care, our pensions, and our job security.

Chief executives of the 500 biggest U.S. companies averaged$10.9 million in compensation for 2005. They also look forward to luxurious retirements with pensions of 2, 3, even 5 million dollars a year. America is tragically off course. The vast gulf between the super rich and ordinary families is widening. U.S. CEOs make 475 times what ordinary workers make. We can and we must help steer a course away from corporate greed and toward good jobs, universal health care and retirement security. Together we can help restore this vision to America.

Larry Cohen, CWA President.