I am writing to demand that you cosponsor and support the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The divide between executives and workers in America has reached crisis levels. On average, CEOs in S&P 500 companies make about 285 times more than their workers. But at some firms, the gap is far worse. The “Low-Wage 100” companies have an average ratio of over 600 to 1. And Coca-Cola’s CEO pay ratio is nearly 2,000 to 1—an obscene and indefensible disparity. At Starbucks, the gap reached over 6,600 to 1.
This is not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It means CEOs are amassing fortunes in the tens or hundreds of millions while the very workers whose labor generates that wealth cannot afford rent, food, or health care. Even Pope Francis recently warned that when CEO pay reaches hundreds of times what workers earn, society itself is in “big trouble.” He is right—we are in big trouble.
The Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act will hold corporations accountable by increasing taxes on companies that pay executives hundreds or thousands of times more than their average workers. It is a commonsense reform that begins to rein in corporate greed and shift power back toward working people.
I urge you to stand with Rep. Tlaib, Sen. Sanders, and working families across this country. Support and cosponsor the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act.
First sent on September 24 by BlueCollarJew
