A major union this week called on Morgan Stanley to reverse recent salary increases for senior executives and other top earners, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a letter from the union.þþThe raises “weakened the link between top executive pay and performance,” The Journal cited Gerald McEntee, international president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (Afscme), as writing in a letter to Morgan Stanley.þþ“We urge you to return base salaries to their previous levels and reward executives for long-term value creation, not just showing up for work,” Mr. McEntee reportedly wrote.þþThe pension funds of union members have more than $1 trillion in assets and hold roughly 3 percent of Morgan Stanley’s outstanding shares, according to the newspaper.þþLast month, Morgan Stanley raised the base salaries of certain senior officers to $800,000, but said it does not plan to raise total compensation.þþMorgan Stanley, which became a bank-holding company last year, raised the base salaries for five of its senior officers, including its chief financial officer but said the base salary of the chief executive, John J. Mack, will not change.þþLike Morgan, some banks, including Bank of America and UBS, are raising employees’ base salaries to try to shift attention away from bonuses. þþThe New York Times reported Wednesday that Citigroup also intends to raise workers’ base salaries by as much as 50 percent this year to offset smaller annual bonuses.þþ
Source: NY Times
