Letters: Jun. 16, 2003

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What Happened to My Raise?

"People are inquiring, 'Where did my raise go?' They should also ask, 'Where did my job, savings and investments go?'" ALICE REID Claymont, Del.

When CEOs' salaries go up while workers' compensation and benefits go down, shrinking paychecks are rooted in greed, not competitiveness [BUSINESS, May 26]. Companies are using the economic climate to squeeze dollars out of employees. American workers need to fight back while there's still time. Boycott firms that outsource work to India. Demand to have your business handled by an American employee. And organize, organize, organize. The days of white-collar interests vs. blue-collar interests are gone. If you do not own the company you work for, you need a union, and you need one now! Let's show these CEOs what American labor is really worth. ANN CRUTE New York City

"Where did my raise go?" The answer is simple: it was exported overseas, along with your job. Could this be the reason the U.S. has lost more than 2 million jobs since Bush took office? STEVE BARNHOORN Honeoye, N.Y.

After reading your story, I felt a bit sick. How can people getting $50,000, $60,000 or $70,000 a year whine that they can't make ends meet? I think those earning that much shouldn't complain; they should just stop spending a lot on unnecessary items. There are thousands of us in America who could live very comfortably on such an income. Try living on $24,000 a year with no raise! KATHLEEN TEWKSBURY Avon, N.Y.

Executive compensation and perks have skyrocketed, with no end in sight. Eventually the "rocket scientists" who run corporations will wake up to their economic interdependence. When Company A eliminates raises and paychecks, there will be fewer sales and profits at Company B since people will have less money to buy goods. Well, duh! I didn't major in economics, but even I can figure that out. Why can't the CEOs? Maybe because they're too busy patting themselves on the back, lying to the shareholders and taking junkets to Bermuda while the rest of us suffer. Well, their day is coming. JOANNE G. MURPHY Skokie, Ill.

American corporations seem to have forgotten a lesson of history. Henry Ford revolutionized business by creating customers out of his own work force. Today's bottom-lining CEOs outsource work to whichever country is paying workers the least. The U.S. cannot employ protectionism for fear of world trade sanctions. But in this case, citizens have more power than government. What this country needs is an "American content" rule requiring every product sold in the U.S. to state the percentage of domestic manufacture, just as food products provide nutritional information. The American consumer needs a way to police the shortsighted avarice of its corporations. THOMAS PETIET Ann Arbor, Mich.

I am surprised that no one has considered outsourcing CEOs. If India can market its companies and expertise to the U.S. and take jobs away, surely it can provide CEOs to manage American companies at a fraction of the cost of existing executive salaries, perks and golden parachutes. How can company executives think that we shareholders and employees are clueless about the difference between top executives' compensation and that of the other employees? JOYE GROFF Raleigh, N.C.

No End in Sight