CEO vs. WGA

Avedon Carol says (in its entirety):

Reuters says: "Disney says Iger's salary rose 7 percent to $27.7 million."

United Hollywood: "By way of context — if the WGA got everything it was asking for, it would cost Disney $6.25 million a year. Mr. Iger could write a personal check to end the strike for his whole corporation — and still have a little over $21 million left over."

Posted on January 16, 2008 at 22.59 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Current Events

5 Responses

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Wednesday, 16 January 2008 at 23.24
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    Oh, I'm sure Iger sees it as a matter of principle. He's been anointed as worthy of income in the tens of millions, no doubt in large part for his willingness and ability to keep the grubby mob of writer underlings in their place — and defy their no-good, parasitic union to do anything about it. Now, if he were to write a check to end the strike, what kind of message would that send? Those who anointed him would surely feel they had been mistaken or were misled about his talents and resolve.

    Along these lines, it's by no means unheard of for corporations to spend millions retaining lawyers and consultants who counsel on how to weaken and destroy unions, or deal with them if they strike. Then, the corp.'s spend even more fighting unions and strikers when a strike occurs — net cost sometimes being much more than the union(s) sought by striking. But it's the principle, plus the enduring hope of breaking unions altogether.

  2. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Friday, 18 January 2008 at 14.41
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    Companies that give in to unions usually end up with higher costs, both from wages and crippling work rules. Look at the US car companies.

  3. Written by jns
    on Friday, 18 January 2008 at 17.47
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    I'm looking at US car companies and thinking about how they prospered and supported a comfortable standard of living for their unionized workers, until management made disastrous decisions about how to compete–or not–with small, Japanese imports.

  4. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Saturday, 19 January 2008 at 09.23
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    I'm thinking we need a physics type experiment, where we rewind time, and run US car companies through the 70's and 80's with better management, then run it again with lower labor costs, etc.

    I'm thinking the high labor costs locked in during the 70's left the companies with little money for R&D, thus they fell behind the Japanese.

  5. Written by jns
    on Sunday, 20 January 2008 at 23.49
    Permalink

    You find my weakness, Fred. Sociology, economics, and politics would be so much more tolerable if only we could do experiments along the lines you suggest. You could be correct, of course, but I'm constitutionally disinclined to agree.

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