The United Auto Workers union’s strike against the Detroit Three for higher wages, more paid time off, and the elimination of tiered workers, which is in its fourth week, has drawn attention to the vast differences in pay between autoworkers and executives at auto manufacturers.
The union has frequently spoken out about the gulf between CEO pay and worker pay to argue that the auto manufacturers can afford to increase wages for autoworkers.
“They’re absolutely rolling in the money. They’re competing for who gets the biggest executive compensation package,” said Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, in a YouTube video about CEO compensation uploaded last week.
In 2022, all three CEOs made above $20 million. General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s compensation is $29 million, the highest of the big three automakers, followed by Stellantis’ Carlo Tevares at $25 million and Ford’s Jim Farley at $21 million.
Fain has also pointed to the 6% pay increases autoworkers received since their 2019 contract compared to the 40% rise in automaker CEO pay to make his argument for the union’s pay demands.
Cindy Schipani, professor of business administration and professor of business law at the University of Michigan, told States Newsroom over email that this 40% rise in CEO pay in the auto sector in the last four years has set up an opportunity for the UAW to call out a lack of fairness as they negotiate.
“The union seems to be arguing an equity issue,...
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