:: rawblogXport ::

:: Monday, April 12, 2004 ::

'Stealth' executive payouts under fire By PATRICK BRETHOUR, The Globe and Mail
Now, what compensation experts have called the 'stealth weapon' for increasing executive pay is under attack. The Canadian arm of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America is conducting a frontal assault, asking fellow shareholders in Manulife Financial Corp. to scrap that company's supplemental pension plan for executives. At Suncor Energy Inc., the union is putting forth a motion to limit any new entrants to that company's supplemental pension plan, and demand increasing disclosure of costs.

The union says it objects to the practice of 'padding pensions' by giving executives more than a year's credit for each year of service, or credit for service outside the company, and it complains of the paucity of information on how much is being paid in pension obligations. 'What you're handing out is an enormous future burden,' says Daniel McCarthy, Canadian director of research and special programs for the carpenters union, which proposes a broader set of motions on executive compensation at eight other annual meetings.

posted 8:42 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

-------------------------------------------