The most insightful recent move by the Democratic Presidential candidates is Pete Buttigieg's Bus, which is being driven now all over Iowa. With this acquisition, Pete is showing his confidence in very effectively dealing with the media on a constant basis. This move should eventually propel him into 3rd place in Iowa behind Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden and give Pete a decent shot of eventually reaching the coveted 15% of Iowa's caucus vote.
The fourth Democratic 2020 Presidential candidate debate will be held on October 15, 2020 at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, a Columbus suburb. It's good to see that the New York Times will be one of the hosts. The quality and relevance of the questions should improve substantially from what they were in the first three debates where the key economic issues played such a minor role.
The key issue to Ohio citizens should be the huge and continuing Income Inequality Expansion which is at the core of many critical problems the US faces.
While increasing the US federal minimum wage will help here, there is a much broader and critical problem that needs to be solved. The annual percentage increase in the pay and employee benefits of Company non-executive employees are minuscule in relation to that of Company executive employees and this has been going on for decades. When Corporate CEOs and CFOs primarily view non-executive employees as Costs rather than as People, this is what happens. And neither political party has had the courage to take on US Corporations here.
Thus I will be doing research and making posts on the average annual pay and employee benefits increase per year that the Top-Tier Executives of large Ohio Companies were rewarded with in the past ten years.
The 67th Ohio Company I am addressing here is Manufacturer Ferro Corp.
From annual compensation information contained in Company Proxy Statement filings with the US SEC, the chart at the bottom below shows Ferro Corp's Top-Tier Executives Annual Total Compensation for each of the two consecutive full years of employment for the past ten years.
Ferro Corp's Top-Tier Executives Average Annual Pay and Employee Benefits Increase was a clean, blistering 26.5% per year during the most recent ten years, which is the 8th highest of the 67 large Ohio-related Companies I have addressed so far.
- TransDigm Group +243.1% per year for the past ten years
- Milacron Holdings +111.0% per year for the past four years
- Worldpay +49.0% per year for the past seven years
- Installed Building Products +34.9% per year for past six years
- General Motors +29.5% per year for the past ten years
- Diebold Nixdorf +27.2% per year for the past ten years
- AK Steel +26.8% per year for the past ten years
- Ferro Corp +26.5% per year for the past ten years
- Advanced Draining Systems +25.7% per year for the past five years
- Signet Jewelers +24.4% per year for the past ten years
- Wendy's +24.2% per year for the past ten years
- Welltower +24.0% per year for the past ten years
- State Auto Financial +23.5% per year for the past ten years
- Greif Inc +23.5% per year for the past ten years
- Cardinal Health +23.3% per year for the past ten years
- Timken Company +23.3% per year for the past ten years
- Worthington Industries +23.0% per year for the past ten years
- Cedar Fair L.P. +22.5% per year for the past ten years
- Cooper Tire & Rubber +22.4% per year for the past ten years
- MPLX LP +22.4% per year for the past five years
- RPM International +21.8% per year for the past ten years
- Scotts Miracle-Gro +21.5% per year for the past ten years
- Cintas Corp +20.7% per year for the past ten years
- Andeavor Logistics LP +20.6% per year for the past seven years
- Teradata +20.2% per year for nine years
- Cleveland-Cliffs +19.4% per year for the past ten years
- Multi-Color Corp +19.3% per year for nine years
- Marathon Petroleum Corp +18.7% per year for the past ten years
- Designer Brands +18.6% per year for the past ten years
- Huntington Bancshares +18.4% per year for the past ten years
- Fifth Third Bancorp +18.0% per year for the past ten years
- Convergys Corp +16.6% per year for nine years
- STERIS plc +15.7% per year for the past ten years
- Nordson Corp +15.3% per year for the past ten years
- GrafTech International +14.9% per year for the past ten years
- Materion Corp +14.7% per year for the past ten years
- American Electric Power +14.5% per year for the past ten years
- Forest City Realty Trust +13.2% per year for seven years
- First Financial Bancorp +12.7% per year for the past ten years
- Eaton Corp plc +12.7% per year for the past ten years
- Cincinnati Financial +12.3% per year for the past ten years
- Progressive Corp +12.1% per year for the past ten years
- Sherwin-Williams +12.0% per year for the past ten years
- Parker-Hannifin +12.0% per year for the past ten years
- Owens-Illinois +11.7% per year for the past ten years
- The Kroger Company +11.2% per year for the past ten years
- Air Transport Services Group +10.8% per year for the past ten years
- Abercrombie & Fitch +10.3% per year for the past ten years
- FirstEnergy +10.2% per year for the past ten years
- TFS Financial Corp +10.2% per year for nine years
- KeyCorp +9.8% per year for the past ten years
- Chemed Corp +9.7% per year for the past ten years
- E,W. Scripps +9.1 per year for the past ten years
- PolyOne Corp +9.1% per year for the past ten years
- J. M. Smucker +8.8% per year for the past ten years
- CBIZ Inc +8.7% per year for the past ten years
- Big Lots +8.4% per year for the past ten years
- Dana Inc +8.4% per year for the past ten years
- Lancaster Colony +8.0% per year for the pat ten years
- Lincoln Electric Holdings +7.6% per year for the past ten years
- American Financial Group +7.6% per year for the next ten years
- Procter & Gamble +7.4% per year for the past ten years
- Macy's +6.6% per year for the past ten years
- Owens Corning +6.3% per year for the past ten years
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber +5.4% per year for the past ten years
- Mettler-Toledo +2.1% per year for the past ten years
- L Brands +2.0% per year for the past ten years
There have been many US Government laws enacted in the past two decades that have substantially increased income inequality expansion including the year after year after year of annual furtive tax extenders of predominately special interests additional tax loopholes, which both the Democratic and Republican Establishments voted for, but none more income inequality expanding than the Trump Tax Cuts Act.
On the other hand, the only highly effective US Government law enacted by either party in the past two decades that has substantially reduced income inequality expansion is Obamacare.
My objective is to get a better handle on just why the US and particularly here Ohio has such massive continuing Income Inequality Expansion ..... it appears to be predominantly about the relative long-term annual pay and employee benefits percentage increases for the executives of a Company vs the many non-executive employees of a Company, coupled with the stock price appreciation subsequent to the time the company executives were rewarded in their pay with stock equity compensation.
The above Fair Pay Raise Tax proposal could also be applied to US Non-Profit Organizations like Hospitals and other Health Care Organizations, which are known for their huge and continuing income inequality expansion due to their discriminating policies on annual pay and employee benefit increases to their non-executive employees.
And the continuing annual net tax revenues raised by the US Government here should be set up in a separate fund to be used only for wise additional income inequality narrowing initiatives. This fund should be run by an outside group made up entirely of minorities harmed the most by Income Inequality Expansion of the past decades .....all women, all blacks, all Latinos, all other non-white people, all past and present union members, all LGBTQ, all non-employee contract workers and all middle and lower income people of all ages, including those retired.
My objective is to get a better handle on just why the US and particularly here Ohio has such massive continuing Income Inequality Expansion ..... it appears to be predominantly about the relative long-term annual pay and employee benefits percentage increases for the executives of a Company vs the many non-executive employees of a Company, coupled with the stock price appreciation subsequent to the time the company executives were rewarded in their pay with stock equity compensation.
To fix Income Inequality driven mainly by Company and its Board of Director choices on Percentage Annual Pay and Employee Benefits Raises, the US Government should step in and pass wisely-designed, simple but effective Fair Pay Raise Income Inequality Narrowing Company tax incentives for Companies which reward non-executive employees with fair pay increases ..... the carrot ..... and Company tax disincentives for Companies which reward executive employees with clearly excessively high pay and employee benefits increases ..... the stick. I am certain ..... it is simple math ..... that this tax proposal would be very effective in substantially reducing the huge income inequality expansion that has occurred for decades in annual percentage pay raises between company executives and the rest of the company employees.
The only Democratic Presidential Candidate to have the vision, courage and fairness to now propose a Company luxury tax on excess CEO pay is Bernie Sanders, who seems to always be ahead of the curve on key progressive issues like fair pay. And then later some progressives eventually follow Bernie's crystal-clear vision lead.
But Bernie missed one key point here which is that US non-executive employees are substantially much more concerned about their own pay than they are about their CEO's pay.
But Bernie missed one key point here which is that US non-executive employees are substantially much more concerned about their own pay than they are about their CEO's pay.
It is very effective if you were to reward Companies with a tax credit if they give in the aggregate clearly fair pay and employee benefit increases to non-executive employees in a given year. And if instead they give in the aggregate clearly unfair pay and employee benefit increases to non-executive employees in a given year, these Companies should be assessed a tax penalty for being too cheap in paying their employees. This carrot and stick approach would work really well.
Also it would be wise to assess the Company a luxury tax penalty for granting in the aggregate to all of its Higher-Paid Executives clearly excessive pay and employee benefit increases in a given year.
The fairest and most effective way to set up this combination Company luxury tax and Company tax credit proposal is to do it comprehensively.
First, in each year, set up five quintiles of equal total dollars of US employees compensation. The employees to include should just be ones who have full year compensation in both the current year and in the prior year.
The Company luxury tax would be computed by applying a tax rate to the current year increase in total employee compensation in the applicable quintiles. For instance, the current year Company luxury tax could be set at say 30% for the highest quintile and at 5% for the second highest quintile.
And the Company tax credit would be computed in the same way. For instance, the current year Company tax credit could be set at say 20% for the lowest quintile, at 10% for the second lowest quintile and at 5% for the middle quintile.
Also it would be wise to assess the Company a luxury tax penalty for granting in the aggregate to all of its Higher-Paid Executives clearly excessive pay and employee benefit increases in a given year.
The fairest and most effective way to set up this combination Company luxury tax and Company tax credit proposal is to do it comprehensively.
First, in each year, set up five quintiles of equal total dollars of US employees compensation. The employees to include should just be ones who have full year compensation in both the current year and in the prior year.
The Company luxury tax would be computed by applying a tax rate to the current year increase in total employee compensation in the applicable quintiles. For instance, the current year Company luxury tax could be set at say 30% for the highest quintile and at 5% for the second highest quintile.
And the Company tax credit would be computed in the same way. For instance, the current year Company tax credit could be set at say 20% for the lowest quintile, at 10% for the second lowest quintile and at 5% for the middle quintile.
The above Fair Pay Raise Tax proposal could also be applied to US Non-Profit Organizations like Hospitals and other Health Care Organizations, which are known for their huge and continuing income inequality expansion due to their discriminating policies on annual pay and employee benefit increases to their non-executive employees.
And the continuing annual net tax revenues raised by the US Government here should be set up in a separate fund to be used only for wise additional income inequality narrowing initiatives. This fund should be run by an outside group made up entirely of minorities harmed the most by Income Inequality Expansion of the past decades .....all women, all blacks, all Latinos, all other non-white people, all past and present union members, all LGBTQ, all non-employee contract workers and all middle and lower income people of all ages, including those retired.
Also, the US Government should require all US Corporate Boards to include at least one worker representative and to exclude any Company Executive.
Further, the US Government should ban Golden Parachutes.
| FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | |||||
| Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | |||||
| Ferro Corp | 2018 | 2017 | 2017 | 2016 | 2016 | 2015 | 2015 | 2014 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||
| Top-Tier | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | ||||
| Executive | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | ||||
| $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | |||||
| Thomas CEO | 4,854 | 5,472 | 5,472 | 5,394 | 5,394 | 5,061 | 5,061 | 6,928 | 6,928 | 5,162 | ||||
| Schlater CFO | 1,282 | 1,334 | 1,334 | 1,091 | ||||||||||
| Duesenberg General Counsel | 1,263 | 1,416 | 1,416 | 1,363 | 1,363 | 1,237 | 1,237 | 1,364 | 1,364 | 1,584 | ||||
| Rutherford Former CFO | 1,769 | 1,675 | 1,675 | 1,836 | 1,836 | 2,189 | ||||||||
| Killian Former VP HR | N/A | N/A | 1,094 | 1,203 | 1,203 | 1,352 | ||||||||
| Totals | 7,399 | 8,222 | 8,222 | 7,848 | 8,526 | 7,973 | 9,067 | 11,331 | 11,331 | 10,287 | ||||
| Annual % Change vs Prior Year | -10.0% | 4.8% | 6.9% | -20.0% | 10.1% | |||||||||
| 5 Year Average Per Year % Change | -1.6% | |||||||||||||
| FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | FYE | |||||
| Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | |||||
| Ferro Corp | 2013 | 2012 | 2012 | 2011 | 2011 | 2010 | 2010 | 2009 | 2009 | 2008 | ||||
| Top-Tier | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | ||||
| Executive | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | Comp | ||||
| $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | $ 000s | |||||
| Thomas CEO | 5,162 | 2,126 | 2,126 | 1,198 | 1,198 | 1,398 | 1,398 | 521 | 521 | 701 | ||||
| Duesenberg General Counsel | 1,584 | 1,121 | 1,121 | 986 | 986 | 953 | 953 | 420 | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Rutherford Former CFO | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||
| Killian Former VP HR | 1,352 | 1,012 | 1,012 | 844 | 844 | 950 | 950 | 435 | 435 | 559 | ||||
| Kirsch Former CEO | N/A | N/A | 4,622 | 4,743 | 4,743 | 1,333 | 1,333 | 2,856 | ||||||
| Miklich Former CEO | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||
| Murry Former VP | N/A | N/A | 1,094 | 1,335 | 1,335 | 524 | 524 | 727 | ||||||
| Bailey Former CFO | N/A | N/A | 650 | 996 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 8,098 | 4,259 | 4,259 | 3,028 | 8,744 | 9,379 | 9,379 | 3,233 | 3,463 | 5,839 | ||||
| Annual % Change vs Prior Year | 90.1% | 40.7% | -6.8% | 190.1% | -40.7% | |||||||||
| 5 Year Average Per Year % Change | 54.7% | |||||||||||||
| 10 Year Average Per Year % Change | 26.5% |
