Cause and Effect

Today provided a nice little double dip of corporate-waged class warfare news, even including a neat little cause and effect example.

First, Cause:

The Teamsters said the union had been told by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the agency intends to begin a pilot program Saturday that will allow thousands of long-haul trucks from Mexico to roll beyond a designated zone in Texas and other border states to cities throughout the country.

"What a slap in the face to American workers – opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year," said Jim Hoffa, general president of the Teamsters....

... The one-year pilot program is part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

It would allow 100 U.S. companies to send their trucks into Mexico and 100 Mexican carriers to dispatch trucks on U.S. highways. Critics contend that it is unsafe because Mexican trucks and drivers do not meet U.S. standards.

A Transportation Department report released this month questioned whether Mexican vehicles would be inspected every time they crossed the border and whether drug testing was adequate on Mexican drivers.

"Congress has repeatedly and overwhelmingly set stringent safety conditions for the cross-border trucking program to meet before our borders are thrown open," said Mr. Hoffa. He said the recent report "made it clear that these conditions have not been met."

Actually, this is a true two-for-one bonus: eliminating American jobs for cheaper foreign labor, while creating potential danger for drivers all over the country. Oh, and shirking inspections on products like food that enter the country from abroad. So make that three. At least manufacturers and shippers save some dime, though.

And now, the ultimate effect of policies like these:

The average CEO of a large U.S. company made roughly $10.8 million last year, or 364 times that of U.S. full-time and part-time workers, who made an average of $29,544, according to a joint analysis released Wednesday by the liberal Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.

And while this number is actually down from previous years, that's just a technicality:

The pay gap numbers don't include the value of the many perks CEOs receive, which averaged $438,342, according to the report. Nor do they include the pension benefits CEOs receive.

And those pension benefits ain't too shabby, as we've seen recently:

Under his employment agreement, Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli is guaranteed defined-benefit pension equal to 50 percent of his salary and bonus at age 62. Even if Nardelli’s performance does not entitle him to a bonus, his pension benefit will be calculated as if he had earned a $4.5 million bonus.

Lastly, should Nardelli be terminated without cause or in the event of a change in control, his employment agreement promises him immediate full vesting of his pension benefits. Other notable features of Nardelli’s golden parachute include $20 million in cash, immediate vesting of stock options and restricted stock, forgiveness of a $10 million loan, a tax gross-up and three years of benefits.

Oh, and just by the way, this might inch up that number a little bit:

But even including all that, CEO pay can look like chump change next to private equity and hedge fund managers' pay. Those managers made an average of $657.5 million in 2006 - more than 16,000 times what the average full-time worker makes, and roughly 61 times that of the average CEO.

I wanted to make one point about the first story. A lot of times, workers and labor advocates seem to be mislabeled as xenophobic, because of the outrage over outsourcing jobs overseas and the use of cheap foreign labor within the United States, both keeping wages depressed. But here's the thing. Those foreign workers, both here and abroad, are getting abused, as well. No one wins. It becomes a race to the bottom. And sure, while those low, low paying jobs are slowly lifting people in China and India, when costs get too high, manufacturers and other companies just move out and go to the next third world country to take advantage of the vulnerable in those places.

All we're asking for is fairness for American workers, and if jobs go overseas anyways, just pay for foreign workers. It's why the AFL-CIO is pro a path to citizenship, but against the temporary worker visas that create a permanent underclass of workers. It's why Andy Stern has been in China, working with unions there. It's why so many unions have so many immigrant members. So any accusations to the contrary, just don't fly.