wfn.org | Werner to CEOs: Cut executive perks before jobs

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-273

Werner to CEOs: Cut executive perks before jobs 

by Jan Nunley
jnunley@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) News that major air carriers in the US are laying off thousands of 
workers in the wake of the September 11 attacks, despite passage of a $15 billion 
bailout by Congress, prompted the Very Rev. George Werner, president of the House 
of Deputies, to advise airline executives to cut back on the luxuries and perks 
of their own positions rather than eliminating jobs.

     Since September 11, more than 130,000 jobs with the major US air carriers--
except Southwest and Alaska Airlines--have been cut and flight schedules have 
been scaled back.

     American Airlines Chairman and CEO Donald Carty had declared a "state of 
emergency" at the carrier, and spokesman Al Becker added: "We are fighting for 
our lives, for the survival of the company." 

     "My grandfather was a first-generation German living on the lower east side 
of New York City when he was forced to quit school to help support his family" at 
the age of 13, Werner said in an online discussion group for bishops and deputies 
of the Episcopal Church. By the end of the 1920s, his grandfather was co-owner of 
a tool-and-dye works in the Bronx. "When the Depression hit, he had been 
preparing for a very early retirement. Instead, he and his partner decided that 
they had the responsibility of keeping their work force intact," Werner said.

     "For the many years of the Depression, the two owners lived off their 
savings. My grandfather sold his home in Ardsley-on-Hudson and moved to a second 
floor walkup in the Bronx," Werner recalled, which meant hardship for the entire 
family. But, he added, "In his final years, he would always tell me that the most 
important accomplishment in his life was keeping each of his employees working, 
each of their households intact."

     Although he said he knows and respects a number of CEO's, Werner remarked, 
"I don't remember hearing a single one of them pledge solidarity with their 
workers and the wider community by suggesting that they too will change their 
life style. This is a time when executive salaries have lost all connection with 
performance and median wages. This is a moment when seven-figure compensations 
are the norm and eight-figured salaries are not unusual.

     "I know this is a different moment of history. I know the tales of honor I 
still treasure are no longer very popular. But is it fascinating to consider what 
a message such actions would send. For what will they tell their grandchildren 
was their most important accomplishment?" Werner asked.

     American Airlines and Northwest have announced they will offer severance pay 
to the 30,000 workers they plan to let go, reversing an earlier decision to 
invoke the so-called force majeure clause in union contracts that would enable 
them to lay off employees without severance pay. 

--Jan Nunley is deputy director for Episcopal News Service.