Paywatch

What We’re Doing

Speech

Redmond on CEO Pay: Remarks During the Executive Paywatch Press Conference Call

This year marks the second-highest level of CEO pay in Paywatch history behind last year’s record-breaking average while U.S. workers’ real hourly wages fell for the second year in a row.
Speech

Redmond: Runaway CEO Pay Has Created the Perfect Storm for "Greedflation"

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond's remarks for the release of the 2022 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report.
Media Hit

Shuler on the Rise of CEO Pay During the COVID-19 Crisis

Blog

8 Facts from the 2021 Executive Paywatch Report You Need to Know

Last year was a challenging one for working people. The COVID-19 pandemic put millions out of work through no fault of their own and the financial impact on working people will be felt for years to come. Unless you were a CEO of a large company. During a painstaking year of unspeakable loss and economic turmoil, AFL-CIO's 2021 Executive Paywatch report shows that the average S&P 500 CEO saw their pay increase more than $700,000 last year. The Executive Paywatch website, the most comprehensive, searchable online database that tracks CEO pay, shows that the CEO of an S&P 500 company received, on average, $15.5 million in total compensation in 2020. The average S&P 500 company CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 299-to-1.
Speech

Shuler Launches 2021 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch

Passing the PRO Act is the single best way to reverse economic inequality and raise wages for all working people. That’s crystal clear in this year’s Paywatch, which shines a spotlight on the difference between companies in so-called “right to work” states versus those in union security states.
Blog

Executive Paywatch: 1,000-to-1 Pay Ratio CEOs Furlough Workers

AFL-CIO's Executive Paywatch report, released today, shows that the imbalance between the pay of corporate CEOs and working people persists as a problem. In particular, the report shines light on the 20 companies with pay ratio disparities higher than 1000-to-1 that furloughed workers in 2020.