Canadians Demand GM and Chrysler Disc lose BOD Members’ Pay and Perks

Canadians Demand GM and Chrysler Disclose BOD Members? Pay and Perks

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Her neighbors to the south may not recognize the fact (even parenthetically), but Canada kicked-in as-yet-uncounted billions in federal funds to keep the Chrysler and GM zombies in a vertical position. Whatever the final tally, the Motown subsidy was the largest bailout in Canadian history. In exchange, they received a seat on both automakers? Board of Directors. Ottawa and Toronto chose Carol Stephenson, dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, to bop on down to RenCen to see what?s shaking. Auburn Hills hosts George Gosbee, of Tristone Capital. OK, so how much are they getting paid for their time? They ain?t saying, exactly. And Canadians are not happy. Specifically, the Edmonton Journal:

?Chrysler and GM refuse to disclose their compensation?along with all other board members?is an outrage and insult to citizens on both sides of the border.

To be precise, GM admits with comical simplicity only that board members are paid a ?minimum of $200,000? a year plus a ?free car,? which we assume is not a loaded Aveo. Chrysler, incredibly, still declines to reveal any financial information about board remuneration, citing privacy issues.

It gets worse.

While [Canada's GM rep Carol] Stephenson ?? who sits on a number of other government and corporate boards and will retain her post as dean ?? will receive a base cash payment of $200,000 and a company vehicle, Chrysler has refused to reveal compensation for its board of directors. As well, both companies refused news media requests to release details of salaries for its Canadian CEOs.

Once upon a time, GM CEO Fritz Henderson swore under oath that the New GM would be transparent in all its dealings. While Fiat?s Sergio Machionne made no such pledge re: New Chrysler, is it too much to ask that these taxpayer-supported not-to-say-nationalized automakers open their books to the people who made it possible for them to have books which they can open? Apparently so.

Which raises the inevitable question: what else are they hiding?

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Force GM, Chrysler to disclose salaries, governments urged

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By Grace Macaluso and Anne Jarvis, The Windsor StarJuly 29, 2009

As criticism mounted over the level of compensation for members of the board of directors at General Motors, pressure grew Wednesday on the federal and Ontario governments to compel GM and Chrysler Group LLC to publicly disclose salaries of the automakers? top brass.

?I think taxpayers have a legitimate reason to ask to see how their money is being spent,? said Joseph D?Cruz, professor at the University of Toronto?s Rotman School of Management.

?And the question, all of us as taxpayers are asking ?? ?is our money being well spent or is it being diverted into excessive compensation for a few people???

Federal and Ontario taxpayers have given Chrysler and GM more than $14 billion to help the ailing companies return to financial health. American taxpayers, meanwhile, have invested about $80 billion to the automakers and GMAC Financial Services. As a result, U.S. and Canadian governments own 72 per cent of Detroit-based GM and 10 per cent of Auburn Hills-based Chrysler. Ottawa and Ontario have one representative on the companies? board of directors ?? Carole Stephenson, dean of the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario sits on the GM board, while Calgary businessman George Gosbee is a member of the Chrysler board.

While Stephenson ?? who sits on a number of other government and corporate boards and will retain her post as dean ?? will receive a base cash payment of $200,000 and a company vehicle, Chrysler has refused to reveal compensation for its board of directors. As well, both companies refused news media requests to release details of salaries for its Canadian CEOs.

GM Canada spokesman Stew Low said ?executives, including CEO Arturo Elias have no golden parachutes, have not had bonuses in 2008 or 2009 or a raise, have had their pay cut 10 per cent, have had their pension plan and other benefits cut ... Arturo almost always drives himself ?? no chauffeur ?? flies economy or drives to meetings or uses teleconference.?

Chrysler Canada spokeswoman Mary Gauthier said information on CEO salaries and board compensation was ?proprietary.?

?I don?t think it?s reasonable at all,? said D?Cruz. ?Basically, once you?ve accepted very significant amounts of public money as a corporation you have to operate with a level of accountability and transparency that is normally expected by publicly funded corporations, such as universities, hospitals and the government. This company is now significantly owned by the governments and it can no longer behave as if it were a private company. I think the provincial and federal governments should move to require these companies to publish both the directors? salaries as well as their senior executives because, in the public interest, the question is ?are they being compensated at an unreasonably high level compared to industry standard.??

Kevin Gaudet, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, accused the automakers of ?taking Canadian taxpayers for a ride.? ?GM and Chrysler have received the single largest corporate bailout in the history of Canada ?? not just by a little, but by a U.S. mile,? said Gaudet. ?Taxpayers expect the firms to jealously guard their money, to spend it carefully, to invest it wisely and to report on it more fully. Only with full transparency will this be guaranteed.?

Gaudet, who has an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, also expressed dismay at Stephenson?s salary, saying it is ?ridiculous to compensate a government representative so generously for what he called a very part-time job.?

Her level of cash compensation was ?out of line? with that of other major corporations, including Ford Motor Co., ?? the sole Detroit Three automaker that has avoided a taxpayer bailout, he added.

In the wake of the global economic crisis, members of Ford?s board of directors voted in March to give up the 40 per cent cash portion of their $100,000 in base compensation, said company spokeswoman Marcy Evans. ?The changes the board made were to decrease costs and conserve cash in response to the difficult global economic climate,? said Evans.

Calls to Sandra Pupatello, Ontario?s minister of economic development and trade, were not returned Wednesday, while a spokesman for federal Industry Minister Tony Clement, said Clement would comment today.

Meanwhile, GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson defended Stephenson?s compensation. ?Board members have extensive experience turning around industries and working with government. Those skills will be very important in making GM competitive again; they will have a lot of work and a lot of decisions (to make),? said Wilkinson. ?You wouldn?t want to be cutting corners on the GM board. These are extremely important jobs. We want the best board we can get.?

Wilkinson also noted that from Jan. 1 until the new board starts next week, non-employee members of the board of directors received $1 a year as part of the government loan guarantee.

Ken Lewenza, whose $145,000 annual salary as president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union is public information, said he was ?infuriated? over the refusal to disclose salaries.

?The federal and Ontario governments have an appointed member on the boards of directors, and the boards could easily provide the public with those kinds of answers,? said Lewenza. ?In fact, I believe as part of the terms and conditions of the loans, that full disclosure is important. That?s what they asked of us. We gave it to them, so it works both ways.?

Reply to
Jim Higgins
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That's not hard to determine. As publicly traded corporation you can ask any GM shareholder, they all receive that information.

Reply to
Mike

Now that it is Government Motors, it doesn't acount for anything, even the $100B it is or has gotten, no accountability. Never have seen anything that outlines where all the taxpayers cash went.

Taxpayers aught to ask a lot of questions. No credible answers just means corruption.

Reply to
Canuck57

You are wrong again, as a publicly traded corporation that information is available to the stock holders. If it was not made available it would be a violation of the Securities laws

Again I must ask please tell us to WHAT corruption are you referring, over and over again?

Reply to
Mike

Only in you irrational opinion.

Reply to
Canuck57

Not my opinion, it is a fact. You apparently do not know any more about securities regulations in the US than you do about vehicle marketing LOL

Reply to
Mike

Your facts are in your dreams.

Reply to
Canuck57

I posted a verifiable fact. You can prove it is a fact to yourself, do a search.

Start at the US Department of Commerce site for start. If you do you may stop posting all your stupid stuff for a change.

Reply to
Mike

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