LA Times: Is Disney Paying Its Fair Share In Anaheim

[21stamps]

Sour about what? I am not espousing a political belief. I am not even taking sides in an argument. I threw out an idea about worker wages for discussion, and for that I get you - without even discussing anything -throwing out blanket statements (what about incentives????) and making braggadocio statements like, "reflects nothing about business management or personal management^" without any backing behind them.

Why can't a CEO earn a normal salary without any extra incentives like many normal people do?

^Goodness me, what does that even mean? Are you claiming that cost-cutting is not one of the most crucial dials that CEO's normally turn to get the financial gibberish to work out in their favor? Who's being naive here?



I am not talking about you. I am literally talking about the head executive of a global media conglomerate who play a financial game that is far ahead of the normal rules that govern whatever middle manager is at Podunk & Associates Co.

****

I get the feeling people think I am attacking incentive based pay. Which wasn't even close to what started my thread. I started with talking about finding a way to increase run-of-the-mill worker pay. I don't really care about executives at all and focusing on them is like, totally! (in sour internet kid talk) uninteresting.

Don't have Iger's compensation ping-ponging back and forth every year based on some arbitrary metric. Pay him a regular salary and pin the workers wages to a percentage of that. If, over time, Iger deserves a raise, everybody's wages rise with him; in recognition that his performance is based off the work of others. Whole company gets rewarded together.

The executive can join the 401K program (disclaimer: I have no idea if Disney has a 401k program) like everybody else if he needs any more "incentive" than that.

This is pure laziness.. and it would be detrimental to business.

Do you know why such a large percentage of top earners in this country are on incentivized pay plans?
Because they believe they are worth more than what a salary guarantees.

Do you know why companies pay these people this way?
Because they are worth it.
Because they expand the business, the brand, profits, etc etc.

Incentives work, from the lowest level employees to the highest level employees.


Someone like Bob Iger doesn’t “clock in” for 8 hours then go home and put the job behind him.. people in that position are always working, always networking, and always thinking about the “job”.

I can guarantee that most executives lose more time with their family, have more personal time interupted, and have more stress than an hourly CM would ever have.

 

[Disney Irish]

Don't have Iger's compensation ping-ponging back and forth every year based on some arbitrary metric. Pay him a regular salary and pin the workers wages to a percentage of that. If, over time, Iger deserves a raise, everybody's wages rise with him; in recognition that his performance is based off the work of others. Whole company gets rewarded together.

The executive can join the 401K program (disclaimer: I have no idea if Disney has a 401k program) like everybody else if he needs any more "incentive" than that.

Instead of spouting off some opinion on your post, I'm going to ask you a question.

How much should a CEO who runs one of the largest media conglomerates who works basically 24/7 get paid as a regular salary?

 

[flynnibus]

Don't have Iger's compensation ping-ponging back and forth every year based on some arbitrary metric. Pay him a regular salary and pin the workers wages to a percentage of that. If, over time, Iger deserves a raise, everybody's wages rise with him; in recognition that his performance is based off the work of others. Whole company gets rewarded together.

The executive can join the 401K program (disclaimer: I have no idea if Disney has a 401k program) like everybody else if he needs any more "incentive" than that.

So you dont even know what a 401k program really is... smh

 

[21stamps]

Instead of spouting off some opinion on your post, I'm going to ask you a question.

How much should a CEO who runs one of the largest media conglomerates who works basically 24/7 get paid as a regular salary?

Someone actually gave a number in another thread, same subject, but with WDW.. I think the person threw out $200,000.. I could be wrong, I’ll try to find the post.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Someone actually gave a number in another thread, same subject, but with WDW.. I think the person threw out $200,000.. I could be wrong, I’ll try to find the post.

Oh come on, Government workers make more...

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article199956484.html

>>
Prison psychiatrist Anthony Coppola earned a pretty good living splitting his workdays – and vacation days – between two California government agencies.


In 2016, he pulled in $309,000 from his main job at a state prison in Tracy and another $233,000 from his part-time job at an Alameda County jail. He made even more money in 2015 and 2014.<<

 

[Disney Irish]

Someone actually gave a number in another thread, same subject, but with WDW.. I think the person threw out $200,000.. I could be wrong, I’ll try to find the post.

$200k to run one of the world's largest media companies for a year? Really? Heads of small businesses with only 5 employees in CA make more than that.

Now $200k a month, now that is where I can start agreeing. That would be $2.4 Million a year.

By the way, Iger's actual base salary is $2.5 Million a year. All the rest of his compensation package is made up of target based incentives.

 

[21stamps]

$200k to run one of the world's largest media companies for a year? Really? Heads of small businesses with only 5 employees in CA make more than that.

Now $200k a month, now that is where I can start agreeing. That would be $2.4 Million a year.

By the way, Iger's actual base salary is $2.5 Million a year. All the rest of his compensation package is made up of target based incentives.

You don’t have to lecture to me. I was repeating a ridiculous statement.
Maybe I should have put one of these after-

 

[Disney Irish]

You don’t have to lecture to me. I was repeating a ridiculous statement.
Maybe I should have put one of these after-

It wasn't a lecture. I was really commenting on whomever thought that $200k per year was a good salary for a CEO.

 

[choco choco]

Instead of spouting off some opinion on your post, I'm going to ask you a question.

How much should a CEO who runs one of the largest media conglomerates who works basically 24/7 get paid as a regular salary?

I cannot stress this enough. I don't care in the slightest about executive pay. I don't care what they are paid. My original comment was about a way to pay more for the little guy.

Basically, if there was a choice between keeping a CM's wage the exact same but lowering an executive's pay by half amount; or raising the CM wage two dollars an hour but doubling the executive's pay--I would choose the latter. I'm not trying to stick it to anyone man, I'm just know that the bottom people deserve more.

 

[Disney Irish]

I cannot stress this enough. I don't care in the slightest about executive pay. I don't care what they are paid. My original comment was about a way to pay more for the little guy.

Basically, if there was a choice between keeping a CM's wage the exact same but lowering an executive's pay by half amount; or raising the CM wage two dollars an hour but doubling the executive's pay--I would choose the latter. I'm not trying to stick it to anyone man, I'm just know that the bottom people deserve more.

Ok but you made the following statements:

Why can't a CEO earn a normal salary without any extra incentives like many normal people do?

and

Don't have Iger's compensation ping-ponging back and forth every year based on some arbitrary metric. Pay him a regular salary and pin the workers wages to a percentage of that.

So I'm asking you what you feel is the appropriate amount for Iger to receive as a yearly salary without incentives?

 

[TP2000]

So I'm asking you what you feel is the appropriate amount for Iger to receive as a yearly salary without incentives?

Good luck with that. No one seems able to offer any concrete dollar figures about what a "Living Wage" is for unskilled CM's performing entry level work, or what the "Fair Share" is for Disneyland to pay in taxes to Anaheim's General Fund.

I have asked that repeatedly in this thread over the past few months, but none of the advocates of "Living Wage" for unskilled CM's or "Fair Share" in taxes paid by Disneyland to Anaheim can offer up dollar amounts for those two monetary concepts.

 

[TP2000]

Yes but there needs to be a balance. Being a public company does not mean you must be cheap. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

The duty of the directors is to return VALUE to the shareholders... not be as cheap as possible. Being fiscally responsible does not mean cheap. It means making the correct, balanced decisions that respect the interest of the company, not just themselves. And to not just be frivolous.

Attracting and retaining the best employees can be expensive and is a valid thing to spend on.

Stop being so informed, rational and balanced, it upsets the sloganeers.

 

[Disney Irish]

Good luck with that. No one seems able to offer any concrete dollar figures about what a "Living Wage" is for unskilled CM's performing entry level work, or what the "Fair Share" is for Disneyland to pay in taxes to Anaheim's General Fund.

I have asked that repeatedly in this thread over the past few months, but none of the advocates of "Living Wage" for unskilled CM's or "Fair Share" in taxes paid by Disneyland to Anaheim can offer up dollar amounts for those two monetary concepts.

Agreed, we'll probably never get anyone to provide real numbers. To me his current $2.5 Million base is appropriate for a CEO. Now we can talk incentive packages all day long, what is enough, too much, not enough, etc. But overall I believe his base is right in line with other CEOs in the industry.

 

[Travel Junkie]

Good luck with that. No one seems able to offer any concrete dollar figures about what a "Living Wage" is for unskilled CM's performing entry level work, or what the "Fair Share" is for Disneyland to pay in taxes to Anaheim's General Fund.

I have asked that repeatedly in this thread over the past few months, but none of the advocates of "Living Wage" for unskilled CM's or "Fair Share" in taxes paid by Disneyland to Anaheim can offer up dollar amounts for those two monetary concepts.

A living wage calculator just so you'll stop saying no one gives an answer, even though I know people have responded before.

http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06059

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, one big issue that hasn't been brought up. This could be UniteHERE's last chance to get new members.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-supreme-court-decisions-2018-story.html

>>Unions and public employees: The court will decide whether teachers, police and other public employees in California, New York and 20 other mostly Democratic states can be required by law to pay a "fair share fee" to cover the cost of collective bargaining even if they don't belong to a union. The justices upheld such contracts in 1977, but said then that employees did not have to pay for the union's political spending. Anti-union advocates say the court now should go further and rule that forced fees violate the 1st Amendment because they require some employees to support a group whose views they may oppose. The conservative justices signaled they are likely to rule for the challengers in a case from Illinois and deal a blow to the public sector unions that traditionally support Democrats. (Janus vs. ASCME)<<

No, this won't help Disney CM's from opting out of paying Union Dues, or the same amount in Fair Share fees. But UniteHERE does have some members who work for a government agency. So the power of the Union, and the amount of cash they have to do these types of expensive.

But the truly needy CM's who don't make tips and at the low end of the wage scale could use the amount of Union Dues taken from their paycheck.

Maybe UniteHERE could address their dues, lowering them for all, and maybe make it like Income Taxes, where the percentage of the amount taken out of the paycheck starts low at Minimum Wage, but gets higher when they make more per hour.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

I'm repeatedly reminded of Jack Welch's quote: "On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy…your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.”

The emphasis on shareholder value is why you get companies acting like they're impoverished whenever someone brings up wage increases for hourly employees.

The slavish devotion to shareholder value, quarterly earnings, and Wall St. analysts are a big part of the weaponization of capitalization going back past the Reagan era to the corporate militancy resulting from the environmental movement of the '70s.

I was born in the Eisenhower administration--one of my favorite Presidents--before business became so voracious and amoral. I grew up when George Romney was President of American Motors and regarded as an effective CEO. His son Mitt was a vulture capitalist who killed more jobs than he ever created (and I knew someone who worked for a company that Mitt and his cronies devoured).

I was raised in conservative Orange County with a respect for entrepreneurship, personal responsibility and initiative, following the rules, voting, good citizenship, and helping others. I was also taught that capitalism is a good servant and a poor master.

I worked at Disneyland when I was 17, just out of high school. It was a prized job for college students, but you could also work your way up and actually support a family. And a working family could visit the park without mortgaging their house.

America's weaponization of capitalism could ultimately be its undoing. Gorbachev wanted to modernize and preserve Bolshevik-style communism, but it was too late (and while that's not a bad thing on its face, the hard landing enabled the authoritarian regime that now threatens democracies in Europe and here at home). There are very few conservatives left speaking out to preserve American capitalism and democracy from the darker forces taking them over. I'm not sure they can prevail against the momentum leading us to failure, fascism, and, ultimately, revolution.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Millions of Americans are becoming disconnected from the American Dream of the post-WWII era of middle class prosperity. Disney is emblematic of this. Walmart has gotten the lion's share of bad press, but Disney is no better--they just have a better mascot.

 

[nevol]

The slavish devotion to shareholder value, quarterly earnings, and Wall St. analysts are a big part of the weaponization of capitalization going back past the Reagan era to the corporate militancy resulting from the environmental movement of the '70s.

I was born in the Eisenhower administration--one of my favorite Presidents--before business became so voracious and amoral. I grew up when George Romney was President of American Motors and regarded as an effective CEO. His son Mitt was a vulture capitalist who killed more jobs than he ever created (and I knew someone who worked for a company that Mitt and his cronies devoured).

I was raised in conservative Orange County with a respect for entrepreneurship, personal responsibility and initiative, following the rules, voting, good citizenship, and helping others. I was also taught that capitalism is a good servant and a poor master.

I worked at Disneyland when I was 17, just out of high school. It was a prized job for college students, but you could also work your way up and actually support a family. And a working family could visit the park without mortgaging their house.

America's weaponization of capitalism could ultimately be its undoing. Gorbachev wanted to modernize and preserve Bolshevik-style communism, but it was too late (and while that's not a bad thing on its face, the hard landing enabled the authoritarian regime that now threatens democracies in Europe and here at home). There are very few conservatives left speaking out to preserve American capitalism and democracy from the darker forces taking them over. I'm not sure they can prevail against the momentum leading us to failure, fascism, and, ultimately, revolution.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Millions of Americans are becoming disconnected from the American Dream of the post-WWII era of middle class prosperity. Disney is emblematic of this. Walmart has gotten the lion's share of bad press, but Disney is no better--they just have a better mascot.

Mic Drop!

 

[21stamps]

The slavish devotion to shareholder value, quarterly earnings, and Wall St. analysts are a big part of the weaponization of capitalization going back past the Reagan era to the corporate militancy resulting from the environmental movement of the '70s.

I was born in the Eisenhower administration--one of my favorite Presidents--before business became so voracious and amoral. I grew up when George Romney was President of American Motors and regarded as an effective CEO. His son Mitt was a vulture capitalist who killed more jobs than he ever created (and I knew someone who worked for a company that Mitt and his cronies devoured).

I was raised in conservative Orange County with a respect for entrepreneurship, personal responsibility and initiative, following the rules, voting, good citizenship, and helping others. I was also taught that capitalism is a good servant and a poor master.

I worked at Disneyland when I was 17, just out of high school. It was a prized job for college students, but you could also work your way up and actually support a family. And a working family could visit the park without mortgaging their house.

America's weaponization of capitalism could ultimately be its undoing. Gorbachev wanted to modernize and preserve Bolshevik-style communism, but it was too late (and while that's not a bad thing on its face, the hard landing enabled the authoritarian regime that now threatens democracies in Europe and here at home). There are very few conservatives left speaking out to preserve American capitalism and democracy from the darker forces taking them over. I'm not sure they can prevail against the momentum leading us to failure, fascism, and, ultimately, revolution.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Millions of Americans are becoming disconnected from the American Dream of the post-WWII era of middle class prosperity. Disney is emblematic of this. Walmart has gotten the lion's share of bad press, but Disney is no better--they just have a better mascot.

Im not being sarcastic, but isn’t part of the American Dream about rising as high as you want?
Walt Disney is the embodiment of that dream, so are many other people that you or I have never heard of. Americans are not stuck in a “class”, that’s the beauty of Capitalism.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

Im not being sarcastic, but isn’t part of the American Dream about rising as high as you want?
Walt Disney is the embodiment of that dream, so are many other people that you or I have never heard of. Americans are not stuck in a “class”, that’s the beauty of Capitalism.

But that's precisely my point. That ability to rise higher is being drastically limited by the policies of the last decades. My point isn't that it's gone--it's that it's rapidly diminishing. The prospects for my nieces and nephews and their children are much more limited than mine were.

 

[TP2000]

A living wage calculator just so you'll stop saying no one gives an answer, even though I know people have responded before.

http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06059

Thank you, that's helpful. No one has ever really given me a dollar figure before.

But according to this, the "Living Wage" in Orange County is $15.31. Good to know that's what the number is. I assume everyone agrees?

The 37 year old bellhop is making minimum wage at $11.00 per hour would need to make one decent tip of $5 per hour to surpass the Living Wage. But then, I doubt that bellhop is claiming that full tip on his taxes, so he's getting quite a bargain with a few extra bucks tax free per hour.