Reply #136: AFL-CIO demands Pfizer explain chief's retirement package

[UpInArms]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BD281176B%2D87CC%2D4A12%2DBC70%2D5E5C14A22F1B%7D

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The nation's largest labor group is asking Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to explain pension benefits for the company's chief executive reportedly worth $80 million.

In a letter to Pfizer, the AFL-CIO demanded that the drug maker address the issue at its annual meeting of shareholders, scheduled for Thursday in San Diego.

The AFL-CIO, a federation of unions representing 13 million workers, described the retirement package awaiting Henry McKinnell, Pfizer's 62-year-old chairman and chief executive, as "extraordinary." McKinnell is expected to retire in 2008.

The group cited a recent New York Times article that calculated McKinnell's retirement package to be worth $80 million. "Pfizer has slightly underperformed its competitors over the past five years," the AFL-CIO said in the letter, dated Monday. "Giving Dr. McKinnell a multimillion dollar pension benefit will reward this unexceptional performance."

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Now tell me - what is the minimum wage again? Oh, that's right. It's $5.15 per hour.

:argh: