Reply #2: It's a structural problem. Compensation committees are often stacked by friends of the CEO.

[Selatius]

The process goes something like this. The Board of Directors decides to set up a compensation committee early on in the corporation's existence. Who sits on the committee? Well, often times, members of the committee are recommended by the CEO himself and, for the most part, approved for the position. The Board trusts the CEO enough to appoint him to such a position, so why should they not trust him to also make recommendations? Even if they're non-binding ones? Also, members of the committee are sometimes also members of the Board as well. It's quid pro quo.

For the longest time, this wasn't a real big problem, and the Board obviously isn't going to listen to front-line workers over the opinions of the CEO, but recently workers have been wailing ever louder in recent years, and if more media coverage is given, they'll start feeling more uncomfortable.