SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Swiss Overwhelmingly Vote to Curb Executive Pay
"Fat cat initiative" reins in corporate pay
Mar 03, 2013
On Sunday Swiss citizens voted overwhelmingly to rein in exorbitant executive pay.
With the backing of nearly 68% of voters, Agence France-Presse reports that the so-called "fat cat initiative"
would limit the mandate of board members to one year, and would ban certain kinds of compensation, including the so-called golden handshakes or golden parachutes given to executives when they leave a company.
In addition, it would ban the bonuses received for takeovers, or when a company sells off part of its business.
BBC adds that it would
give shareholders a veto on compensation and ban big payouts for new and departing managers.
"Today's vote is the result of widespread unease among the population at the exorbitant remuneration of certain company bosses," Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told reporters in Bern after the vote.
The country's direct democracy system allowed for the vote to take place, Reuters points out:
While anger at multi-million dollar payouts for executives has spread around the globe since the financial crisis, Swiss direct democracy - including four national referendums a year - means public outrage can be translated into strong action.
Days before the Swiss vote, the EU parliament approved a plan to cap bonuses for financial executives and bankers.
_____________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On Sunday Swiss citizens voted overwhelmingly to rein in exorbitant executive pay.
With the backing of nearly 68% of voters, Agence France-Presse reports that the so-called "fat cat initiative"
would limit the mandate of board members to one year, and would ban certain kinds of compensation, including the so-called golden handshakes or golden parachutes given to executives when they leave a company.
In addition, it would ban the bonuses received for takeovers, or when a company sells off part of its business.
BBC adds that it would
give shareholders a veto on compensation and ban big payouts for new and departing managers.
"Today's vote is the result of widespread unease among the population at the exorbitant remuneration of certain company bosses," Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told reporters in Bern after the vote.
The country's direct democracy system allowed for the vote to take place, Reuters points out:
While anger at multi-million dollar payouts for executives has spread around the globe since the financial crisis, Swiss direct democracy - including four national referendums a year - means public outrage can be translated into strong action.
Days before the Swiss vote, the EU parliament approved a plan to cap bonuses for financial executives and bankers.
_____________________________
On Sunday Swiss citizens voted overwhelmingly to rein in exorbitant executive pay.
With the backing of nearly 68% of voters, Agence France-Presse reports that the so-called "fat cat initiative"
would limit the mandate of board members to one year, and would ban certain kinds of compensation, including the so-called golden handshakes or golden parachutes given to executives when they leave a company.
In addition, it would ban the bonuses received for takeovers, or when a company sells off part of its business.
BBC adds that it would
give shareholders a veto on compensation and ban big payouts for new and departing managers.
"Today's vote is the result of widespread unease among the population at the exorbitant remuneration of certain company bosses," Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told reporters in Bern after the vote.
The country's direct democracy system allowed for the vote to take place, Reuters points out:
While anger at multi-million dollar payouts for executives has spread around the globe since the financial crisis, Swiss direct democracy - including four national referendums a year - means public outrage can be translated into strong action.
Days before the Swiss vote, the EU parliament approved a plan to cap bonuses for financial executives and bankers.
_____________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.