Sunday’s Wall Street Journal noted that AIG will pay $619 million in retention payments to 4,200 employees (ranging from $92,500 to $4 million). As the business world awakes this morning, the howling grows louder.
The rub is that $121.5 million for 2008 bonuses will go to 6,400 of 116,000 employees (some no longer with the company); 40 “high-ranking” executives will get their bonuses based on performance in meeting certain goals, such as implementing the restructuring as announced in early March.
I’m sorry? The U.S. government, meaning you and me, now own nearly 80% of this company. The company fell apart because of the actions of these people, so how can any bonus or retention agreement remain legally binding? What happened to agreements of ethics and morality?
AIG’s CEO Edward Liddy said they “cannot attract and retain the best and brightest talent…if employees believe that their compenstation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.”
Well, Mr. Liddy, I don’t call the actions taken by those “best and brightest” anything to write home about. They put AIG in the toilet, then flushed. Leaving American taxpayers to clean up the mess that overflowed. Frankly, they are lucky to have a job at all and I don’t understand why they remain employed, to be honest. Other companies are struggling to stay on some semblance of productive course, others are struggling to stay alive. Workers everywhere are taking pay cuts in order to help their company remain solvent, grateful to continue to have a job at all.
And those workers, even while taking home less money, are still sending money to the government in the form of taxes.
Taxes that continue to be used to reward this kind of bad behavior. Rather like paying our elected representatives…or union dues…heh…. Taxes that are being used to force idiots to do the right thing. That, Mr. Liddy, no matter what your highly-paid “outside counsel” says, is what is really distasteful here.
Well the thing is AIG is much more than part of the stock/US crash so most of those folks getting bonuses weren’t even involved in the derivatives game. They actually sell insurance to other insurance companies.
PLUS the Gov knew about the bonuses before the last chunk of money was handed out, why not set some guidelines then? Well because they just aren’t setting any, any at all, with anyone till all hell breaks loose in the taxpayer sector and they get worried about PR. CYA
Bit of law info, since the bonuses were by contract IF they just cut the bonuses the people could sue and they would win which would mean they would get double the contract amount.
Point being the Gov has no business in private business and that bailout crap is just crap. So where was the outrage when F Raines got 90m bonus from FM from cooking the books?
So is it right, the bonuses? Nope. But how about everyone cut out the hypocrisy?