You know, I don’t expect our politicians to be looking to screw over big businessmen at every opportunity. I really don’t. I’m not a class warrior, and I think a responsible political representative has to listen to all sides and try to come up with equitable policies that will help promote job growth in their communities, protect workers, and provide some fairness and security to our economic system.
The problem, as I see it, is that things have tilted way too far in the direction of business. This happens, and you hope there’s a correction eventually. And, as long as things are this out of whack, I’m going to be siding pretty strongly with workers, including the labor movement, in most of these types of disputes.
I don’t think this new SEC rule is actually that big of a deal, except that it’s a signal that things are moving ever so slightly back in the direction of ordinary people.
The Securities and Exchange Commission narrowly adopted rules Wednesday implementing a contentious provision requiring companies to detail for the public the pay gap between top executives and average employees.
The regulator voted 3-2 to adopt the final rule, which implements a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The commission’s two Republican commissioners split with its three Democrats.
Getting the rule finalized, five years after Dodd-Frank’s enactment, is a win for labor unions that had long pushed for the provision’s implementation and a loss for businesses trying to soften its requirements and slow its progress.
The final rule now requires public companies to disclose the pay ratio between the company’s CEO and its average employee.In the split vote, the SEC put into place one of the biggest remaining chunks of Dodd-Frank, which just turned five years old in July, and also one of the most controversial items still on the agenda.
The little-known rule has pitted the nation’s biggest business groups against the largest labor unions, with the SEC sitting squarely in the middle.
I actually do get why this was worth fighting for, and I am very pleased with the result. But, it’s a baby step.
More soon, please.
