Union leader condemns widening gap between workers and executives

Vilhjálmur Birgisson, chairman of the Akranes Trade Union, says Iceland is witnessing another ethical divide between top executives and ordinary workers, according to mbl.is. He was responding to the salaries of the country’s highest-paid CEOs, published in Tekjublaðið on Tuesday.

Fourteen company CEOs in Iceland received more than 10 million Icelandic krónur a month last year, based on municipal tax paid. Three of them received more than 30 million krónur per month.

“It is unbelievable to see this gap between ordinary workers and these top executives. It is incomprehensible,” Birgisson said. He added that it was “crazy” that someone could earn enough in two months to pay for a 100 million króna house.

Asked whether company executives were worth the equivalent of nearly 40 employees’ salaries, Birgisson rejected the argument. He said the same justifications had been used in 2007, before the financial crisis, when high executive pay and various share-option agreements were attributed to the executives’ importance, responsibility and performance.

“Forget it. What utter nonsense,” he said.

Birgisson said he believed Iceland was at least facing another ethical divide between the senior managers of large companies and ordinary wage earners.