The average CEO pay in America is not nearly as high as what most Americans think…but don’t let that stop the AFL-CIO from cherry-picking data.
For the last couple of decades, like clockwork, the AFL-CIO—the nation’s largest federation of labor unions—issues an annual “study” called the “Executive Paywatch.”
The AFL-CIO study, which analyzes and publishes compensation data of the highest-paid CEOs in America—notably, the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000 lists.
In other words, the AFL-CIO cites the top 3000-3500 CEO salaries, out of more than 200,000 CEOs across America.
However, most readers would not know this at first glance–unless they like reading the fine print.
Then, after the AFL-CIO spends union members’ money issuing alarmist press releases, the media (e.g., CNN, Reuters, and many more) publish headlines about the “CEO:Worker pay gap”—almost always leaving out the fact that the AFL-CIO’s study covers less than two percent (2%) of all CEOs in the United States.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 202,360 chief executives in the United States—not the 3500 the AFL-CIO “reports” on—who earn a mean annual wage of $197,840 and a median annual wage of $185,950 (see below).
Average CEOs Made $100,000 Less Than AFL-CIO Union Bosses
In fact, the average CEO data on file with the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $100,000 less than the average top union bosses inside the AFL-CIO.
A LaborUnionReport.com analysis of Department of Labor data (LM reports) on the compensation data of union presidents who are part the AFL-CIO revealed an average of $317,436 in total compensation—far less than the average CEO in America.
AFL-CIO Presidents Pay on Scribd
Related:
- Don’t Tell The AFL-CIO, But The Average CEO Only Makes $178K
- Big Labor Slams CEO Pay, While Ignoring Fat Salaries For Union Bosses
