A Times Picayune article of 3/6/16 says the Financial Times reported that BP gave its CEO Bob Dudley a 20% increase in total pay last year from $16.4 million in 2014 to $19.6 million in 2015. A dollar increase of $3.2 million. The increase was given despite BP reporting record losses and company layoffs due to the falling price of oil.
That 20% increase of $3.2 million could have been used for health insurance for a number of employees; reduced the number of those layoffs and a host of other benefits especially to those on the lower pay scale of BP's employees. The newspaper article was silent concerning any increases for other BP executives.
It seems to this writer that any fair minded person would come to the conclusion that the increase was unwarranted with the company losing money, layoffs, falling oil prices and a $20 billion settlement with the federal government over the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a example how corporate America continues to transfer wealth to the wealthy from the middle class. And congress continues to give the oil industry billions of dollars every year in tax exemptions and tax breaks.
With inflation under control and the average workers pay increasing in very small increments, Mr. Dudley and BP should have been happy to keep his income at the $16.4 he made in 2014. If Warren Buffett ran BP, Mr. Dudley would have been long gone under the circumstances.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
