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While Elon Musk celebrates Tesla shareholders voting to approve his multibillion dollar pay packet, UK supermarket chain Tesco will face criticism over its CEO’s wage deal today.
Tesco must justify Ken Murphy’s £10m pay package at its AGM later today, with responsible investment NGO ShareAction planning to questioning why Murphy’s pay should double when contracted workers at its supermarket are poorly paid.
Although Tesco’s store workers get the voluntary Real Living Wage (which is higher than the minimum wage), ShareAction say contracted staff – such as cleaners and security – don’t.
Dan Howard, head of good work at ShareAction, explains: “In a world where Tesco are making a £2.3bn profit a year, paying those who keep the stores safe and clean the real Living Wage shouldn’t have to be asked for – it should be automatic.
“Unfortunately, Tesco are dragging their feet on taking the right steps to pay its third-party contracted staff the living wage.
“Failing to recognise the financial hardship many of those who work for Tesco have faced during the cost-of-living crisis will damage Tesco’s reputation with both shareholders and customers.”
We learned last month that Murphy’s pay had swelled from below £5m to £10m, due to bonus payouts.
It means Murphy now earns more than 430 times the average pay at Tesco, up from a multiple of 197 in the previous year.
The payout was blasted by the Unite trade union in May; they called it “a slap in the face” to millions of struggling households who paid for it through higher food bills.
ShareAction is urging major supermarkets including Tesco to accredit as Living Wage employers, which would mean all staff including third-party contractors would be guaranteed the real Living Wage on an ongoing basis, and to set out a timeline for doing this.
Tesco will face questions over Murphy’s pay, and other aspects of the business, at its AGM which begins at 11.30am at its Welwyn Garden City campus.
Elon Musk is in jubilant mood after winning a victory last night over his pay deal currently valued at around $46bn.
After shareholders reapproved the mega package, Musk posted a photo of a cake, on with “Vox Populi, Vox Dei”, and a heart, has been written.
Tesla’s CEO says he’s sending it to Delaware – where a judge had blocked the payout back in January, prompting Thursday’s fresh vote to approve it (again).
The voice of the people may well be the voice of God, but whether the Almighty would approve of a near-$50bn pay deal is quite another matter.
Musk hailed his shareholders last night, telling a crowd of investors at the Tesla factory in Austin, Texas: “We have the most awesome shareholder base. Hot damn, I love you guys.”
Investors also approved a second resolution, to reincorporate the electric vehicle maker in Texas.
Back in January, a Delaware judge ruled that Tesla’s board could not be considered independent from Musk’s influence and that the process of drawing up the pay package had been illegitimate.
Last night’s vote could serve as a rebuttal to the judge’s ruling that struck down the award – making it easier for Tesla’s board to argue that shareholders were properly informed about the payment package, and the board members’ ties to Musk, before casting their votes.
The agenda
• 10am BST: Eurozone trade data for April
• 9am BST: Superdry AGM
• 11.30am BST: Tesco AGM
• 3pm BST: University of Michigan’s US consumer sentiment index
We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ... |
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Wake up, fund managers: the Royal Mail bid needs more scrutiny 
