A little labor unrest with Potash Corp could go a long way for our grassroots. A coworker of mine took a job interview with Potash Corp and reported that working conditions and wages didnt come close to comparing with Alberta. I wonder how the people underground feel about these executive salaries?
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Hefty pay at PotashCorp
CEO Doyle received $17 million in 2007
Cassandra Kyle - Saskatoon The StarPhoenix
Saturday, March 01, 2008
The top five executives of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan were paid $32 million in 2007, according to company documents -- the same amount the federal Conservatives pledged in the budget to give prosecutors to battle illegal drugs.
The sum does not include the value of PotashCorp shares held by the top executives, which totals $72.5 million. About $46 million worth of those shares belong to company president and CEO Bill Doyle, according to PotashCorp's management proxy circular released Friday.
The head of the world's largest fertilizer enterprise was paid $17 million last year, including a $2.2-million bonus based on the company's performance.
Doyle's base annual salary was $1.04 million, while other cash and stock incentives helped him reach the $17-million figure, a paycheque significantly higher than the $8.9 million he took home in 2006.
A portion of Doyle's shares are held in a family trust and the William and Kathy Doyle Foundation. While PotashCorp has its headquarters in Saskatoon, Doyle now resides in a suburb of Chicago where the company has its main U.S. office.
The company's highest-paid Saskatoon executive is executive vice-president and chief financial officer Wayne Brownlee, whose total 2007 compensation reached $4.6 million, nearly $1.3 million more than his 2006 payment.
The 12-member board of directors, meanwhile, was compensated last year to the tune of $22 million, including stock awards. Board chair Dallas Howe, owner and CEO of Calgary-based DSTC Ltd., received the largest share of the compensation with $3.8 million. Doyle, who is a member of the board, does not receive any extra money for his role at the board table.
The large sums are largely due to PotashCorp's record-breaking 2007, said company spokesperson Rhonda Speiss. The company recorded a net income of $1.1 billion last year, or $3.40 per share, on world demand for food and alternative fuel. The company, which is experiencing a year-over-year share price increase of 201 per cent, had a net income of $631.8 million, or $1.98 per share, in 2006.
"When you look at our compensation structure we are comparable to other companies our size, but the big difference between us and other companies our size is our company performance," Speiss said.
All employees now have the option to work toward cash bonuses in a short-term corporate reward program, she explained. PotashCorp has always believed in rewarding for performance, Speiss added, and the company's compensation philosophy is based around attracting, motivating and retaining the best staff.
"When you see the numbers it's reflective of the success of the company and the success of the individual. We really believe in the principle of paying for performance, that aligns the interest of our employees and our directors with the interest of the shareholders and that leads to the best performance," she said.
Doyle and Howe are set to make more money in their positions this year. The CEO's annual salary has been raised to $1.092 million, while the chair's annual retainer has recently increased to $320,000 from $280,000 for 12 months, according to the document.
The circular also shows that if PotashCorp was a corporate takeover target and the new ownership didn't want Doyle to continue running the company, he would receive more than $188 million in compensation, including a value of $154 million in stock options he would be eligible to cash out immediately in that situation. In 2007, Doyle received a $3.8-million payment at the current stock price, plus options to purchase additional stock worth $7.6 million.
Some Canadian organizations are questioning why some people are worth so much and others so little.
In 2007, Murray Dobbin, a freelance journalist and member of both the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), led a letter-writing campaign to protest what he called "obscene" CEO salaries.
The CCPA has published reports on how long it takes for an average CEO (from a list of 100 of Canada's best paid) to earn the average annual Canadian salary.
According to the CCPA's latest report, it took each of those 100 CEOs, who earned $8,528,304 on average annually, until 10:33 a.m. on Jan. 2 to equal the average Canadian salary of $38,998. By that calculation, those CEOs will continue to make the average Canadian salary every nine hours and 33 minutes for the remainder of the year.
The same CEO only has to work four hours and four minutes to earn the $16,620 someone on minimum wage would earn.
In December 2007, the average worker in Saskatchewan was paid $742.62 a week, according to Statistics Canada.
PotashCorp employs 5,003 people, 1,730 of whom are on salaried pay. The remaining 3,273 employees are paid an hourly wage, according to the company's most recent filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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