Ian Harris is haunted by a phrase in the Lord's
Prayer, ''Give us this day our daily bread''.
You've got to hand it to the Swiss. They acted
decisively this month to rein in the money-grubbing excesses of the top
business echelons. In other countries, the public has been left seething
helplessly at them.
That happened because Switzerland's constitution
provides for binding referenda on important public issues - and because Thomas
Minder, who runs a family toiletries business, became incensed by the
self-indulgence of the corporate elites.
In particular, he never forgave Swissair for
backing out of a contract when it flew close to bankruptcy in 2001, and then
awarded its former chief a mouthwatering bonus - a procedure now almost routine
among the big banks and corporates.
Two Sundays ago, a citizens' initiative to end
that practice won 68% support, a majority no doubt boosted by news that
pharmaceutical giant Novartis intended to lavish a severance package of SFr72
million (NZ$92 million) on departing chairman Daniel Vasella. After an outcry,
Vasella refused it.
The initiative, which will be written into the
constitution, will give shareholders a binding voice on executive pay and ban
severance packages, side contracts, and rewards for buying or selling company divisions.
Ignoring it will carry a maximum penalty of three years' jail or a forfeit of
six years' salary.
Switzerland's Social Democrats are now pushing
for another referendum that would limit pay for top managers to 12 times that
of the lowest-paid employee. The multiple of 12 may be debatable, but such a
step would at last restore a semblance of proportionality to pay structures
across the board.
Fuelling public revulsion at ''Abzockerei''
(rip-off or fat-cat pay) is the way it is justified by the coterie who stand to
benefit from it. Big money is said to be necessary to attract talent, who may
or may not then deliver. The lure of bonuses has at times undermined ethics,
distorted decision-making, and worked against a company's long-term interests.
To all of which the Swiss have cried ''Enough!''
Opponents of the initiative were sobered, saying: ''The clear support for the
initiative reflects the understandable anger of the electorate at the
self-serving mentality of certain managers. With their misconduct, they have
done the economy as a whole a disservice.''
The same unleashing of greed and entitlement has
also contributed to New Zealand's lurch away from the ideal of a just society.
As salaries have become more and more bloated at the top, unemployment has put
downward pressure on wages at the bottom.
So we have former Solid Energy boss Don Elder
happily sitting on a salary of $1.3 million while on ''gardening leave''
following the company's $389 million plunge into the red. That makes ''enticing
talent'' and ''rewarding superior performance'' look like a sick joke. And the
run of golden handshakes bestowed on public service chiefs in recent years only
adds to public cynicism.
Contrast the $425,000 payout to departing
education CEO Lesley Longstone with Labour Minister Simon Bridges' announcement
of a 25c-an-hour increase for those on the minimum wage. He said it illustrated
the Government's firm focus on growing the economy and ''boosting incomes''.
Another sick joke.
This steadily widening inequality of income bodes
ill for our social future. New Pope Francis' excoriation of growing inequality
in Argentina in 2009 as ''immoral, illegitimate and unjust'' applies equally
here.
''Human rights are violated not only by
terrorism, repression or assassination,'' he said then, ''but also by unfair
economic structures that create huge inequalities.''
I am haunted by a phrase in the Lord's Prayer
that shines a light, both disturbing and encouraging, on our current social
dis-ease: ''Give us this day our daily bread''.
Those who pray that are setting their sights on
everyone having enough to live at a reasonable standard - not hundreds of
thousands for the few while the poor scratch a living on wages too low to
ensure them adequate food, shelter and participation in society. The prayer is
for enough - a living wage - for everyone.
Ah, but the cost to the economy, the
affordability to business, the squeeze on profits, the impact on jobs - the
objections come thick and fast. A living wage is dismissed as a pipe dream, ''Give
us this day our daily bread'' as a dewy-eyed vision.
It is far from that. It is a test of New Zealanders' basic instinct
for fairness. It is an aspiration everyone can and should share. It is a
realistic goal for political leaders to pursue. It is part of what Christians
mean when they pray for the kingdom of God to become real among us.
The video below (Use the link I can't get the video to work) is also very telling. Prophets in the Old Testament, history and indeed recent studies warn that great inequalities lead to greater problems, unrest and insecurity for societies and the world. Isaiah gives the warning,
Isaiah 5:8-10
Woe to you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
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