General Motors CEO tries to defend $29 million salary as workers go on strike for pay raise

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, whose salary increased by 34 percent over 4 years

General Motors CEO Mary Barra tried to defend her $29 million paycheque as nearly 13,000 auto workers in the United States went on strike demanding better pay, pension, job protection and other benefits.

During her CNN appearance on Friday morning, Barra was asked why workers should not get the same kind of salary rise that she has received in the last few years. “You make almost $30 million; why should your workers not get the same type of pay increases that you’re getting leading the company?” asked CNN’s Vanessa Yurevich.

“My compensation, 92 percent of it, is based on performance of the company,” Barra said. “When the company does well, everyone does well.”

According to a report in The New Republic, Barra’s salary has increased 34 percent over the last four years. During the same time period, workers’ salary increased by only 6 percent.

The CEO’s salary is tied to the company’s profit margins. Keeping worker wages low therefore benefits the CEO as the company’s profit margins increase, the report explained.

The United Auto Workers union went on strike against Detroit’s Big Three - General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – just after midnight on Friday. It was the first time in the union’s 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously as four-year contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

The union is demanding a 36% boost in pay. In addition to general wage increases, it is also seeking restoration of cost-of-living pay raises, an end to varying tiers of wages for factory jobs, a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires who now receive only 401(k)-style retirement plans, pension increases for retirees and other items.

(With inputs from Associated Press)