The income inequality gap

Robert Reich
7.14.2016

Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co – who got a pay boost of 35 percent last year, from $20 million to $27 million -- announced yesterday he was giving a pay boost to his lowest-paid employees, from $10.15 an hour to at least $12 an hour over the next three years. Meanwhile, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz – whose total compensation last year was was $20.1 million -- announced that Starbucks barristas would be getting a pay increase from around $9 an hour to close to $11, depending on geographic location.

I would applaud Dimon and Schultz except for the fact that the minimum wage is already going up in many states – sometimes higher than JPMorgan and Starbucks are pegging their wages (it’s heading toward $15 in Washington state, where Starbucks headquarters is located, and in New York, where JPMorgan’s headquarters is located). Moreover, with unemployment down, both companies need to raise wages in order to keep good employees.

Oh, and the pay gap between themselves and their lowest-paid workers will be wider than ever.

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