To: John Doe, Founder and CEO
Tell CEO Doe to Mind the Gap
The employees of Corporation Doe have made numerous personal sacrifices in the last several years to ensure the continuing viability of the company they work for. Now, the company is stable, healthy, and enjoying record profits. We demand that Mr. Doe give all employees a cost-of-living adjustment to bring their wages back in line with market values, and commit to keeping annual increases in correspondence with the rate of inflation in the years to come.
Why is this important?
My girlfriend Colleen joined Corporation Doe as a Graphic Designer right out of college. At that time, they offered a competitive salary, profit-sharing, and an economical healthcare plan for all employees. Colleen began paying off her student loans and found a small apartment affordable enough for her to begin saving money for a home of her own. She met and married her husband Bill in 2004, and they bought their first home together shortly after the wedding. When the financial crisis of 2007 occurred, Corporation Doe asked the employees in Colleen's department to take a 5% pay cut in order to lower the number of necessary layoffs. Colleen and her co-workers agreed to the pay cut and there were no raises for regular employees over the next two year period. In 2010, merit increases were introduced to the company again but with a cap at 2%. However, employees have increasingly been responsible for bearing a larger part of the cost for health insurance each year with the end result being that Colleen (and her husband) now bring home substantially less ($500 month) now than they were making in 2007. They have lost their home to foreclosure and are now trying to decide whether to cancel their health insurance (opting for essentially a catastrophic plan for their family) or Bill quitting his job to work nights so they no longer have to pay for daycare for their daughter Maisy. Though educated and seemingly well-employed, they cannot afford healthcare and daycare both.
Corporation Doe, however, is alive and well and enjoying profits unsurpassed in its 20-year history. The payout for executives and shareholders is a full 48% higher than it was just five years ago. We believe that it is time for Corporation Doe to reward loyal, hardworking employees like Colleen and Bill by giving a cost-of-living adjustment of xx% to all employees below the level of Vice President immediately, and by making a commitment to their employees futures by linking all future merit increases to either the rate of inflation, or the success of the company, or both.
Corporation Doe, however, is alive and well and enjoying profits unsurpassed in its 20-year history. The payout for executives and shareholders is a full 48% higher than it was just five years ago. We believe that it is time for Corporation Doe to reward loyal, hardworking employees like Colleen and Bill by giving a cost-of-living adjustment of xx% to all employees below the level of Vice President immediately, and by making a commitment to their employees futures by linking all future merit increases to either the rate of inflation, or the success of the company, or both.