Populist Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders struck back at Verizon Friday, slamming the CEO for collecting over $18 million in salary and other compensation while cheating workers of jobs a week after the telcom’s chief criticized the Vermont senator’s charge that the company schemes to pay no income tax.
“What I think is contemptible is CEOs with multi-million dollar compensation packages, presiding over extremely profitable companies, and still refusing to give their employees fair contracts,” Sanders said in a memo to supporters.
The strike by some 40,000 Verizon members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has been a rallying call for Sanders and his campaign against Wall Street.
To highlight that, on Friday he focused on the salary of CEO Lowell McAdam who last week said that Sanders had “contemptible” and “uninformed views” of how the company pays taxes.
“The CEO of Verizon makes almost $20 million a year in compensation. He leads one of the most profitable companies in the country. Yet Verizon wants to take away employees’ health benefits. Verizon wants to outsource decent-paying jobs. Verizon wants to avoid paying federal income tax. And right now, Verizon is refusing to sit down and negotiate a fair contract with its employees,” charged Sanders.
“In other words, Verizon is just another major American corporation trying to destroy the lives of working Americans,” he added.
Sanders has marched with the strikers and the company has fought back against the attacks. McAdam has said that the company pays its fair share of taxes and isn’t trying to outsource jobs, as Sanders has charged.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
