Upper management shouldn't earn more than 20X lowest paid

To The Daily Sun,

I was intrigued by an article on page 11 of The Daily Sun on April 16 about Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, who decided to cut his own pay so that each employee under him could earn a base salary of $70,000. I would hope and pray that corporate America would take notice of this story and act accordingly. I think most people would agree that greed at the top of most large companies is hurting those at the bottom.

I am employed by a company that the CEO who recently retired earned in excess of $11 million a year. While he has taken all that money out of the company, myself and many co-workers have been struggling to make ends meet. I have worked full time for 11 1/2 years with this company and had all above average evaluations, yet my wages are such that I still qualify for fuel assistance. My wife and I have not had health insurance for more than 5 years now, since my employer has steadily increased the rates for it. In 2008 I filed bankruptcy, in 2014 I avoided foreclosure (at least for the time being) and I am still struggling to pay the bills. My wife and I have only one vehicle between us though we need two and that vehicle will not pass inspection this coming June, nor do we know where the money will come from to replace it. We tend to buy 10-15 year old vehicles since that is all we can afford. So it was nice to read that not all those at the top of companies are so greed struck that they let those under them languish in poverty.

I have a potential solution for this problem. No, it's not a higher minimum wage (that only hurts the small businesses), nor is it having a labor union (though I have previously been a union member and my needs were met). I propose that a law be written that says no one at the upper end of any company can earn more than 20 times the wage of the lowest paid worker if that lowest paid worker is earning less than 400 percent of the federal poverty rate. Also a law like that should only apply to medium and large businesses so as not to hurt the smaller up and coming competitors. I don't know what the exact numbers should be in a law such as that; I'll leave that to our lawmakers.

I think of the biblical example of Jobe and how he was one of the wealthiest men of his time. Not one of the many people that served under his leadership would say anything against him because their needs were taken care of. Now that's a great example of how to treat your employees.

Thank you Dan Price for setting an example and I sincerely hope that you are blessed many times over and others at the top take notice and follow your lead.

One last thought, as our state legislators are about to vote to legalize casino gambling, just remember if it passes no product will be produced, though many workers will be taken out of the workforce to fill these non-productive jobs. Many who can least afford it will become addicted to gambling and most of the money put into it will leave our local economy for Nevada to line the pockets of greedy executives at the top of that industry. Call and write your representatives and let them know your thoughts.

Bob Ely

New Hampton