How do salaries for autoworkers compare to CEOs?

Auto CEOs paid hundreds of times more than workers

CEOs at the Big Three make hundreds of times more than employees
Striking workers are asking for a 40% pay rise in line with the raises for CEOs
They are also asking for cost-of-living raises to keep up with inflation

Updated: Sep 18, 2023 / 02:38 PM CDT

FILE – A sign is posted during a demonstration outside a General Motors facility in Langhorne, Pa., on Sept. 23, 2019. Reform-minded candidates won several races Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, as members of the United Auto Workers union voted on their leaders in an election that stemmed from a federal bribery and embezzlement scandal involving former union officials. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

(NewsNation) — Autoworkers in Detroit are striking after the UAW failed to agree to a new deal with the top three automakers. Pay is at the heart of the dispute, so how does worker pay stack up to CEO compensation?

On average, a U.S. autoworker on the production line earns about $28 per hour, up $1 from the previous year. That works out to just over $58,000 a year. Full-time employees at the big three — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — make between $18 and $32 an hour, depending on seniority.

In its proposal, the UAW is requesting a 40% wage increase to match the rise of CEO salaries. The union is also requesting cost-of-living adjustments be restored as they have not kept up with inflation.

GM CEO Mary Barra, who has been in the role since 2014, had a base pay of $2.1 million in 2022, but when bonuses, stock grants and other compensation were added in, her total pay was $28.98 million.

The median worker pay was $80,034, making her compensation 362 times that of a typical worker. Since 2019, when contracts were last negotiated, her pay has increased 34%.

At Ford, CEO James Farly has been in the role since 2020, with a 2022 base salary of $1.7 million and total compensation of $20.9 million. That’s a 21% increase over the previous CEO, Jim Hackett.

The typical Ford worker’s median pay is $74,691, giving Farley compensation that is 281 times more than an average worker.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has been with the company since 2021, and his 2022 pay totaled $23.9 million with a base salary of $2.1 million (converted from Euros). He is the first CEO since the creation of the company through a merger of Fiat, Chrysler Automobiles and French PSA group, so there are no previous years of salary to consider.

A typical Stellantis worker in 2022 had a median salary of around $68,575 when converted from Euros. That is 348 times less than Tavares’ compensation.

Organizers are considering a walkout at more plants as the strike continues.