Shameful Expenditures

The union where I work (for the next three weeks, before I'm officially laid off) sent out a link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about top executive bonuses in the organization. They cut my job, but they spent up to $82,000 on a year end bonus for one person! They could pay for 2.5 full-time Berts for that much. And I only work here half time, so in reality, they could afford five Berts!

That said, I'm not too concerned about my job loss. It's the principle of the matter, really. I'll have a Masters degree in a few months and will look for a job in my field. The people who really get screwed are those who make this their life's work: career administrators, maintenance people, lab technicians... These are people who work hard for long and irregular hours and, in an entire year, don't receive half of what the top executive receives in a lump sum bonus.

Incidentally, the $82,000 bonus represents 20% of this exec's annual $410,000 salary. It makes one wonder... what does he do with his half a million dollar per year salary + bonuses?

In order to retain some faith in humanity, I will tell myself that he gives at least half of it to worthy charities and non-profit organizations. (Although my guess is that he uses it to buy a shiny, new boat.)