The Left is demanding that top manager salaries be capped at 20 times the lowest salary in the company.
“The CEOs of the 40 Dax companies are really treating themselves well again: in 2023, each of them received an average of 5.7 million euros, nine percent more than the previous year” said party leader Jan van Aken on Saturday. “Notably, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is the highest earner among the Dax bosses: he received 10.3 million euros in 2023, 17 percent more than the previous year” he added.
He earns the German average salary in less than two days. “He hasn’t even had time to recover from the New Year’s party. And what did Oliver Blume earn it for? By cutting thousands of jobs at VW plants, closing entire factories, and leading a management that has completely failed to transform the company ecologically” he said.
If one used the 20 times the lowest salary in a company as a basis, it would also be an incentive to pay one’s own people better, van Aken said further. Instead of million-dollar salaries for individuals, it needs millions for education, health, and climate protection. “It’s time to close the social gap and create public wealth for everyone.”
In addition to capping top salaries, the Left is also demanding that companies not be allowed to pay dividends if they have received state aid. State support should be tied to tariff loyalty and should lead to the expansion of co-determination in the company and public ownership.
Furthermore, the Left party wants the wealth tax to be reintroduced. “Our tax rate is progressive, increasing with higher wealth: one percent above a million, five percent above 50 million, and a special tax of 12 percent on wealth above one billion euros – the billionaires’ tax” said van Aken.
“The loopholes in the inheritance tax must be closed. The favorable treatment of corporate assets and large real estate holdings should be abolished” the Left party leader said.