反对高管高薪的力量很薄弱 CEO该不该为薪资辩白

 　　Until recently, a good motto for the well-paid British chief executive would have been united we stand, divided we rise.

　　直到不久前，对于薪资丰厚的英国CEO而言，一句颇有道理的箴言是团结让我们屹立，分开让我们上升。

　　Businesses often act together to fight measures that may dent¹ corporate² profits, as a group of trade associations did this week in pushing back against government attempts to raise its national living wage for those at the bottom of the pay scale.

　　企业经常联手反抗那些可能减少企业利润的措施，就像一些行业协会最近所做的那样——它们反抗了政府提高薪资最低人群的全国最低工资的计划。

　　On their own pay, though, chief executives work separately, tackling each challenge at company level.

　　然而，在自己的薪资的问题上，他们却单独行动，在公司层面解决每一个挑战。

　　The High Pay Centre lobby group’s annual survey of FTSE 100 bosses’ pay — issued, by cruel coincidence, the same day as the living wage letter — underlines the effectiveness of such tactics.

　　游说组织高薪中心(High Pay Centre)对富时100指数(FTSE)成分股公司CEO的薪资进行的年度调查，突显出这种手段的有效性。这项调查发布与CEO发出抗议最低工资的联名信是在同一天，可谓残酷的巧合。

　　Heads of big UK companies have seen their average pay rise by a third since 2010 and were paid more than 140 times employees’ average wages in 2015.

　　自2010年以来，英国大公司CEO的平均薪资上涨了三分之一，是2015年员工平均薪资的140倍以上。

　　Theresa May, the prime minister, has called their bluff³.

　　英国首相特里萨?梅(Theresa May)戳穿了他们的把戏。

　　By pointing out, days before her appointment last month, how perceptions of bosses’ pay undermine trust in the privileged few of the corporate establishment, she may finally draw them into the debate they have tried to ignore.

　　就在她被任命为首相几天前，她指出，有关CEO薪资的看法破坏了人们对于企业界有特权的少数人的信任，就此她可能终于把他们拖入了他们一直试图不去理睬的辩论中。

　　Rarely do executives defend their own rewards publicly.

　　高管们很少公开为自己的薪资辩护。

　　One exception is Sir Martin Sorrell, ranked as Britain’s best-paid FTSE 100 chief executive, who in 2012 wrote a defiant⁴ opinion piece for the Financial Times despite attempts by people close to the WPP chief to deter⁵ him.

　　一个例外是英国薪资最高的富时100成分股公司CEO苏铭天爵士(Sir Martin Sorrell，见上图)。2012年，尽管接近这位WPP首席执行官的人士曾经试图阻止他，但他还是为英国《金融时报》写下了一篇挑衅性评论文章。

　　He claimed he was merely behaving as an owner rather than a manager.

　　他声称，他只不过是在像一位所有者（而非管理者）那样行事。

　　I thought that was the object of the exercise, he wrote.

　　他写道：我本就认为，我应该像一位所有者那样行事。

　　A more concerted effort by companies to defend — let alone curb⁷ — levels of executive pay would be unthinkable.

　　企业采取更加联合的行动维护（更别提限制）高管薪资的做法将是难以想象的。

　　More to the point, it would be unnecessary.

　　更重要的是，这将是不必要的。

　　Chief executives are sheltered by the very pay data their companies are required to publish.

　　CEO所在公司必须公开的薪资数据让首席执行官们得到保护。

　　This market information is brandished⁸ by compensation consultants⁹ to justify¹⁰ above-average contract settlements for corporate leaders, and used by headhunters to bait the lines for their successors.

　　薪酬咨询顾问们利用这种市场信息证明，企业领导人的约定薪资高出平均水平是合理的，猎头则利用这种信息诱惑下任CEO的可能人选。

　　In addition, executive pay, however elevated, is trivial compared with overall payroll¹¹ costs.

　　另外，不管高管薪资有多高，与公司的总薪资成本相比，数额也很小。

　　And the forces campaigning against inflated¹² executive rewards are weak.

　　反对高管高薪的力量很薄弱。

　　UK investment institutions have less clout¹³ than they used to, even assuming they choose to spend time actively¹⁴ analysing pay levels.

　　英国投资机构的影响力已不如从前，即便假设他们会选择花费时间积极分析薪资水平。

　　Non-executive directors are too timid.

　　非执行董事过于胆小。

　　Pliable¹⁵ board members are corralled into remuneration committees that rarely shake the status quo, let alone claw back pay awards when underperformance exposes them as excessive.

　　温顺的董事会成员们被拖入薪酬委员会——薪酬委员会很少打破现状，更别提在业绩不佳时收回过高的奖金了。

　　Rather than challenge high pay, boards can fall back on their legal responsibilities to shareholders¹⁶.

　　董事会对股东负有法律责任，他们可以倚赖这一点，不去挑战高管的高薪酬。

　　Guy Jubb, a governance expert, pointed¹⁷ out last month that the duties of directors are too permissive and have given legitimacy¹⁸ to implementing¹⁹ excessive boardroom pay practices.

　　公司治理方面的专家盖伊?朱布(Guy Jubb)不久前指出，董事的责任太过宽松，为付给董事高薪的做法提供了合法性。

　　As Frank Field, the opposition²⁰ Labour party MP, put it more bluntly in London’s Evening Standard: The model that has emerged over the past 30 years is a con⁶.

　　反对党工党议员弗兰克?菲尔德(Frank Field)在《伦敦标准晚报》(London Evening Standard)上更直白地写道：过去30年出现的那种模式是个骗局。

　　Enter Mrs May.

　　梅登场了。

　　Her proposals — annual binding²¹ votes on what chief executives are paid, worker representation on boards — have flaws but they point in the right direction; drawing board members from a wider range of backgrounds, for instance, would increase the likelihood of challenge.

　　她的提议（每年就CEO薪资进行具备约束力的投票，安排员工代表进入董事会）存在缺陷，但方向是正确的；例如，从背景更多样化的人中吸收董事会成员将加大向这个问题发起挑战的可能性。

　　More important, while her intervention²² may not yet have changed the law, it has changed the environment.

　　更重要的是，她的干预或许尚未改变法律，但它改变了环境。

　　The level and terms of executive pay are now, rightly, the subject of a political discussion at the highest level.

　　高管薪资的水平和条款现在理所应当地成为最高层面政治讨论的话题。

　　Mrs May’s intervention set chief executives’ richly cushioned position in sharp relief against the precarious²³ existence of those workers counting on the living wage.

　　梅的干预让CEO们极其舒适的地位与那些指望最低工资过活的员工们不牢靠的的状态形成鲜明对比。

　　She should make business leaders realise that what they have grown used to treating as a little local difficulty is a national problem that, for once, requires a collective response.

　　她应该让企业领导人意识到，他们已习惯于当作一个内部小问题来处理的问题，已成为一个全国性问题，这一次它需要集体回应。

1 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

4 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

5 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

6 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

7 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

8 brandished   

v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀

参考例句：

• "Bang!Bang!"the small boy brandished a phoney pistol and shouted. “砰！砰！”那小男孩挥舞着一支假手枪，口中嚷嚷着。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Swords brandished and banners waved. 刀剑挥舞，旌旗飘扬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

10 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

11 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

12 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

14 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

15 pliable   

adj.易受影响的；易弯的；柔顺的，易驾驭的

参考例句：

• Willow twigs are pliable.柳条很软。
• The finely twined baskets are made with young,pliable spruce roots.这些编织精美的篮子是用柔韧的云杉嫩树根编成的。

16 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

17 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

18 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

19 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

20 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

21 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

22 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

23 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。