Minister of Public Enterprises Petra De Sutter (Groen party) wants autonomous public companies such as bpost and Proximus to disclose the gap between their CEO's pay and that of other employees.
"The boards of directors should provide us with figures on wage multipliers in a a standardised manner," she told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday as she fielded a barrage of questions on the salary package of bpost's new top man Chris Peeters.
Ms. De Sutter stressed that she herself had no decision-making power over the bpost CEO's pay package. "I did not negotiate it. I am not allowed to do that by law," she reiterated. "That is an exclusive competence of the board of directors" of bpost.
All coalition partners agreed to new CEO's salary package
The Green minister pointed out that the company had come to the government with a name and salary package for the new CEO, after a very long procedure. "All government parties have agreed to this," she stressed.
Minister De Sutter also pointed out that the wage ceiling agreed in 2013 through a gentlemen's agreement - and thus not legally defined - had not been respected by the previous government either. "In the meantime, inflation has been added and the context is completely different from 2013," she noted. "Bpost operates in a very competitive environment."
According to Ms. De Sutter, it was up to bpost to provide transparency on the pay package. "It took three days, I insisted every day," she said.
bpost head's contract has clawback clause
Chris Peeters' pay package includes a basic salary of €585,000. "Taking inflation into account, this fits within the ceiling," the minister said.
In addition, he also receives a short-term bonus and a long-term one, each amounting to a maximum of 50% of his basic salary. However, Ms. de Sutter said, there are some conditions linked to financial performance, and also to customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction.
"I sincerely hope he meets all those targets," she added. "That would be good for the company and therefore also for the employees."
The CEO will earn the long-term bonus only after three years, "not a day earlier." Moreover, there is a "clawback" or reclamation clause in the contract. "If the CEO is at fault, he has to repay his variable compensation. This can go back up to five years."
CEO can earn up to €1.2 million a year, legislators note
At the same time, the minister asked parliament to "look at the overall picture" of the appointment of Chris Peeters at bpost. "His arrival can mean a 'turning point' for the company," she said. "This is a CEO who can put bpost back on track."
It was mainly left-wing parties, such as PVDA and Vooruit, that sounded the alarm in the parliamentary committee about the wage tension at bpost. MP Maria Vindevoghel (PvdA, labour) pointed out that the average wage at bpost had fallen "by €10,000" over the past 10 years,
According to Ms.Vindevoghel, postal workers can no longer make do with their wages and are forced to take on second jobs. The contrast with the CEO's salary, which can amount to €1.2 million a year, is therefore causing quite a commotion within the company, she added. "All of a sudden there is money for that. What about the pay of the people who are there every day?" she queried.
Vooruit MP Melissa Depraetere, whose brother is a postman, also testified about the big pay gap in the company and the fact that some employees have to take a flexi job to make ends meet. "On the website there are vacancies with gross wages of €2,145 per month. But when postal workers ask for a fair share, the discussion is quickly closed. However: no postmen no bpost."
CD&V, Open Vld back new CEO's selection
On the other hand, parliamentarians from the Christen-Democratisch & Vlaams (CD&V) and the Flemish conservative-liberal Open Vld party were mostly relieved that a new CEO has been found for bpost and one, who, moreover, had already earned his stripes.
"All political groups have repeatedly called for a strong leadership figure in recent months," Jef Van den Bergh (CD&V, Flemish Christian Democrats) noted.
"We have to look at the salary rationally," he said. "I assume that the selection process was deliberate, but what bothered me was the lack of transparency, whereas in recent months we heard repeatedly, including from the chairwoman of bpost, that the company needs total transparency."
