Despite Recession, CEOs Get a Raise

According to an AFL-CIO survey, despite billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out their companies, and while most of us got no raise, or worse, were laid off, CEOs still had it good in 2008.

The executive pay study of major companies calculated compensation that included stock options granted to CEOs but not yet vested. Looking at the average CEO pay, it went down from $11.07 million in 2007 to $10.4 million. I'm sure they're having trouble making ends meet.

But using the median income rather than average, the median salary for CEOs actually rose 4.5% in 2008. And let's not forget the somewhat vague "other executive perks," which perks went up, on average, 12.5% in 2008 to $336,248, or as the AFL-CIO notes, 9x the median salary of a full-time worker.

If you are as upset about this as I am, you can also check out the AFL-CIO's new web game, "Boot the CEO."