The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has sent a letter to other Tenet Healthcare shareholders urging them to reject a $24 million pay package for Tenet Chairman and CEO Ronald Rittenmeyer.
The Teamsters, whose pension and benefit funds invest in Dallas-based Tenet, said time-vesting awards for Mr. Rittenmeyer and Tenet President and COO Saum Sutaria, MD, have made the two executives "the least exposed to corporate performance."
"We appreciate Tenet's board has a lot on its plate at the moment, but that does not justify giving a free pass to a pay structure that reserves the least accountability for the highest paid individuals," states the letter Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall sent to Tenet shareholders.
The union, which represents more than 300 Tenet workers, criticized the company's decision to furlough 10 percent of its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic without reining in executive compensation.
The Teamsters said it also is introducing a proposal to have independent board leadership and separate the functions of CEO and chair of the board.
Regarding the letter sent by Teamsters, Tenet released the following statement to Becker's:
"We are engaged in a continuing dialogue with our shareholders on all aspects of what it takes to maintain Tenet's position as a leader in healthcare. Recently, those discussions have centered on the extraordinary efforts being made across the organization to respond to the ongoing public health emergency. Once we are through this crisis we expect the main topic of shareholder conversations will be the management team's success in turning Tenet around and the implementation of the Company's long-term strategic goals."
More articles on compensation:
Cincinnati Children's employees take 20% pay cut
Advocate Aurora offers bonuses to more than 60,000 workers
Kaleida Health, Catholic Health provide COVID-19 hazard pay to workers