Politics & Government
Ruppersberger: Bonus Plan for Steel Execs 'Absolutely Outrageous'
RG Steel proposes paying a total of $20 million in bonuses to 10 "key" management team members.
U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger has issued a statement saying he believes a plan to pay up to $20 million in bonuses to 10 top RG Steel executives is "absolutely outrageous."
Ruppersberger was responding to the steel mill's request to pay bonuses of just over $2 million each to 10 Sparrows Point executives while "hard-working" men and women are being laid off.
“The fact that RG Steel executives have requested bonuses worth up to $2 million each while the company is laying off thousands of hard-working men and women at Sparrows Point is absolutely outrageous," Ruppersberger said in the statement. "As trustee Roberta A. DeAngelis has rightfully noted, RG Steel’s plan fails to specify the performance requirements the executives would have to meet to get their bonus. What’s more, RG Steel is trying to hide who will receive the bonuses, their job descriptions and what they earn already."
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RG Steel, the fifth owner of the Sparrows Point plant in the past decade, filed for bankruptcy in May.
The U.S. Trustee Program, the federal agency that oversees bankruptcy cases, is objecting to the bonus plan, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.
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Trustee program officials said the bonuses don't qualify as an expense that should be given priority, according to the Sun report.
One trustee wrote that the bonus plan doesn't serve as an incentive for the executives to perform at a higher evel, but simply encourages them to remain at the plant until its assets are sold, according to the Sun.
Ruppersberger's complete statement:
“The fact that RG Steel executives have requested bonuses worth up to $2 million each while the company is laying off thousands of hard-working men and women at Sparrows Point is absolutely outrageous. As trustee Roberta A. DeAngelis has rightfully noted, RG Steel’s plan fails to specify the performance requirements the executives would have to meet to get their bonus. What’s more, RG Steel is trying to hide who will receive the bonuses, their job descriptions and what they earn already.
"Time and time again, the men and women of Sparrows Point have rallied under the most frustrating of circumstances. I am pleased that the federal government recently approved an emergency grant to provide laid-off workers with critical job training and financial assistance so they can continue to support their families during this difficult time. I remain hopeful that efforts to sell the plant will be successful. I will continue to closely monitor the situation so that all affected workers receive the answers and assistance they deserve.”
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