Remarks by Sen.

Tom Harkin
Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
Questioning of Michael Luttig, General Counsel and Executive Vice President, The Boeing Company
HELP Committee Hearing, “The Endangered Middle Class: Is the American Dream Slipping Out of
Reach for American Families?”
May 12, 2011

Harkin: It borders almost on unethical activity…to begin to interfere in a judicial process, and to color
that judicial process, and to try to make it a political matter. Make statements on whether or not we
think it’s right or wrong, but it’s gotten into an area where -- misinformation.

[Harkin criticizes remarks by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for suggesting President Obama’s
involvement in the NLRB’s decision.]

That’s what I kind of resent, and how it’s become this political…

And, quite frankly, again, trying to put political pressure, political pressure to bear against the NLRB,
even threats to pending nominees -- threats that somehow if they proceed with this, certain nominees
will not come before this committee. I think that borders, that’s borderline, that’s borderline.

Again, I did not want this to be a hearing on the Boeing issue, I did want it to be a hearing on the middle
class.

Mr. Luttig, you were a formal federal judge, right?

Michael Luttig, Boeing: Yes, I’m federal judge.

Harkin: Now, I want to get to the essence of the middle class here and what we’re talking about in terms
of disparities. In real terms, wages for workers grew 3.78 percent in the last 20 years, CEO pay increase,
468 percent.

As the executive vice president and counsel, your compensation by Boeing in 2008 was $2,798,962 That
was your pay in 2008, $2,798,962. IN 2009, one year later, it was $3,743,647. That a 34 percent jump in
your pay as an executive in one year, during a recession year. Why shouldn’t employees at Boeing get a
34 percent increase, Mr. Luttig? What’s going on here? Why shouldn’t employees also have a share of
that?

I just asked the question. Why should executives get these huge increases, and employees being told
that they can get a 3 percent increase, or even less? I checked also with the pay, the pay in, I guess, in
Washington is around $26 an hour. That comes to about $52,000 a year. South Carolina, I’m told,
average pay is about $18 an hour. That’s $36,000 a year. Hardly anyone getting wealthy.
So, Mr. Luttig, your pay went up by 34 percent. You make $3.7 million a year. I don’t begrudge that. I’m
just asking about fairness for workers, at the Boeing plant. Why shouldn’t they get increases like that,
Mr. Luttig?

Luttig: Mr. Chairman, my compensation is a matter of public record.

Harkin: Sure is.

Luttig: I have to say, at this very instant, I have to say it’s not enough. (Laughs).

But that aside. Senator, I’m the general counsel of the company. I don’t have a dog in this particular
hunt. I appreciate the spirit. What I would say the case that I’m here to address is actually about the
middle class, and no one should have any doubt about that. It is about jobs for Americans and for the
middle class, thousands upon thousands of jobs for the middle class. As every witness has testified, as
everyone of this committee has testified, jobs and job growth is what we need to come out of this
recession.

It should be irrelevant to you Senator, frankly, what I think about that issue, and I don’t want to be
presumptuous even to answer it. But, of course I share the committee’s concern about the middle class
and about the wages of the middle class, and I can also tell you that The Boeing Company does. And
that’s why we’re trying to create jobs, and that’s why as one of your colleagues noted, our workers are
the highest paid aerospace workers in the world. And we’re proud of that. If we could pay them more,
we would, and if we can, we will.

Transcribed by Carter Wood, May 12, 2011