Executives see no reason to sacrifice – except Nardelli

Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli, when asked by Senator Jon Tester (Montana Democrat), said he would take a $1 per year salary, similar to Lee Iacocca’s 1979 sacrifice, if needed to get Chrysler’s $7 billion share of a proposed loan package.

GM’s Rick Wagoner, who currently takes an eight-digit salary, said he had already cut his salary in half and otherwise didn’t answer the question. He had already refused to resign, saying GM needed the best possible managers.

Alan Mullaly also appeared to refuse any personal sacrifice of his $21 million per year salary, saying Ford needed to attract top talent.

The starting salary for Big Three autoworkers is $15 per hour, which works out to roughly $30,000 per year. Some members of Congress have demanded that the UAW slash their compensation, while others have demanded that Big Three executives slash their own compensation.

Industry insiders have pointed out that neither the White House nor Congress has asked bank executives or bank employees to sacrifice their salary.