An employee union has urged financial services firm Morgan Stanley to roll back recent salary hikes given to its senior executives and other top earners,a media report says. The Wall Street Journal in a report said,A major union this week called on Morgan Stanley- which repaid USD 10 billion in government bailout funds last week- to reverse recent salary increases for senior executives and other top earners. Morgan Stanley had given the raises this year,as part of its effort to reduce the importance of annual bonuses,amid executive-pay restrictions associated with the aid. Quoting a letter from American Federation of State,County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) International President Gerald McEntee to Morgan Stanley,the report stated,The raises weakened the link between top executive pay and performance. We urge you to return base salaries to their previous levels and. reward executives for long-term value creation,not just showing up for work, McEntee added in the letter. AFSCME members' pension funds have more than USD one trillion in assets and hold roughly three per cent of Morgan Stanley's outstanding shares. In May,Morgan Stanley in a regulatory filing has said that it had raised five executives' salaries to move away from a compensation program focussed largely on annual incentive awards and increase base salary levels that were below several of Morgan Stanley's peer companies. It said the raises are not intended to increase total annual compensation for the executive officers, many of whom did not receive bonuses last year. Morgan Stanley increased base salaries of Co-President Walid Chammah and Chief Financial Officer Colm Kelleher to 525,000 pounds and 490,000 pounds,respectively. In 2008,both executives had received a salary of 170,000 pounds. The WSJ report stated that AFSCME,which frequently engages in shareholder activism at companies in which its members' pension funds invest,also provided copies of the letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
