Worker at Lazard's Atria Reacts to Bruce Wasserstein's $100M+ Pay Package: 'I've Never Even Had the Weekend Off'

Workers at Lazard-Affiliated Atria Senior Living Express Shock, Disappointment at CEO Wasserstein's Mega-Bonus

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The announcement yesterday by Lazard Ltd. that Bruce Wasserstein, CEO of Lazard Ltd. and a principal of the Lazard group of companies, has signed a new contract worth more than $100 million and will be paid more than $41 million for 2007 is leaving low-wage workers in shock at Lazard-affiliated Atria Senior Living.

Tone-deaf to the growing concerns of working Americans about their financial security and the state of the economy, Lazard Ltd. is showering Wasserstein with a CEO pay package worth approximately 13 percent of Lazard Ltd.'s entire 2007 profit.

"How can they give this guy so much money?" said Steve Lacey, a maintenance worker at Lazard's Atria Shaker in Albany, New York. "I've never had a weekend off in 10 years, and I just got my first bonus ever."

A Lazard-affiliated private equity buyout fund owns Atria Senior Living, one of the country's largest senior living providers with more than 130 facilities nationwide. Lazard acquired Atria in the late 1990s and installed Lazard executives as Atria's CEO and Chairman of the Board.

Wasserstein's bonus, at a time of record income inequality in America, comes despite the fact that the share price of Lazard Ltd. is down 3% so far this year, after losing more than 14% of its value in 2007.

"This kind of CEO windfall package suggests that Lazard is a lot more concerned about a handful of people at the top than the thousands of elderly residents and hard-working employees at the companies it owns. This is a pay package that would make even hardened Wall Street veterans blush," said Andy Stern, president of SEIU.

Just last October, Lazard-affiliated Atria announced a financial "rewards "program, bragging in a press release that the company will spend more than $7 million on nominal wage increases and one-time awards in its first year. Unfortunately, this translated into a bump of just $0.25 an hour for many workers last year, a far cry from Bruce's bonus.

"Atria workers struggle everyday to take care of the residents, and can't afford health insurance. The pay is pitiful. But Lazard has enough money to offer a $100 million dollars to its CEO. Is that fair?" said Radika Munna, a former Atria employee from Lynbrook, New York. Radika was fired on Thanksgiving Day after 10 years on the job because she was active in forming a union for a voice in care and working conditions.

Wasserstein's obscene pay package also has many family members at Lazard's Atria scratching their heads as their loved ones suffer from problems with care and services at Atria facilities.

"This is a ridiculous amount of money," said Christine Donnelly, whose father is a resident at Atria Covell Gardens in Davis, Calif. "My 92 year-old father went without power for two days at one of their properties because they didn't spend the money on a back-up generator. What are these people thinking?"

Lazard Ltd., which manages more than $140 billion, is one of the oldest firms on Wall Street.

Most Atria workers make poverty wages and struggle to meet residents' needs while they are overworked and understaffed. Average pay for Atria workers is $8-10 an hour, and workers report that the costs of company-provided healthcare puts it well beyond their reach.

For nearly a year, workers at Lazard's Atria facilities nationwide have been struggling to form a union for a real voice in pay, working conditions, resident care and staffing. Unfortunately, Atria and Lazard have lashed out by threatening and intimidating workers in an attempt to pressure them not to unite. The National Labor Relations Board has already decided to issue complaints against Atria for several violations of labor law, and Atria is under investigation for discrimination against workers based on their national origin.

More at www.improveassistedliving.org or www.behindthebuyouts.org.

The Campaign to Improve Assisted Living is an SEIU Healthcare campaign that unites assisted living caregivers with residents, family members, and senior advocates to stand for quality services for seniors and a voice on the job for caregivers. More than 1 million healthcare workers in hospitals, nursing homes, and in-home care have united in SEIU Healthcare for quality care and quality jobs.