Union busting Safeway CEO Burd; Bush "Ranger" (what a surprise)

[xray s]

(edit-Burd is a Ranger, not a Pioneer. More bucks for the chimp)

Get a load of this story. A lesson in Republican politics and economics in one tidy little package. On the front lines of the class war...

http://www.dailyherald.com/business/business_story.asp?intid=38017143

Supermarket strike raises pressure on Safeway CEO
Associated Press
Posted January 31, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO - Safeway Inc. Chairman Steve Burd, a strong-willed chief executive who once ordered his supermarket workers to be cheerful, has little to smile about these days.

His slumping company, which owns the Dominick's stores in the Chicago area, is embroiled in a costly 3¨-month-old grocery strike in Southern California, where he is vilified by labor leaders, and his support is slipping on Wall Street. Nearly two-thirds of Safeway's market value has evaporated in the past three years, wiping out more than $20 billion in shareholder wealth.

Four top Safeway executives have left for other jobs in the last 13 months, raising concern about a leadership void at the nation's third-largest grocer. Analysts now wonder openly whether Safeway's board should end Burd's nearly 11-year tenure as CEO.

(snip)

Burd himself has profited through good times and bad, pocketing $44 million by exercising nearly 1.9 million stock options, including $16.1 million in the past five months as part of an automatic stock selling program he adopted before the strike began. Dowling said Burd's recent sales involve stock options that are about to expire.

Burd has tapped into his wealth and connections to help re-elect President Bush. He has already raised more than $200,000 for this year's campaign, putting him on an elite list known as "Rangers."

[supernova]

1. Heh.

Couldn't happen to a lovelier guy. :puke: