Swiss vote against cap on executive salaries

No doubt, equality maven Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is wondering how the Swiss missed.

In a resounding victory for corporate control of executive pay, Swiss voters rejected on Sunday a proposal to limit executives’ pay to 12 times that of junior employees, a measure that would have gone further than any other developed nation’s.

While de Blasio has stopped short of advocating such a position, his campaign vowed to address the wage gap in the Big Apple, saying, “We cannot resign ourselves to the mind-set that says rising inequality is a necessary byproduct of urban success.”

The Swiss measure was opposed by 65 percent of voters. Polls, including one by consulting firm gfs.bern, had signaled that outcome as probable. Voter turnout was 53 percent, the highest in three years.

“It’s a signal that it’s not up to the state to have a say in pay,” Valentin Vogt, of the Swiss Employers’ Association, said in an interview on Swiss national television SRF.

Swiss voters approved the so-called fat-cat initiative that gave company shareholders a binding vote on managers’ pay and blocked golden handshakes and severance packages in March.

While polls after that vote suggested the 1:12 initiative could pass, support waned, in part because of opposition by company executives, such as Roche Holding CEO Severin Schwan and ABB chief Ulrich Spiesshofer, who said it would damage the economy.

With Post wires