After ConAgra Foods' board slashed the company's dividend by 34 percent as part of a restructuring plan, a few shareholders suggested the board should also feel the pain and slash its own pay by roughly one-third.
Not surprisingly, the suggestion shareholder Don Hudgens made during the 2006 annual meeting, didn't fly even though former ConAgra chief executive Mike Harper supported that idea. Board chairman Steven Goldstone was quick to defend what ConAgra pays its directors, saying it is difficult to find and keep good people on the board.
Board pay has been steadily increasing in recent years as new regulations increased the workload for directors and the use of compensation consultants became more common. And the only check on board member pay is shareholder outrage, which compensation experts say is rare, so the increases are likely to continue.
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