Executive ‘golden parachutes’ were called abuses.

Labor Secretary William E. Brock III said it was wrong for executives to receive large payments when their firms are taken over, while workers get nothing. Brock called these “golden parachutes” “abuses” and said that the Administration has proposed a $980-million readjustment program to retrain workers who have lost their jobs through corporate mergers or layoffs. Five million experienced workers were displaced from all causes between 1981 and 1986, he said, although total employment is up and the U.S. unemployment rate has declined over that period.