Wheeling-Pitt Execs Get Pay Hikes and Pensions While Company Struggles

Wednesday’s filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission about increased benefits comes at a time when the company is trying to orchestrate a merger with a Brazilian steelmaker and fend off a takeover bid by Chicago-based steel supplier Esmark Inc.

The steel giant claims many of its executives have not received a raise in years, defending a decision that will cost the company an estimated $316,000 each year for the next decade.

The AP reported that executives suffered 15% pay cuts and members of the United Steelworkers union acquiesced to lower pay in 2003 as the company went through bankruptcy.

James Bradley, Wheeling-Pittsburgh chairman and chief executive officer, didn’t get an increase in his salary, but he did get a new supplemental pension plan, which allows companies to give executives pensions that exceed regular limits, according to a news wire service.

The company employs about 3,100 plants in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.