A (slight) breach in protocol

jennings_davos_web.gifPhillip J. Jennings speaks during seminar on compensation at WEF. (Photo by Michael Wuertenberg.)

WEF attendees are a notoriously polite bunch. But on opening day, a Welsh labor leader broke with Davos tradition to voice his displeasure over executive pay. This according to the New York Times.

“Working people are angry,” said Phillip J. Jennings, general secretary of the UNI Global Union, a group based in Nyon, Switzerland. “We are financing the bailout. What we are seeing is obscene.”

When one panel member took umbrage at Jennings’ tone, the Welshman shot back, “I see it as my job to raise the temperature. Sorry.”

It wasn’t exactly a chair-throwing town hall meeting on health care. But by Davos standards, it was still a bit of a dust-up. It may also be a sign of growing populist sentiments within the conference.

  • Jan 27, 2010 12:10 PM — Dirk Mathison
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Marketplace’s Dirk Mathison is posting items and updates on the World Economic Forum's 40th annual meeting. The conference runs from Jan. 27-31. Reporters Stephen Beard and Christopher Werth are contributing additional items from Davos.