Introduction
In two others posts I presented the twenty largest employers in Toronto according to level of employment (see A Short List of the Largest Employers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and the twenty largest employers in Canada according to profit (see A Short List of the Largest Private Employers in Canada, According to Profit).
I have tried to calculate the rate of exploitation of workers of Magna International in an earlier post (see The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Magna International Inc., One of the Largest Private Employers in Toronto, Part One); Magna International is one of the largest employers in Toronto as well as the rate of exploitation of workers at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (see The Rate of Exploitation of the Workers of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), One of the Largest Private Employers in Toronto and in Canada ), among others.
The Nature of the Rate of Exploitation
But what is the rate of exploitation? And why not use the usual rate of profit or the rate of return? The rate of profit is calculated as profit divided by investment. Since employers purchase both the means for work–buildings, computers, office supplies, raw material–and hire workers–we can classify investment into two categories: c, meaning constant capital, or the capital invested in commodities other than workers; and v, or variable capital, the capital invested in the hiring of workers for a certain period of time (wages, salaries and benefits).
The purpose of investment in a capitalist economy is to obtain more money (see The Money Circuit of Capital), and the additional money is surplus value when it is related to its source: workers working for more time than what they cost to produce themselves. The relation between surplus value and variable capital (or wages and salaries) is the rate of surplus value or the rate of exploitation, expressed as a ratio: s/v.
When the surplus is related to both c and v and expressed as a ratio, it is the rate of profit: s/(c+v).
In Marxian economics, you cannot simply use the economic classifications provided by employers and governments since such classifications often hide the nature of the social world in which we live. The rate of profit underestimates the rate of exploitation since the surplus value is related to total investment and not just to the workers. Furthermore, it makes the surplus value appear to derive from both constant capital and variable capital.
I decided to look at the annual report of some of the largest private companies in Toronto if they are available in order to calculate the rate of exploitation at a more local level.
Conclusions First
As usual, I start with the conclusion in order to make readily accessible the results of the calculations for those who are more interested in the results than in how to obtain them.
The rate of exploitation or the rate of surplus value of RBC workers is s/v; therefore, s/v is 16,903/13,611=124 percent.
This means that, in terms of money, $1 of wage or salary of a regular bank worker results in $1.24 cn surplus value or profit for free (calculated on the basis of the procedure outlined in the post on the rate of exploitation of CIBC bank workers). Alternatively, for every hour worked, a Royal Bank of Canada worker works 74 minutes (or 1 hour 14 minutes) for free for RBC.
It also means the following:
- For a 5.75- hour working day (345 minutes), RBC workers spend 154 minutes (2 hours 34 minutes) to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 191 minutes (3 hours 11 minutes) in obtaining a surplus value or profit for CIBC.
- For a six-hour working day, follow the same procedures as above, but replace 345 by 360: result: in a 6-hour working day, RBC workers spend 161 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 199 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 7-hour working day: 420 minutes:i n a 7-hour working day, RBC workers spend 188 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 232 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 7.5-hour working day: 450 minutes: in a 7,5-hour working day, RBC workers spend 201 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 249 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 8-hour working day: 480 minutes: in an 8-hour working day, RBC workers spend 214 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 266 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 10-hour working day: 600 minutes: in a 10-hour working day, RBC workers spend 268 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 332 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
As in the post for the determination of the rate of exploitation of workers at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, I have the same questions for social democrats.
Royal Bank workers do not belong to a union. Would their becoming unionized turn their situation into one where they had a “fair contract,” “decent wages,” and “decent work?” I think not. Unions can limit exploitation and can control some aspects of their working lives, but in principle workers are things to be used by employers even with unions. This does not mean that a non-unionized environment is the same as a unionized environment. With unions that are independent of particular employers, that is to say, are real unions, there is an opportunity for workers to develop organizations of resistance against the power of particular employers.
The ideology of unions–that somehow they can produce a “fair contract,” “decent wages” and “decent work”–needs, though, to be constantly criticized. Workers deserve better than the acceptance of such ideology by the left.
Data on Which the Calculation Is Based
The calculation of the rate of exploitation is undoubtedly imperfect, and I invite the reader to correct its gaps. Nonetheless, the lack of any attempt to determine the rate of exploitation at the city level by has undoubtedly reinforced social-reformist tendencies.
In millions of Canadian dollars:
Total revenue $ 46,002
Provision for credit losses (PCL) 1,864
Insurance policyholder benefits, claims and acquisition expense (PBCAE) 4,085
Non-interest expense 24,139 [add the first three: 1,864+4,085+24,139=30,088; subtract this from 46,002 gives you 15,914)
Income before income taxes 15,914
Provision for credit losses is explained in Investopedia (James Chen (2019) as:
The provision for credit losses (PCL) is an estimation of potential losses that a company might experience due to credit risk. The provision for credit losses is treated as an expense on the company’s financial statements. They are expected losses from delinquent and bad debt or other credit that is likely to default or become unrecoverable. If, for example, the company calculates that accounts over 90 days past due have a recovery rate of 40%, it will make a provision for credit losses based on 40% of the balance of these accounts.
It is an expense in the sense that loans and other financial services may lead to defaults, or it may be due to the decreased value of collateral for such loans and it is an estimate of the loss of revenue due to defaults. It is therefore subtracted from total (or gross) revenue.
RBC issues insurance in various areas, and the category of “PBCAE” reflects expenses associated with fulfilling its obligations in paying out for insurance policies. It too is subtracted from total revenue.
In the annual report, the category of “Non-interest expenses” is subtracted from total revenue, to yield the category “Income before income taxes.” However, to calculate the rate of exploitation according to the principles of Marxian economics, it is necessary to make certain adjustments. To that end, we need to look in more detail at the category “Non-interest expense.”
Non-interest expense (before adjustments)
(Millions of Canadian dollars)
Human resources $ 14,600
Salaries $ 6,600
Variable compensation 5,706
Benefits and retention compensation 1,876
Share-based compensation 418
Equipment 1,777
Occupancy 1,635
Communications 1,090
Professional fees 1,305
Amortization of other intangibles 1,197
Other 2,535
Total non-interest expense $ 24,139
Adjustments
In Marxian theory, it is necessary to question whether some expenses are expenses for both the individual employer and for the class of employers (and fractions of their class, such as those who live on interest); in such a case, the expense is deducted from total revenue. On the other hand, there are expenses that are expenses for the individual employer but are not expenses when looked at from the point of view of the class of employers; in such an instance, they are paid out from the surplus value produced or obtained by workers and are to be included in income before taxes.
Adjustment issues are related to the category “Human resources.” The category “Variable compensation” is difficult to determine. Should it be categorized as part of salaries or as part of surplus value? Without more information, it is impossible to tell how much is received due to exploitation of regular bank workers and how much is due to being exploited by management. It can, however, be assumed that some of the compensation is due to the exploitation ow regular bank workers. For example, in the proxy circular of the RBC, it is stated (page 52):
A significant portion of variable compensation (at least 70% for the CEO, at least 65% for members of group executive and at least 40% for other material risk takers) is deferred with a vesting period of three or four years, consistent with our compensation principles and relevant regulatory guidelines.
The guidelines used are based on the Financial Stability Board standards (FSB standards). On page 3 of FSB Principles for Sound Compensation Practices: Implementation Standards (2009), it is stated:
Subdued or negative financial performance of the firm should generally lead to a considerable contraction of the firm’s total variable compensation, taking into account both current compensation and reductions in payouts of amounts previously earned…
Accordingly, as in the case of another Canadian bank (CIBC), I have decided to allocate 10 percent of such variable compensation to surplus value or profit and the rest to wages and benefits.
Of course, I may be wrong. Variable compensation for bank workers could be directly tied to the number of hours worked (just as the level of income varies for workers who work by the piece is tied to the number of hours worked and to the intensity of the work). However, counterarguments (and, perhaps, further data) would have to be provided to justify including it as part of “Human resources.”
On the other hand, the category “Benefits and Retention Compensation” is probably, for the most part, costs for employing bank workers and therefore should be included in calculating variable capital. Benefits include such items as
medical; prescription drug; dental; life and accident insurance; and short-term and long-term
income protection. Employees also have access to a number of health and wellness initiatives including our Employee Care program, which provides 24 hour a day access to information and confidential consultation on a wide range of work/life issues.
The category “Share-based compensation” is limited “to certain key employees and to our non-employee directors.” These are probably not “salaries” as payment for working at RBC but form part of compensation for exploiting the rest of the workers at RBC. Unlike the “Performance-based compensation” category in the case of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), this category seems independent of work-based compensation. Hence, I include “Share-based compensation” as part of surplus value (s).
Treating share-based compensation purely as surplus value increases the total “Income before income taxes” results in a greater level of adjustment than was the case for the calculations for CIBC and TD Bank workers, but it perhaps reflects a more accurate calculation of surplus value obtained since it involves a somewhat more detailed categorization of the distribution of compensation.
I accept the other categories without adjustments (unless someone can provide reasons for adjusting them).
Ten percent of the amount in the category “Variable compensation”(ten percent of 5,706=571)) and “Share-based compensation” (418) are added to the revenue category “Income before income taxes,” (15,914) to yield the following accounts:
Adjusted Results
Income before income taxes (surplus value or s): 16,903
Human resources (total variable capital, or total v) $ 13, 611
Salaries $ 6,600
Variable compensation 5, 135
Benefits and retention compensation 1,876
The Rate of Exploitation of RBC Workers
The rate of exploitation or the rate of surplus value is s/v; therefore, s/v is 16,903/13,611=124 percent.
This means that, in terms of money, $1 of wage or salary of a regular bank worker results in $1.24 cn surplus value or profit for free (calculated on the basis of the procedure outlined in the post on the rate of exploitation of CIBC bank workers). Alternatively, for every hour worked, a Royal Bank of Canada worker works 74 minutes (or 1 hour 14 minutes) for free for RBC.
To translate this into the number of hours RBC workers work free for RBC and how many hours they would have produced an equivalent value to their own cost of production (if they worked in a sector that produced value rather than just transferred it), to it would be necessary to know the length of time that they work per day, or the length of the working day. Unfortunately, I was unable to find that information. Consequently, I used the information I found on the length of the working day for the workers at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
According to a few people who have worked at CIBC, the length of the working day is:
8 hours a day
Work hours are manageable and flexible. The company is accommodating with every schedule.
They vary – just like it does anywhere.
8 hours in a day, 1 hour for break and lunch.
8-10 hours
I work 7.5 hours each day.
6 – 5.75 hours a day, 4 days a week. for the last 1.5 years
I will calculate the division of the working day from the shortest to the longest in the above quotes accordingly. I use minutes rather than hours.
- For a 5.75- hour working day (345 minutes), RBC workers spend 154 minutes (2 hours 34 minutes) to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 191 minutes (3 hours 11 minutes) in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- For a six-hour working day, follow the same procedures as above, but replace 345 by 360: result: in a 6-hour working day, RBC workers spend 161 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 199 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 7-hour working day: 420 minutes: in a 7-hour working day, RBC workers spend 188 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 232 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 7.5-hour working day: 450 minutes: in a 7,5-hour working day, RBC workers spend 201 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 249 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 8-hour working day: 480 minutes: in an 8-hour working day, RBC workers spend 214 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 266 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
- 10-hour working day: 600 minutes: in a 10-hour working day, RBC workers spend 268 minutes to obtain their wage for the day, and they spend 332 minutes in obtaining a surplus value or profit for RBC.
It should be noted that I have used the verb “obtain” rather than “produce.” In Marxian economics, bank workers, as well as sales workers do not produce surplus value but rather transfer the surplus value already produced. This does not mean that these workers are not exploited capitalistically; they are used impersonally by the employer to obtain surplus value and a profit. Furthermore, things produced by others are used by employers such as CIBC to control their working lives in order to obtain surplus value or profit.
As in the post for the determination of the rate of exploitation of workers at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, I have the same questions for social democrats.
RBC workers do not belong to a union. Would their becoming unionized turn their situation into one where they had a “fair contract,” “decent wages” and “decent work?” I think not. Unions can limit exploitation and can control some aspects of their working lives, but in principle workers are things to be used by employers even with unions. This does not mean that a non-unionized environment is the same as a unionized environment. With unions that are independent of particular employers, that is to say, are real unions, there is an opportunity for workers to develop organizations of resistance against the power of particular employers.
The ideology of unions–that somehow they can produce a “fair contract,” “decent wages” and “decent work”–needs, though, to be constantly criticized. Workers deserve better than the acceptance of such ideology by the left.
The Abolitionary 