As a dedicated department supervisor at Lowe's Home Improvement, I have witnessed firsthand the disparity in bonus distribution within our company. It was just recently announced by the CEO Marvin Ellison that the bonuses for department supervisors were lumped together with those of hourly associates, while the next level up received significantly higher bonuses of $5,000. This discrepancy has raised concerns among the department supervisors, suggesting a lack of recognition and appreciation for their higher responsibilities and contributions.  Many of which these department supervisors stood by the company on the front line during Covid as Lowe's was deemed an essential business. 

Department supervisors like myself, and ALL hourly associates are the backbone of the company.  We do most of the heavy lifting in terms of operational tasks and are sandwiched between inexperienced new workers just entering the workforce and all the salaried managers friends of friends purged from Home Depot with unrealistic performance metrics. Aside from that, the inconsistent hours and non-consecutive days off will likely continue to diminish the quality of service for customers as Lowe's seeks only to reward their salaried management to just delegate corporate initiatives. 

Meanwhile, executives have awarded themselves millions in compensation stock options. This is happening while Lowe's made an impressive $86 billion in revenue last year, with an ambitious goal to make it to $100 billion.

This unfair distribution has hit hard especially now with record inflationary costs for food, gas, clothing and shelter on the rise. Not receiving our customary bonus of $1,000 essentially feels like a pay cut from previous years which results in a wage demotion.

We demand that Lowe's reevaluate their bonus distribution policy to reflect fairness and appreciation towards all levels of management who contribute significantly to its success. It’s time for Lowe’s to show true leadership by ensuring fair compensation practices across all levels within their organization.

Here's the math:

While the CEO Marvin Ellison and his Store Managers, District Managers, Regional Managers, and full staff were in Las Vegas for 1 week of hobnobbing and friendships on the company's dime ($$$) for their annual meeting. The CEO quipped that Lowe's made an impressive $93 Million dollars with them not being in the store on one of the days they were all there! 

$93,000,000 in one day! (slow time of the year) Lowes is open 15 hours per day so 93,000,000 / 15 = $6,200,000 per hour.  

He also mentioned that there are 1,749 Lowe's stores nationwide. Let's say average 10 department supervisors per store that would be 17,490 department supervisors that got screwed (no pun intended) out of an additional $600 bonus. 

That equates to 17,490 X 600 = $10,494,000 or less than 2 hours a day of sales on one of the slowest times of the year or less than 2 hours of corporate executives expensive partying in Las Vegas with their buddies that they purged and promised jobs from Home Depot!

Somehow, the corporate brilliance thought it would a good idea to figure out that the department supervisors were making way too much money!

Check my math, I hope it's wrong.

It's essential to question the corporate decision-making process that led to such an outcome. Prioritizing a short-term financial gain over recognizing and rewarding the efforts of the frontline workers can have long-term repercussions on employee morale and motivation which ultimately translates to customer satisfaction.

This scenario highlights the need for a more balanced and equitable approach to profit-sharing within the company.

Recognizing and fairly compensating the hardworking individuals at all levels of the organization is not only a matter of corporate responsibility but also a strategic investment in a motivated and engaged workforce.

This serves as a powerful call for a reconsideration of the company's compensation policies to ensure that success is celebrated and shared across all levels of the organization.

Could this be the reason why Billionaire Bill Ackman, Pershing Square just sold about 5.8 million shares of Lowe's (LOW) during the quarter, cutting his company's stake by 82% to 1.2 million shares worth or about $273 million.

Ackman said in a 2022 interview, "You should sell an investment when you learn new information which is inconsistent with the original thesis," and "If you keep twisting the thesis to come up with a reason for owning the stock, it's going to be a problem."

Perhaps major investors have seen this play out before?

Please sign this petition if you believe that hardworking department managers deserve fair recognition through equitable bonuses at Lowe's Home Improvement stores nationwide.

Let's get this petition to 20,000 signatures!