Philippe Varin, the soon to retire CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën, was in more controversy yesterday when it was revealed that he would be enjoying a € 21 million pension for the 4 years he served with the company.
One major union CGT Sochaux, expressed their indignation by releasing an official document stating that the pension (€ 310,000 over a period of 25 years should be nullified. It was difficult for unions to accept such an amount when just a few weeks ago they were forced to sign an agreement that aims to save the company 125 million euros.
The French government, including the budget minister, Pierre Moscovici, chimed in on the outrage, saying the retirement package was “inappropriate”
Reacting quickly and following the official announcement of his replacement by Carlos Tavares, the former COO of Renault Nissan, Varin renounced his pension cap of € 21 million. In an official press release , PSA announced that “Given the controversy that this topic has aroused emotion in our country, Philippe Varin has decided to abandon the current provisions of its rights retirement.” The CEO will therefore rely “on the Supervisory Board of the Group to decide when the time comes, and after consulting the High Committee Corporate Governance, appropriate conditions of his retirement.”
French president Francois Hollande called decision of the current leader ” wise “. What remains to be seen though is how rewarding Varin’s revised pension will be. Meanwhile the eyes of union officials and the politicians are now turning to his successor, Carlos Tavares, whose remuneration and retirement package for the moment is unknown.