AFL-CIO Wants Langone Kicked Off Boards Everywhere

The AFL-CIO said Friday that Kenneth Langone, the New York Stock Exchange director on whose watch Richard Grasso's massive pay package was hammered out, should be banished from every board in the country for his unapologetic defense of the fallen NYSE chairman.

The massive labor union depicted Langone as a chronic suckup whose foibles go well beyond boardroom dramas. It cited the problems of his investment bank, Invemed, and its relationship to Home Depot, where he is a director and Grasso sits on the compensation committee.

But most of its vitriol was reserved for his role in the Grasso debacle.

"Although ultimate responsibility for Grasso's compensation package rests on the entire NYSE board of directors, Mr. Langone played a defining role as head of the compensation committee that designed and negotiated Grasso's compensation," the AFL-CIO said in a letter from its treasurer, Richard Trumka, to the new interim chairman on the NYSE, John Reed.

"At the same time that other NYSE directors have stated that they were not fully aware of the total magnitude of Grasso's pay, Mr. Langone has remained unapologetic," the letter said. "More than any other NYSE director, Mr. Langone has publicly defended the NYSE's executive compensation practices, telling The Wall Street Journal that 'I would do it again,' if given the chance."

The union said Langone should be kicked off all the NYSE board committees and not be renominated if he can't show he took "meaningful steps" to responsibly structure Grasso's pay. It also urged that he not be renominated at Home Depot, General Electric, ChoicePoint (CPS Quote), Unifi (UFI Quote) and Yum! Brands (YUM Quote).

Langone and the NYSE had no comment on the letter.