Labor objects to 'super' pensions

"Every employee's pension is calculated under the same formula. The changes we announced to our pension plan earlier this year apply equally to all employees," he said.

The Business Roundtable, a group of 160 chief executives that is headed by Mr. McKinnell, defended executive pay and argued that the organization is working to improve corporate governance and supports tying pay to performance.

 "We can't say what an executive of a large corporation should make. We can just say how it should be determined," Business Roundtable President John J. Castellani said.

The AFL-CIO is expressing outrage over pensions as the SEC prepares to improve disclosure of executive pay by forcing companies to divulge previously unreported perks to corporate executives. In January, the SEC proposed changing disclosure rules in response to requests from investors for more information.

In light of pending disclosure changes, executive pay is increasingly tied to performance, said Frank Glassner, chief executive of Compensation Design Group Inc., a New York executive pay consulting firm.

"There has been a definitive link between pay and performance," he said. "There are going to be fewer and fewer places where you can hide executive pay."

Some companies are developing a new formula to determine pay. The Coca-Cola Co. this week said if earnings per share don't rise fast enough over a three-year period, outside directors wouldn't receive compensation. They would get a significant increase in pay if earnings fare well.