Leighton board pushes for pay rise LEIGHTON Holdings shareholders will be asked to vote on big pay rises for the contractor's non-executive board directors, proposing the fee pool be increased by $1 million to $4.5m at the company's annual general meeting next month. The proposal comes just weeks after the shock exit of Leighton's former chairman Stephen Johns and two long-serving non-executive directors over concerns about boardroom independence and claims of interference by the company's German parent, Hochtief, and its chief, Marcelino Fernandez Verdes.