January is a time to tighten belts as we recover from Christmas expenses, so it’s galling to hear that top bosses have ALREADY made more money than the average UK worker’s annual salary.
The average FTSE 100 CEO will have already been paid more than a full-time worker as ‘Fatcat Tuesday’ comes just two working days into the new year, according to calculations by the High Pay Centre think-tank.
The calculations show that earnings for top company executives returning to work this Monday will pass the UK average salary of £27,200 by late afternoon today.
With an average salary of £4.72million, FTSE 100 bosses, even accounting for long working weeks, earn a staggering hourly wage of almost £1,200.
The disparity between mega-wages and the national minimum wage – currently at £6.50 an hour – has angered Living Wage campaigners and become a key election issue.
#FatCatTuesday http://t.co/nhQZXPRAya via @OccupyLondon @peopleandplanet @PlatformLondon pic.twitter.com/mMlernDvvA
— Climate Revolution (@climate_rev) January 6, 2015
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s a stark reminder that while the average worker is £50 a week worse off than in 2010, boardroom pay gets bigger and bigger every year.
“We urgently need a change of course to put wage growth for all workers at the heart of Britain’s economic plan – if not then people’s living standards will not recover and the economy will remain in the danger zone.”
The pay divide has worsened since last year, when fatcats had to wait until the first working Wednesday to top average national wages.
This year ‘Fatcat day’ comes a day early as FTSE 100 Chief Executives’ average pay has risen by nearly £50,000 in the last year, compared to the pay increase of just £200 for an average worker.
The High Pay Centre argued that further measures from the government are necessary to curb top pay.
They want big businesses to be forced to publish the pay gap between their highest and lowest wage earners, and have ordinary workers on ‘renumeration committees’ in companies to help set pay.
Imagine a utopian society where CEOs had to work a whole week to earn the average worker’s annual pay! #fatcattuesday http://t.co/E4l7NwHmAs
— Luke Hildyard (@lukehildyard) January 6, 2015
High Pay Centre Director Deborah Hargreaves said: “‘Fatcat Tuesday’ highlights the problem of unfair pay in the UK.
“For top bosses to rake in more in two days than their staff earn in a year is clearly unfair, disproportionate and doesn’t make social or economic sense.
“Politicians need to do more to stand up to big business and the super-rich. We must also give workers the power to force employers to share pay more fairly throughout their organisation.”
Image courtesy of Tripp, with thanks
