FTSE 100 Directors' pay rose by 50% on average last year, while average pay for workers lags behind

[Camundongo]

[B]FTSE 100 Directors' pay rises by 50%[/B]

[QUOTE=BBC News]Pay for the directors of the UK's top businesses rose 50% over the past year, a pay research company has said. Incomes Data Services (IDS) said this took the average pay for a director of a FTSE 100 company to just short of £2.7m. The rise, covering salary, benefits and bonuses, was higher than that recorded for the main person running the company, the chief executive.Their pay rose by 43% over the year, according to the study. Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking in Australia, said the report was "concerning" and called for big companies to be more transparent when they decide executive pay. Labour leader Ed Miliband said the pay increases were part of a "something for nothing" culture, since the stock market had not risen to match them.

A statement from IDS said that that figure suggested that "executive largesse is evenly spread across the board". Base salaries rose by just 3.2%, although that was above the median rise recorded by IDS this week for average pay settlements of 2.6% for private sector workers. The latest consumer price inflation figures showed inflation at 5.2%. Directors' bonus payments, on average, rose by 23% from £737,000 in 2010 to £906,000 this year. Around two-thirds of FTSE 100 companies are global operations, for whom the UK is a small part of their operation, including mining giant Rio Tinto.

The Unite union has called executive pay "obscene" and has called for shareholders to be given more power to hold directors accountable.The union's general secretary, Len McCluskey said: "The Government should strongly consider giving shareholders greater legal powers to question and curb these excessive remuneration packages.

"Institutional shareholders need to exercise much greater scrutiny and control of directors' pay and bonuses.

"It's obscene and it shows that the City has learnt nothing during the financial troubles of the last four years."[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15487866"]Source[/URL]

[B]Pay deals 'lag behind inflation'[/B]

[QUOTE=BBC News]UK pay deals are failing to keep up with the cost of living, especially for public sector workers, according to new research. The median settlement in the three months to the end of September was 2.6% in the private sector, Incomes Data Services said. This compared with a pay freeze on average in deals within the public sector, the report said.

Both were well short of the inflation rate which stood at 5.2% in September. The median figure is the one for which half of all deals are above it and half are below it. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate increased from 4.5% the previous month. The Retail Prices Index (RPI), which includes mortgage interest payments and is measures differently, rose to 5.6% from 5.2%.

"The different experiences of the public and private sectors are shaping the difference between the level of pay settlements between the two sectors," said Ken Mulkearn, editor of IDS Pay Report.

"While pay awards are ahead in the private sector, they are still some way behind inflation, even in manufacturing where pay awards are higher in comparison to other sectors."

Meanwhile, the TUC is calling on the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to recommend raising the national minimum wage next year by more than the rate of inflation. The rate from October 2012 to September 2013 should rise by more than the RPI measure of inflation or the growth in average earnings, depending on which is higher, it said.[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15477736"]Source[/URL]

Yay, inequality for both sides of the Atlantic!

[Thyroxin]

Is this really a suprise?

[Camundongo]

[QUOTE=Thyroxin;33009479]Is this really a suprise?[/QUOTE]

Not really, but at we least have proof. I also can't help feeling this shows the brunt of the cuts are being beared by the group who can least afford to do so.

[Last or First]

This means that those poor job creators have to pay 50% more taxes, while all of those lazy, barely working freeloaders have to pay relatively less taxes than before! This is an utter outrage! We need to fix this inequality as soon as possible! :downs:

[MachiniOs]

[QUOTE=Last or First;33009554]This means that those poor job creators have to pay 50% more taxes, while all of those lazy, barely working freeloaders have to pay relatively less taxes than before! This is an utter outrage! We need to fix this inequality as soon as possible! :downs:[/QUOTE]
The conservatives are already talking about scrapping the 50p tax rate, and a union (i forget which) have estimated that in some professions the living standard has dropped by as much as 20% so yes there is some inequality.