Huge pay disparities
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by Karen Miles • Transport bosses are paid up to 22 times the wages of their staff, topping a Trades Union Congress league table of "unfairness" in British commerce. The conclusion, drawn from the results of a survey of the UK's top 1,000 companies, says that top executives working for the distribution and retail sectors last year earned £266,300-22.3 times the average worker's wage of £11,900, Although the TUC admits the workers' average is distorted by the wages of check-out assistants it argues lorry drivers directly employed by retailers are earning a fraction of the amount of their top bosses.
The transport sector, which includes air, maritime, rail and road services, pays its top executives almost 14 times as much as the average employee. According to the TUC, top directors received £297,000, including bonuses, last year while the average wage was £21,400.
The differences beat those present in the muchcriticised utility industries says the TUC. In its find ings, published this week, the TUC says top directors earn 14.6 times the amount taken home by workers in the oil, gas, water and electricity sectors.
A TUC spokesman said this week: "It shows that transport is high up in Britain's unfairness league." The organisation wants remuneration committees made up of some employee seats to decide top pay.
The construction, insurance, health care, engineering, manufacturing and media and leisure sectors have less of a discrepancy in top and average pay.