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Commenting on the announcement today (Friday) from the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group concerning the pay of Stephen Hester, its Group Chief Executive.
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date: 27 January 2012

embargo: For immediate release

Commenting on the announcement today (Friday) from the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group concerning the pay of Stephen Hester, its Group Chief Executive, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'Ordinary people facing the biggest squeeze in their living standards for decades and businesses desperate for credit will not understand why Mr Hester is getting such a huge bonus.

'The government has been lecturing public servants about how they must accept a pay freeze and a big increase in pension contributions. Ministers seem to have made an exception for Britain's best paid civil servant, and they will find their decision not to be tougher on the RBS board hard to justify.

'The Prime Minister has said the UK doesn't need worker representatives on remuneration committees because shareholders are more than capable of keeping top pay and bonuses in check. Today's decision proves this is not the case. Pay and bonuses at the top are still out of control.

'Worker representatives and greater pay transparency could help bring the setting of top executive pay into the real world.'

Earlier this week the TUC urged the government to change the law so worker representatives could sit on remuneration committees as a way of tackling the widening pay gap between top directors and the rest of the workforce. The press release is at http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-20501-f0.cfm

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A briefing setting out the TUC case for worker representatives on remuneration committees is available from the press office.

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: egibson@tuc.org.uk

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