Boardroom shake-up needed to rein in fat cat greed, says TUC

4 January 2017

The High Pay Centre’s ‘Fat Cat Wednesday’ research published today (Wednesday) is a reminder of how important corporate governance reform is to making the economy fairer for all working people, says the TUC.

Fat Cat Wednesday is the day in 2017 on which the average pay received since the beginning of the year by CEOs of FTSE100 companies surpasses the entire annual pay of the average worker.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Working people deserve a fair share of the wealth they help create. But while the pay of top executives has been rocketing up, the average weekly wage is still worth less than it was nine years ago.

“The Prime Minister must stick to her promise to tackle excessive pay at the top. And she should keep her commitment to put workers on company boards. This would help keep executive salary decisions grounded in common sense and fairness.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:
- The research published today by the High Pay Centre (www.highpaycentre.org) finds that top bosses will already have made more money by the first Wednesday of 2017 than the typical UK worker will earn all year; and the average pay ratio between FTSE100 CEOs and the average total pay of their employees in 2015 was 129:1.
- Real average weekly pay was £522 at its peak in 2007, but is £499 in 2016. This is based on ONS data from the Labour Force Survey up to 2015, and Office for Budgetary Responsibility projections for 2016.
- All TUC press releases can be found at tuc.org.uk/media
- TUC Press Office on Twitter: @tucnews