UK Trade Unions Urge Investor Action On Pay Gap

UK trade unions urge investor action on pay gap

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th May, 2021 ) :British trade unions called Thursday on investors to demand that companies address the vast pay gap between the richest and poorest staff at high-profile shareholder meetings.

Union leaders have urged 60 of Britain's largest asset managers to help tackle excessive boardroom pay, in a joint letter organised by think-tank the High Pay Centre (HPC).

The letter urges asset managers to hold companies to account over low pay and poor employment practices, the HPC said in a statement.

Union leaders want vigilance over pay gap data which companies have been required to publish since 2020.

Such "vital information... should inform shareholder votes on pay reports and directors' re-elections at company annual general meetings", the HPC added.

The unions, representing around three million workers, comprise the British food and Allied Workers Union, the Communication Workers' Union, Prospect, and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, as well as Unite and Unison.

A typical FTSE 100 company boss takes home about 109 times the annual wage of the lowest paid employee, according to data collated by the think-tank.

That has a negative impact on the engagement, turnover and productivity of staff -- at a time when the lowest paid have been heavily relied upon during the pandemic and experienced the greatest Covid risk.

"Low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the Covid crisis, with the greatest risk of loss of work and of infection from the virus being concentrated in low-paying sectors," said HPC director Luke Hildyard.

"To get the economy moving again, and to build a fair society that works for everyone, investors need to make sure that all workers are fairly paid and fairly treated at the companies in which they invest." The letter comes against the backdrop of several high-profile shareholder revolts against executive pay, including at Covid vaccine maker AstraZeneca and mining giant Rio Tinto.

This week, AstraZeneca investors only narrowly voted in favour of lifting the pay package of chief executive Pascal Soriot.

And Rio Tinto shareholders last week rejected remuneration handed to outgoing boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques.