CWU general secretary Billy Hayes condemned as "obscene" the 49 per cent increase in top directors' pay that researchers Income Data Services (IDS) uncovered this morning.
The IDS study reported that, for FTSE 100 directors, remuneration averages just under £2.7 million while FTSE 100 chief executives' remuneration increased by a total of 43 per cent over the year - including salary, benefits and bonuses - lifting average reward to £3.86 million.
Average pay settlements for workers in the private sector as a whole, however, are running at just 2.6 per cent - less than half the current RPI inflation figure of 5.6 per cent.
"When workers are already facing cuts to their standard of living, it's frankly obscene to see top directors receiving such astronomical increases in pay," said Billy.
"In the CWU, we've got hard-working TV Licensing staff being faced with no alternative but to take strike action on Monday because their employer is refusing to increase its current pay offer of around 2.6 to 2.7 per cent.
"It's one rule for those at the top and another when it comes to the rest of us. Workers across the UK, in every sector and industry are asking: 'Why should my pay fall behind the cost of living'?
"Normal workers are paying the price for executive greed yet again. These people are completely out of touch with reality and drastic measures need to be taken to reign in the culture of excess and greed
"We're fighting for fair pay for our members and we'll continue to campaign to drive up pay right across the board," Billy pledged.
The revelations have drawn criticism from across the UK with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg calling the figures "incomprehensible" and TUC general secretary Brendan Barber saying "These bumper settlements prove that chief executive officers;' pay bears no resemblance to performance or economic reality." The Daily Mail has branded directors "fat cat bosses" while GMB general secretary Paul Kenny called them "greedy pigs".
Steve Tatton, editor of the IDS report, said: "Britain's economy may be struggling to pre-recession levels of output, but the same cannot be said of FTSE 100 directors' remuneration."
Well Sod it so am I!!! 
But I've still got my Pride (and my Overdraught) 
