Executive pensions 'soar'
The gap between executives' pensions and those of their staff has widened, it has emerged.
A new report from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) shows that the average retirement fund of a FTSE 100 firm director is worth more than £3 million.
During 2006, total pensions savings among the UK's top 100 firms reached just under £1 billion - the average increase of £300,000 taking directors' pension incomes to £193,000 a year - more than 25 times the average worker's pension.
Meanwhile, 59 per cent of firms have closed final salary pension schemes to new employees, a disparity criticised by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.
Mr Barber said: "Even if top directors were in the same scheme as their workforce, they would still get big pensions because their pay is so much greater than those of the staff they employ. But this is not enough for many top bosses - they need to have a guaranteed extra on top."
John Cridland, deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, claimed that failing to reward top executives would exclude the UK from the "global talent market", damaging the economy.
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