TUC: The city’s bountiful rewards from the financial crisis are back | Salaries and bonuses for executives

Unions have found that bonuses paid to bankers, insurance brokers and other workers in the financial sector in the UK have reached a record level and are rising at a rate six times faster than the average wage in the UK.

The Trade Union Congress said its analysis suggests the city’s bountiful pre-crash-era executive bonuses are back, even as most of the country struggles with rising costs of living outweighing wage increases.

An analysis of official figures showed that bonuses in the financial and insurance sector grew by 27.9% over last year, while average wages in the same period grew by only 4.2%. Nearly £6 billion was paid out in city rewards in the month of March alone.

Francis O’Grady, TUC’s Secretary General, said: “There is no justification for such outrageous bonuses to the city at the best of times – not to mention the cost-of-living crisis. While City CEOs fill it up, millions are struggling to keep their heads above water.

“Working people are on the verge of collapse, having been hit hard by high bills after a decade of halting wages and sweeping credit cuts. Ministers are not hesitant to demand public sector wage controls, but they are turning a blind eye to the city’s shocking surplus. It is time to keep bonuses at the top – not salaries any other person “.

O’Grady called for a series of measures to curb city bonuses and raise wages across the economy. They include the introduction of percentages of the maximum wages, so that bonuses do not exceed 10% of the total salary; Ensure that bonus programs are open to all employees under the same terms; Ensure that workers are included in the company’s wage committees.

Last month, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank found that the return of bumper finance industry payouts meant the top 1% of highest-paid workers were further drifting away from the rest of the UK workforce in the biggest boom in bonuses and wages in the city since the 2008 financial crisis.

TUC analysis showed that average bonuses awarded in the finance and insurance sector rose to £4,021 in the first three months of this year, up from £3,146 in the same period last year. By contrast, the average monthly wage in the UK rose to £2,413, from £2,315. Those numbers put the city’s bonuses at their highest since records began, lowering average wages in nearly all sectors.

In March, the finance and insurance premiums were 2.4 times greater than a worker’s basic monthly wage. It was higher than the basic average monthly wage in every other sector of the economy, with the exception of mining and quarrying.

The research comes as the cost of living crisis deepens, with annual inflation at 9% and regulator Ofgem announcing that the ceiling on energy prices will rise by more than £800 in the autumn. This follows a 54% increase in April, and will take the average annual household energy bill to £2,800.

Real wages across the economy, adjusted for inflation, are down £68 a month compared to a year ago. The situation is even worse for public sector workers, whose real monthly wages are an average of £131 less.

Besides finance and insurance, other industries are turning to one-off payments to hire more people amid labor shortages, which could hamper ongoing wage increases, according to TUC.

Its analysis showed record bonus payments across a number of sectors, including professional, scientific and technical services, real estate, arts and entertainment, administrative and support services, construction, wholesale trade, and accommodation and food.

TUC is urging the government to tackle the crisis by offering fair wage agreements across industry sectors, and giving unions access to workplaces to tell workers the benefits of union membership.

It wants to raise the minimum wage immediately to at least £10 an hour for all workers, regardless of age, and has called for “appropriate wage increases” for all public service workers. She also reiterated her calls for an increase in the number of public holidays, saying workers in the UK have fewer people than in other countries.