Julia Hoggett, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, should be ashamed of herself (London Stock Exchange chief calls for UK firms to pay bosses more, 3 May). The average pay of £3.4m for FTSE 100 chief executives means that the ratio compared with average workers is over 100:1, something that is clearly unjustifiable. Having an “average total pay” of £33,000 means that in the UK, millions of hard-pressed workers are struggling to make ends meet on wages far below what is needed to manage in this inflation-ridden climate.
UK companies have had an appalling record in the last decade of short-termism, with low levels of investment in training and technology but very high levels of remuneration for bosses and shareholders. With companies also accused of keeping the rate of inflation high by driving up prices and therefore profits, calling for a pay rise for already highly paid bosses verges on the obscene.
The Trades Union Congress’s Paul Nowak is right: we need maximum pay ratios and elected workers’ representatives on boards.
Bernie Evans
Liverpool
