Union blasts pay gap on minimum wage anniversary

Lower paid workers' pay has lagged so far behind their rich bosses says one union that the minimum wage would now be a whopping £12.74 if it had kept pace with chief executive pay.
Tim Roache of the GMBTim Roache of the GMB
Tim Roache of the GMB

On the twentieth anniversary of legislation to introduce the national minimum wage - an investigation by GMB, Britain’s general union, reveals it would be £5.24 per hour higher than at present for those workers aged 25 or older, which represents an additional £11,835.20 per year for a worker on 40 hours per week.

The national minimum wage is currently £7.50 an hour. The results were calculated using High Pay Centre figures showing FTSE 100 CEO average pay is now £4.35m a year – compared to £1.23m when the NMW came in – and increase of 354 per cent.

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Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, pictured, said: “The national minimum wage was a hugely important step for working people in this country - and its anniversary should be a cause for celebration of how far we’ve come.

“But this twentieth birthday risks being marred by the growing pay gap between workers and company bosses.”

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