Have directors really been improving their performance four times faster than the people who work for them? The answer to that must be no!

John Monks

"Why should a director be worth 15 times as much as an average employee one year, and 20 times as much five years later", argued John Monks, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Speaking on the eve of his organisation's annual conference in Glasgow, Mr Monks described attempts to persuade shareholders to reign in executive pay rises as "pathetic".

According to figures compiled by the unions, UK company directors saw their pay rise by 72% during the past five years - from an average of �239,000 to �410,000.

During the same period, workers saw their salaries increase by 18%, from �17,300 to �20,400.

Among FTSE 100 companies, the highest paid company director earned 20.7 times more than his workers during 1999 - excluding share options and bonuses.

Criticising Labour

"Have directors really been improving their performance four times faster than the people who work for them? The answer to that must be no!", Mr Monks said.

The TUC's comments add to criticism that the Labour government has been too friendly to big business.

Mr Monks acknowledged that Labour was worried about director's pay, but added: "We are less sure what they intend to do about it."

'Winner takes all'

The Institute of Directors (IoD) rejected the TUC's arguments, saying executive pay was ruled by the "winner takes all culture which we live in".

According to the IoD's numbers, average pay of its members rose by just 4% during 1999, about the same as for most workers.

Ruth Lea, the IoD's head of policy unit, said: "We've heard this argument over and over again and we would simply refute it."

The TUC's annual three-day conference is behing held in Glasgow and starts on Monday, 11 September.