Union group issues warning over widening pay gaps

Umbrella trade union group Congress today forecast the cost of living will remain high for the next year and a half.

With a new round of national pay talks looming, the influential body issued a detailed economic outlook which warned of widening pay gaps between executives and middle and low-paid workers.

Congress general secretary David Begg said trade unions were determined to bring down the huge salaries of many of the top earners in banks and major companies.

“We do want to drag their pay levels down,” he said.

The Congress study, Economic Outlook 2008: Narrowing the Pay Gap, is widely seen as a chance to promote the case for a national wage increase as unions, employers and the Government prepare to reopen pay talks.

Mr Begg claimed executives’ salaries in the 1980s were around 30 times that of an ordinary shop floor worker whereas today they are around 350 times.

The Congress report stated: “Phase two of Towards 2016 to begin with an economic obesity programme designed to tax fairly the fat cats at the top of the wealth pyramid.”

Meanwhile, Taoiseach-designate Brian Cowen is to deliver a keynote address at a major economic conference organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions tomorrow, 24 hours before the pay talks open.

The Congress conference at Dublin’s Croke Park will address the theme of Globalisation and Irish Workers with Mr Cowen expected to focus on how the Irish economy can best respond to the challenge.