The start of 2018 has arrived, which marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction on the national minimum wage in the UK. With the big milestone, came criticism from the GMB Union, who has said that the national minimum wage has failed to keep up to pace with the growing wages of FTSE 100 chief executives.
Recent analysis from the GMB trade union has found that if the national minimum wage did accurately reflect the increase in average pay of the FTSE 00 chief executives over the last two decades, we should be seeing the minimum wage sitting at £12.74 an hour. Currently, the national minimum wage is £5.24 lower than this.
During the two decades, the national minimum wage has risen 108% from £3.60 to £7.50 an hour. However, the average pay for chief executives rose a whopping 354% from £1.23m to £4.35m. Now, the day that the FTSE 100 chief executives will have earned more than the average UK salary (Fat Cat Day) will be its earliest: the 4th January.
With this new analysis being laid out, there is a greater possibility of the 20th anniversary of the national minimum wage being a negative one, with the light being shone on the growing pay gap between workers and their bosses.
Director of the High Pay Centre, Stefan Stern stated that “There are two ways to close this unacceptable and unjustifiable gap: one is to have more restraint at the top, and the other is to have the long overdue pay-rise that lower paid workers deserve.”
Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary has called for a minimum wage of at least £10 an hour, which is backed by Labour’s manifesto. However, Roache reminds us to be positive with the mark of its 20th anniversary: “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.”