Directors And Chief Executives Top 2006 UK Pay League Earning Over Sixteen Times The National Minimum Wage...

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Date: 15 March 2007

Leisure and theme park attendants and waiting staff foot UK pay league.

GMB, Britain’s general union, has updated its occupational pay league for employees in all 346 occupational groups in the UK by ranking official pay data for April 2006 from the top to the bottom. This comes in the week in which the Low Pay Commission announced that the current National Minimum Wage rate of £11,128 per annum (from 1st October 2006) for a 40 hour week will be increased by £353.60 to £11,481.60 from 1st October 2007.

Top of the 2006 UK league were Company Directors & Chief Executives with mean gross annual pay of £181,491 which is sixteen times the National Minimum Wage. Second were Brokers on £95,907. Third were Financial Managers on £87,280. Also in the top half of the league were Train drivers at 53rd on £35,922, Police officers (sergeant and below) were ranked 57th out of 346 occupations receiving £35,578. Journalists were 76th on £32,583. Primary and nursery teachers were 89th on £31,114. Midwives came 99th on £30,052.

In the bottom half of the leagues were Electricians on £26.151 at 140th, Nurses were ranked at 146th on £25,724, TV, video and audio engineers £19,953 at 238th, Fork-lift truck drivers were 248th on £19,123, Van drivers were 267th on £18,040, Hospital porters were ranked 294th on £16,765, Car park attendants on £15,327 were ranked 312th, Educational assistants on £13,815 were ranked 329th and Bar staff £11,799 were 341st. At the very bottom were Leisure & Theme Park Attendants on £10, 698 coming in 346th and last. Just above were Waiting Staff on £11,428.

The United Kingdom mean gross annual pay in 2006 was £29,331.

The mean gross annual pay of the top ten and bottom ten occupations is shown in the following tables and the full list of all 346 occupations at www.gmb.org.ukor at the foot of this release or is available by email on request. The new analysis by GMB researchers used official figures from the Office of National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for April 2006.

Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary commenting on the figures said, “This annual look by GMB at what people in different occupations earn on average always generates a lot of comment, particularly from workers who earn less than the average figure shown for their occupation. The figures are sound and reflect the upstairs downstairs nature of pay rewards in the UK.

We have the average pay for company directors at more than sixteen times what 1.3 million on the national minimum wage are paid. But that is only the average for company directors. For example GMB were told recently that Damon Buffini, the boss of Permira which employs GMB members at the AA and Bird’s Eye is paid in excess of £40 million a year.

There is another problem too. People at the bottom and the middle pay tax and National Insurance on all their pay while those at the top are able to exploit all sorts of loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of tax. It is essential that we have a fair and progressive tax system and that everyone pays their fair share.”

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Contact: Rose Conroy, GMB Press Officer on 07974 251823 or Steve Pryle, GMB

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