TUC anger over fat-cat pensions

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

DIRECTORS' pensions at Britain's largest companies average £2.5m, according to a Trades Union Congress survey.

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This makes them worth 26 times the average pension payout, the TUC said in the survey published today.

The TUC, which has lobbied hard for the protection of public service pension schemes and forcing compulsory company contributions to private ones, has locked horns in recent years with big business which wants more flexible retirement benefits.

'Britain's boardrooms have escaped the country's pensions crisis. Too many directors have closed decent final salary pensions for staff and replaced them with cheaper and riskier schemes,î said TUC director-general Brendan Barber.

'Meanwhile, directors have continued to build up enormous, VIP pensions, as they tighten everyone's belts but their own.î

The survey, published ahead of the TUC conference, is based on staff and director pension provisions at 105 of Britain's top companies.

Pensions are expected to become a hot political issue ahead of the next election, with Tory leadership candidate Kenneth Clarke making them, along with savings, the priority for targeted tax cuts.

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