Green MEPs would make a fresh push to tackle the growing pay gap between Europe’s CEOs and their workforce, following elections on 22nd May.
One year after securing a cap on bankers’ bonuses the Green Party are moving to use EU legislation to tackle excesses at the top and deprivation at the bottom.
A new directive on a European minimum income and EU-wide pay ratios for every company are the flagship measures designed to restore a degree of fairness to the corporate salary scale.
London Green MEP Jean Lambert said: “It cannot be right that a CEO takes home more in 3 days than one of his workers earns in a whole year. Only the Green Party would curb boardroom excesses by linking pay at the top to pay at the bottom”.
Research from independent think tank The High Pay Centre shows that the gap between pay at the top and wages at the bottom has grown exponentially over the past 17 years.
In 1997 the average pay for a FTSE 100 Chief Executive was 47 times that of their average employee. By 2012 this had risen to 133 times.
South West Green MEP candidate and Green Party finance spokesperson, Molly Scott Cato said: “Green MEPs have a proud track record on tackling casino capitalism. More Green MEPs means more opportunities to bring about an economy that works for the common good”.
In the last European Parliament Green MEPs successfully brought in the cap on bankers’ bonuses despite fierce opposition from corporate lobbyists. Limiting bonuses to a maximum of 100 percent of salary, or 200 percent if shareholders vote for it, will reduce unnecessary risk-taking and make bankers more accountable for their actions.