West Midlands average pay down by more than £1,000
Average pay in the West Midlands fell by more than £1,000 in real terms last year, according to new analysis published by the TUC today.
The study - to mark the beginning of Fair Pay Fortnight, which runs from today until to March 1 - found that the average full-time employee wage in the region has fallen in real terms by £2,430 since 2010. That equates to more than £45 a week.
The TUC says that UK workers have endured the longest real wage squeeze since records began in the 1850s.
It also says that, even with inflation falling sharply in recent months, at current rates of progress it will still take years for wages to recover to their pre-recession levels.
It also says that while average pay for workers in the West Midlands fell by 8.9 per cent in real terms between 2010 and 2014, pay for FTSE 100 bosses shot up by 26 per cent over the same period.
FTSE 100 chief executives saw their pay increase, on average, by £700,000 in real terms between 2010 and 2014.
The average wage for a FTSE 100 CEO in 2014 was £3,334,000 – 134 times the average annual wage in the West Midlands which was down four per cent (£1,037) from 2013.
The TUC is organising Fair Pay Fortnight to raise awareness about pay inequality and to campaign for a higher minimum wage, greater extension of the living wage and higher pay settlements in the public and private sector.
A number of events and activities have been planned across the West Midlands during the Fortnight including street stalls in Brierley Hill and Halesowen.
TUC Midlands regional secretary Lee Barron said: "Despite growth returning, 2014 was another miserable year for living standards in the West Midlands with real wages falling by over £1,000 in real terms.
"Even though inflation has fallen sharply in recent months, it is still going to take years for people's earnings just to recover to their pre-recession levels."
