The heads of Australia’s biggest businesses are taking home pay packets and bonuses of up to $23.9 million, while working people are struggling to make ends meet.
This massive leap in executive pay that is exposed in a report released today by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) survey is a disgrace, particularly in the wake of the banking royal commission and at the same time we face a wage growth crisis.
It found Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce is the highest paid, taking home $23.9 million, 275 times what an average worker earns.
At the same time Qantas workers have been sacked, suffered pay freezes, and been refused bonuses until they have been through a wage freeze period.
Qantas withheld the bonus for all non-management staff until they signed onto a new company-endorsed employment agreement. Some workers will have to wait for up to two years and any staff who leave or are made redundant will never be paid.
As noted by ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly
“Things are seriously out of balance when the head of Qantas is earning 275 times what an average working person earns, but Qantas workers suffer pay freezes and are denied bonuses.
“Working people are struggling to maintain their living standards while companies are making bumper profits and CEOs are taking these sickeningly large salaries and bonuses.
“The Morrison Government has overseen multi-nationals and the very wealthy taking more than their fair share of the nation’s wealth at the expense of the living standards of millions of working people.”
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