At the same time, we are expected to forget that the reason we are in this economic crisis is because of a huge deficit created by bailing out greedy, irresponsible bankers who seem to have no concept of social responsibility or progress.
Trade unionists are often accused of indulging in, or exploiting, what is described as the politics of envy. I refer to the continuing reports in the media about chief executive bonuses, huge wage rises and bloated pay packets, as well as the latest reports from the London School of Economics (LSE) revealing that the highest paid in our society are continuing to outstrip all other workers, even in the midst of a global and national economic crisis.

A widening gap
While the majority of the UK workforce, including the vast majority in our own industry, has endured wage freezes and cuts over the past 18 months, we learn that directors’ pay continues to exceed average earnings increases year-on-year.
In the past 10 years, the LSE survey has shown that the top 10% of highest salaries in the UK saw their share of total UK wages rise from 27% to 30%.

The gap continues to widen, inequality continues to increase and we can expect the trend to continue with a more accommodating government.

Of course, those of you that are regular users of the trains in this country will have been pleased to hear that the top guys at Network Rail awarded themselves £6m in bonuses this year. Bonuses of that much money for a well-run service seems laughable, but those of you, like me, that have had to suffer the inefficiencies of late trains, cables down and leaves on the line will probably be very surprised.

Even David Cameron had something to say on the matter, although I doubt very much if the train bosses were particularly bothered by that.

For most workers in the print and paper industry, the only opportunity for wage improvements is through their annually negotiated collective agreements. They have no other opportunity for increases to keep pace with inflation and certainly, over the past two years, the bulk have seen – because of the reduction in overtime work – a substantial reduction in their earnings.

While we can accept that most company directors in our industry are being restrained with their remuneration, we also know that those same directors have the authority to redress their own remuneration levels at some time in the future, probably well in excess of that which they are likely to grant to their employees, through collective bargaining or otherwise.
Unfortunately, we know this is exactly what is likely to happen and it is borne out by all the historical data we have at our disposal. We could also, of course, provide lots of anecdotal evidence over the years of directors who have awarded themselves disproportionate packages compared to what they delivered for their companies. Most of those companies are no longer in existence now, but that’s no surprise.

The deafening message from every quarter of management and indeed government is that we are all in this crisis together. However, our past experience demonstrates otherwise. The dangerous symptom of this is a cultivation of resentment, not borne out of envy, but simply borne out of the feeling that we are being taken for fools. How that affects the morale of a workforce who sees its employers inhabiting a completely different world to themselves will only manifest itself again in social and industrial unrest.

Steve Sibbald is a national officer for Unite