Businesses should disclose employee pay and pensions to investors, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said.
TUC, General Secretary Brendan Barber said that past research had revealed two-tier pensions within companies with many directors on better terms than their staff.
“This should be made clear to investors and we hope shareholder pressure can have the same impact on differential pensions arrangements as it has had on directors’ contracts,” he said.
Developed as party of the TUC’s work to grow a strong shareholder voice for the representatives of employee owned capital in pension funds and other investment vehicles; the union body has released its Shareholder Voting and Engagement Guidelines which make the call for pay and pensions transparency.
The guidelines will be distributed to the TUC’s 1,000 strong network of pension fund trustees and all companies in the FTSE100 index.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “As unions and their members develop their voice as investors it is important to have a clear statement of our views on important issues for shareholders such as executive pay, board structure and corporate social responsibility.”
