Top bosses in Britain earn more by noon Wednesday than average workers collect in whole year

Bosses of Britain's top companies earned more by noon Wednesday than the average worker is paid for the whole of 2017, research has revealed.

It's known as "Fat Cat Wednesday" with trade union officials highlighting the widening pay gap between ordinary workers and their board room executive bosses.

Fat Cat Wednesday is the day in 2017 on which the average pay received since the beginning of the year by CEOs of FTSE100 companies surpasses the entire annual pay of the average worker.

Britain's main trade union organization, the TUC, which represents millions of workers, said research by the High Pay Center "is a reminder of how important corporate governance reform is to making the economy fairer for all working people".

The independent non-party think tank, the High Pay Center, said the average pay ratio between CEO's of FTSE100 companies and the average total pay of their employees is around 129:1.

Their figures show that pay for top company executives returning to work this new year will pass Britain's average salary of 34,600 U.S. dollars by around mid-day Wednesday.

Many top bosses earn 1,000 pounds an hour (1,227 U.S. dollars) compared to a national living wage fixed at 7.20 pounds an hour (8.93 U.S. dollars).

"These pay gap figures confirm that there are dramatically different rates of pay at the top compared with what everyone else receives," said a spokesman of the Center.

High Pay Center director Stefan Stern said that Fat Cat Wednesday is an important reminder of the continuing problem of the unfair pay gap in Britain.

"We hope the government will recognize that further reform to pay practices are needed if this gap is to be closed.

The huge increase in top pay in recent years seems to have arisen because of so-called "performance-related pay" awards.

"But as new research from Lancaster University Management School has revealed, the link between pay and performance has in fact been "negligible", said Stern.

"Working people deserve a fair share of the wealth they help create," said TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady.

But while the pay of top executives has been rocketing up, the average weekly wage is still worth less than it was nine years ago, he said.

"The Prime Minister (Theresa May) must stick to her promise to tackle excessive pay at the top. And she should keep her commitment to put workers on company boards," he added.

The TUC said research shows real average weekly pay for British workers reached 640 U.S. dollars at its peak in 2007, but is now 612 U.S. dollars a week. Endit