FTSE 100 CEOs have already earned more than Bolton workers

The findings show that by 10am on Thursday January 4, chief executives at the top FTSE 100 companies had already earned as much as the average Bolton worker will all year.

This has sparked widespread outrage at widening inequalities from groups like public sector union Unison.

Bolton Unison branch secretary Andrea Egan said: “This is just another part of the ongoing battle at the moment for working class people.

“The reality is that you’re either part of the working class or you’re part of the one per cent, but I think what these kind of figures really show is how great the gulf has become between working class people and people right at the top of the pay system.”

Income inequality has soared in recent years (Image: PA)

She added: “I genuinely don’t know how some of our members are surviving on a week-by-week basis and it is no surprise that some of them are having to use food banks while working.

“Some people may be bored of hearing about it but that is the reality for our members.”

Findings from the High Pay Centre shows pay for FTSE 100 CEOs currently stands at £3.8 million per year, while research from the Harvard Business School suggests they work 12.5 hours a day.

Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics figures show the median full-time wage for a worker in Bolton in the 2022-23 tax year was £31,460.

Assuming they start work at 8 am, this means chief executives will have earned the average yearly wage by 10am on Thursday January 4.

Ms Egan said: “We’ve tried to take action because the salary of our workers has just not been cutting the cloth.”

She added: “My perspective is that I may struggle sometimes but I can get by but I feel such fear and anxiety when I look at what the younger generations are facing.

ALSO READ: Bolton College staff on picket line demand 'fair pay'

ALSO READ: Bolton's rate of child poverty third highest in Greater Manchester

ALSO READ: The shameful number of Bolton children living in poverty

“We can’t carry on living in a society where CEOs are taking the cream and our members are having to live on low wages.”

But the government claims that increasing the National Living Wage is helping to tackle inequalities.

A spokesperson said: "We have given millions of workers across the UK a historic pay rise thanks to our decision to increase the National Living Wage to £11.44 an hour.

"In total since 2010, the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will have increased by over £10,000, demonstrating how we are delivering for those in work."