UK financial sector sees salaries growing while average worse off than 10 years ago: report

LONDON -- Salaries in Britain's finance and banking sector have grown in the past 10 years by 119 pounds ($154) a week, a new report released Tuesday in London revealed.

Over the same period, the average British worker now earns 17 pounds a week less, a study by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) showed.

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "It's not right that pay is racing ahead in the City when most working people are still worse off than a decade ago."

In most sectors of the economy, wages are still worth less than before the financial crisis, but a small number of industries have bucked that trend, said the TUC, which represents millions of workers in Britain.

Average real pay in the financial sector has increased by 9.3 percent since 2009, and has now reached a record weekly average of 1,405 pounds, with bankers doing best.

Other sectors that have seen real wage growth include, retail and hospitality, which are likely to have been boosted by increases to the minimum wage, said the TUC report.

While pay has recovered for bankers, the story is very different for public sector workers, the report showed.

People employed in health and social work and education are still 36 pounds a week worse off than in 2009, with nurses and teachers amongst hardest hit.

The hardest-hit workers are those working in the sector that includes repair services and in furnishings. Their pay is 86 pounds a week lower in real terms than a decade ago.

The next worse performing sector is manufacturing of food and drink, where real pay is still down by 52 pounds a week less than in 2009.

"The architects of the financial crisis are earning record amounts while teachers and nurses struggle to get by," said O'Grady, "Workers deserve a much fairer share of the wealth they create."

The TUC showed that in nine industrial sectors weekly pay is higher than in 2009, but in 14 industrial sectors millions of workers earn less, with workers in the service sector the worst hit of any other group.