Wonderful Banker's Bonuses! - Daily Mail Thu 20th Sept/12Q: Are the bankers our salvation.......or our destruction, financially? Read the comments! "String 'em up!" seems popular......!s============================================================================================Outrage over £13bn lavished on bonuses for bankers while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet
- Bonuses paid to workers in the finance and insurance sector have rocketed
- Average finance worker gets a bonus of £12,000
By Becky BarrowBritain’s bankers and other finance workers scooped £13billion in bonuses last year as the rest of the country struggled to make ends meet, official figures revealed yesterday.Critics accused bankers of ‘living in a parallel universe’, making vast sums despite their involvement in causing the financial crisis which is causing pain for millions of ordinary workers.The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, reveal how bonuses paid to workers in the finance and insurance sector have rocketed over the last decade.Raking it in: While most families tightened the purse-strings last year, Britain's bankers and other finance workers gained £13billion in bonusesIn 2001/2, they received just £7billion. A decade later, they got windfalls of £13billion, although this is below the peak of £19billion in 2007/08, the year that the credit crunch began.It comes after the banking industry has been accused of losing its ‘moral compass’ after being shamed by a series of recent scandals, but continuing to pay gold-plated bonuses.These range from being bailed out by taxpayers, manipulating crucial interest rates, mis-selling insurance, laundering money, crippling IT problems and ripping off pensioners.The ONS figures also reveal how bonuses are paid to many different types of workers - but it is financial workers who get the biggest slice of the cake.Between April 2011 and March 2012, a total of £37billion of bonuses was paid out to workers, but 35 per cent - or £35 in every £100 - went to bankers and other finance workers.To make matters worse for ordinary workers, the bonus is paid on top of a huge salary for many of the sector’s one million workers.A man with a full-time job who works in the City of London earns an average pay package of £106,000, according to the ONS. This includes his salary and his bonus, if he gets one.High earners: The Office for National Statistics revealed that a man working in the City of London earns anaverage pay package of £106,000Overall, the report said the average finance worker gets a bonus of £12,000, compared to an average private sector worker who gets £1,700.By comparison, public sector workers, excluding those who work for State-owned banks, such as Royal Bank of Scotland, earns an average bonus of £100.The size of the massive windfall will outrage millions of ordinary hard-working Britons who face a daily battle to stay financially afloat.Their finances are under attack from tax rises, such as VAT, pay freezes or paltry pay rises, soaring gas bills, rip-off petrol prices and no bonus from their boss.Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, one of Britain’s biggest unions, has many public sector members currently subject to a two or three-year pay freeze.He said: ‘It is a disgrace that the lure of big bonuses fuelled the recession and yet today’s figures show finance workers still bringing home more in bonuses than many public service workers get paid in a year.‘The pay freeze is having a devastating impact on the families of nurses, home care workers, paramedics, dinner ladies and millions more public service workers.‘After years of having their pay frozen they are struggling to pay every-day bills such as food, fuel and children’s clothing.‘Some are being forced to borrow from unscrupulous pay day loan companies charging exorbitant interest rates, just to get them through the month.’David Hillman, a spokesman for the Robin Hood Tax campaign, which is calling for new taxes on the financial sector to tackle poverty and climate change, said: ‘It is outrageous that the banks continue to dole out billions in bonuses whilst they are knee-deep in insurance mis-selling and other scandals that ripped off the public.‘Bank bonuses may be lower than in previous years, but top bankers still seemingly exist in a parallel universe to everyone else.’-------------------------------------------------Comments (85)
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