<\/p>\n
The assessment examined 1 500 top\u2011paying corporations across 33 countries that reported CEO pay for 2025, concluding that corporate profits plus productivity gains are becoming increasingly concentrated at the top. The findings were released as labour movements marked Workers\u2019 Day, a date linked historically to organised labour struggles for fair hours plus safe working conditions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Chief Economist at the ITUC Daniel Kostzer told Channel Africa that executive pay structures are often tied to financial markets, while worker wages remain tied to labour markets plus day\u2011to\u2011day production. \u201cCEO pay rises much faster because executive compensation is mainly tied to financial markets, while workers are paid in relation to labour markets plus real production,\u201d Kostzer said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kostzer said the composition of executive packages is central to the imbalance, with shares, stock options plus bonuses linked to profits pushing pay higher when equity prices rise. By contrast, worker pay typically reflects wage bargaining, labour demand, plus company payroll decisions that do not automatically transfer productivity gains into earnings.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kostzer said corporate justification often centres on attracting plus retaining senior talent, alongside alignment of executive incentives with shareholder interests. Kostzer said the \u201cfinancialisation\u201d of corporate strategy has reinforced the link between executive income plus share performance, creating strong upward pressure at the top even when worker pay remains flat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The analysis also highlights a broader risk for economies facing inequality pressure: weak wage growth can suppress household demand, widen social discontent, plus undermine long-term productivity when workers cannot share in growth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The ITUC\u2013Oxfam findings renew calls for stronger worker protections, fair wage-setting systems, plus policies that reduce excessive pay concentration, including improved transparency in executive remuneration plus stronger collective bargaining coverage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33565,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-33564","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"A new joint analysis by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Oxfam has warned that the gap between boardroom pay and worker earnings is widening sharply, with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at the world\u2019s largest companies pulling further ahead, while most workers see little to no real wage growth.","published_date":"","news_description":"A new joint analysis by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Oxfam has warned that the gap between boardroom pay and worker earnings is widening sharply, with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at the world\u2019s largest companies pulling further ahead, while most workers see little to no real wage growth.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33566,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33564\/revisions\/33566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}