Greedy MAN Bosses
Airport 'fat cats' blasted over rises
John Scheerhout
BOSSES at Manchester Airport came under fire today for receiving massive rises at a time when wages of many of their workers were being cut.
"It stinks," said one airport worker. "It's one rule for them and another for the rest of us."
Transport and General Union north west secretary Dave McCall said: "This is in line with the worst we have seen of fat-cat pay increases which has attracted widespread condemnation, including from all the major political parties.
"Our members are being offered an annual increase of about inflation and they are told that's what's needed to keep the airport competitive. Well, if it's good enough for the workers, it should be good enough for the directors."
Accounts of Manchester Airport Group, the umbrella company which owns the airport, show directors' pay went up by 49 per cent from £588,000 to £877,000 in the past year.
Chief executive of Manchester Airport Group, Geoff Muirhead, 54, has been awarded an inflation-busting £54,000 rise. He received £324,000 for the financial year up to March 2003, compared with £270,000 the year before - a rise of 20 per cent.
Mr Muirhead's bumper pay packet included a basic £257,000, bonuses worth £49,000 and other benefits worth £18,000. His pension for the year was worth a further £50,000.
Wage-hike
Separate accounts for Manchester Airport plc, the company which runs the airport, released earlier showed directors' pay increased from £580,000 to £863,000.
Managing director John Spooner received £222,000 in wages and other benefits, not including a pension of £57,000. The figures reveal pre-tax profits of £11.2m at Manchester Airport Group, which owns Manchester, Humberside, Bournemouth and East Midlands airports.
At the beginning of the financial year in which Mr Muirhead received his wage hike, he was leading a cost-cutting programme which included slashing security workers' pay by up to 40 per cent. It resulted in strikes over the pay-cuts and the axing of 140 security jobs.
The cost-cutting has still not been completed.
The T&G's Mr McCall said: "Any clown can make extra profits by cutting salaries. They are presiding over a workforce that's being demoralised by the month and it's a threat to the airport itself."
Chairman of Manchester Airport Group's remuneration committee Margaret Salmon said: "To attract and retain a world-class team, our policy is to set competitive rates of pay at all levels of the organisation to ensure that all employees receive the appropriate remuneration for the job they perform.
"An independent remuneration committee made up of external, non-executive members determines executive pay scales. Recommendations made by the remuneration committee are based upon comprehensive comparisons with the market. The executive team has led the development of the business to become the UK's second largest airports group."
04/11/2003 Manchester Evening News