A brand new Oxfam evaluation additionally warns that the worldwide working class faces a brand new risk within the type of Trump’s tariff regime.
As folks worldwide stuffed the streets Thursday to have fun Worldwide Staff’ Day and mobilize in opposition to assaults on the working class, a brand new evaluation confirmed that common world CEO pay has surged 50% since 2019 — 56 occasions greater than the pay of atypical staff.
The Oxfam Worldwide analysis examined figures from almost 2,000 firms throughout 35 nations the place CEOs had been paid greater than $1 million on common final yr, together with bonuses and inventory choices. Throughout these corporations, the common pay of chief executives reached $4.3 million in 2024, up from $2.9 million simply 5 years in the past.
Against this, common employee pay in these 35 nations rose simply 0.9% between 2019 and 2024.
“12 months after yr, we see the identical grotesque spectacle: CEO pay explodes whereas employees’ wages barely budge,” stated Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s govt director. “This isn’t a glitch within the system — it’s the system working precisely as designed, funneling wealth ever upwards whereas hundreds of thousands of working folks wrestle to afford lease, meals, and healthcare.”
In line with Oxfam, world billionaires “pocketed on common $206 billion in new wealth over the past yr,” or $23,500 an hour. That’s greater than the common annual earnings globally — $21,000 — in 2023.
To start redressing world financial inequality, Oxfam known as for high marginal tax charges of at the least 75% on the best earners and wage will increase to make sure employee pay retains up with inflation.
Luc Triangle, common secretary of the Worldwide Commerce Union Confederation, stated in a press release that the “outrageous pay inequality between CEOs and employees confirms that we lack democracy the place it’s wanted most: at work.”
“All over the world, employees are being denied the fundamentals of life whereas firms pocket file earnings, dodge taxes, and foyer to evade accountability,” Triangle added. “Staff are demanding a New Social Contract that works for them — not the billionaires undermining democracy. Honest taxation, robust public providers, dwelling wages, and a simply transition usually are not radical calls for — they’re the muse of a simply society.”
“It’s time to finish the billionaire coup in opposition to democracy and put folks and planet first,” he added.
Along with spotlighting the rising chasm between CEO and employee pay, the Oxfam evaluation warned that the worldwide working class “is now going through a brand new risk” within the type of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff regime. The humanitarian group argued that “these insurance policies pose vital dangers for employees worldwide, together with job losses and rising prices for fundamental items that may stoke excessive inequality all over the place.”
“For thus many employees worldwide, President Trump’s reckless use of tariffs means a push from one merciless order to a different: from the frying pan of harmful neoliberal commerce coverage to the hearth of weaponized tariffs,” stated Behar. “These insurance policies won’t solely damage working households within the U.S., however particularly hurt employees making an attempt to flee poverty in among the world’s poorest nations.”
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