Bosses getting huge pay rises while workers have their wages squeezed is a recipe for "desperately low morale" in companies, Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Brendan Barber has suggested. Barber said industry leaders had their "snouts deep in the trough" even at a time when firms are struggling.

Latest research from Incomes Data Services showed that the total earnings of FTSE-100 directors increased by 55% last year while average workforce pay settlements were only between 2% and 3%. RPI inflation is running at 4.7%.

Barber said shareholders should take their responsibilities more seriously and veto big boardroom rises, and suggested workers should sit on company remuneration committees to "inject a dose of reality" to awards.

Barber is right – but it is not just shareholders who need to take their responsibilities of more seriously, it is all of us. Not only should we be telling the bosses of Topshop, Vodafone, HSBC and Barclays to pay their taxes but they should also stop giving themselves so much. As the protests against the cuts escalate in 2011 it is vital that this anger is directed at the bosses who were directly responsible for contributing to the problem in the first instance.