PRESSURE from a second union is mounting on shareholders of energy firm Centrica to block boss Iain Conn’s multimillion-pound pay rise.

General union GMB has said that chief executive Mr Conn should have his £2.4 million pay increase blocked at the company’s AGM on May 19.

This comes a fortnight after Unison urged its members to also reject the pay rise.

Mr Conn’s 44 per cent wage increase is estimated to be 109 times the average salary of his call-centre staff, which is approximately £22,000.

The pay rise was announced just a day after 7,000 British Gas workers voted to accept deep cuts to their retirement pensions to help the “competitiveness” of the company.

This was on top of 2,000 British Gas employees in Leeds and Glasgow being told earlier that week that their workplaces were under the threat of closure as part of a business “restructuring” scheme which would shed 4,000 jobs by the end of next year.

Five thousand jobs at the company have been lost since 2015.

Union national secretary Justin Bowden said: “Ordinary Centrica workers are not being offered 4 per cent pay rises, never mind 44 per cent.

“The resulting loss of confidence since the announcement of Iain Conn’s planned rise runs right through the company from top to bottom. 

“From call centre staff earning 1/120th of the CEO’s pay, to the very highest levels of management are utterly demoralised by the poor judgement and lack of leadership.

“It is a classic boardroom case of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

“GMB urges shareholders to vote against this obscene pay rise.”

Unison national officer Matt Lay said: “This obscene pay rise shows a total lack of empathy for the situation of employees who are struggling to make ends meet or who may soon be losing their jobs.

“At a time when the company is struggling financially and staff face an uncertain future it simply cannot be right that the man at the top is enjoying such a huge pay and bonus extravaganza.”