IN the letter (LT, April 5) on the poor, BuckoTheMoose is correct to highlight the relative difference between what we in Britain regard as poverty and what counts for poverty in other parts of the world.

However, when he suggests that employers are ‘struggling’ and therefore cannot afford to increase their staff’s wages, I beg to differ – at least at large companies and corporations.

There you will find (as is the case at my own place of work) a management quite happy to pocket the profits for themselves in self-awarded bonuses then turn around and say there’s nothing in the kitty for the workers. I have not seen a rise in my salary for six years.

I’ve no wish to see a return to the 1970s when unions’ power was such that management bowed to their threats, but it would be nice to have a fair and just approach in which workers are rewarded for keeping the company alive and in profit.

Observer, Blackburn.