Union angry at Virgin Media over bonuses

Virgin Media, the struggling cable operator, has provoked a furious response from unions by revealing it intends to award its executives bonuses just months after cutting more than 2,000 jobs.

In a US stock exchange filing, the broadband and pay-television group said it had approved plans to award executives who meet qualifying criteria up to 100 per cent of their base salary.

Virgin Media's plans come after it said late last year that it would sack 2,200 jobs – or 15 per cent of its workforce – by 2012 in order to save cash. Grace Mitchell, of the Communication Workers Union, said: "The executives should be taking a lead and looking to forgo these bonuses."