CENTRICA boss Iain Conn should have his “obscene” pay rise blocked by shareholders, Unison insisted today.

The union called on British Gas shareholders to use their votes at next month’s annual general meeting of parent company Centrica to reject its CEO’s £2.4 million pay rise.

Mr Conn’s whopping pay package is around 109 times the average annual salary of British Gas’s call centre workers who are currently on £22,000.

His 44 per cent pay increase to £660,000 comes in a financial year when 2,000 of his employees look set to lose their jobs in “restructuring” exercises at the company.

Unison said the increase would fund 30 new call centre workers at the energy giant and improve the wages of workers not facing the sack who have been subject to a pay freeze over the last decade.

The huge pay increase comes just a week after the company announced 500 jobs are to go at British Gas sites at City Park in Glasgow and Canal Street in Leeds.

Unison said Mr Conn’s package includes two bonuses of £388,000 each which are closely linked to him overseeing the current job reduction measures.

As a result, the union is calling on all workers who have stakes in Centrica through their shares in British Gas to reject Mr Conn’s “remuneration package.”

The union’s demand has been echoed by ethical action group ShareAction, which has called on institutional investors to show their opposition to the huge award.

Unison national officer for energy 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.

“It’s impossible to defend when there are cutbacks throughout the company.

“Staff should make a stand at the forthcoming AGM.

“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.

“We ask him to show some leadership by refusing to take this pay rise.”