A decade ago, average S&P 500 CEO pay was US$11.7 million, and companies were not required to report the ratio of CEO pay to that of their median worker.

The actors' negotiations are taking place as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) remains on strike.

The WGA went on strike May 2 after failing to reach a new labour agreement with higher pay from Hollywood studios such as Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co.

Railway workers are among hundreds of thousands across Britain including teachers, doctors, nurses and civil servants who are in pay disputes with their employers as inflation hovers around 40-year-highs of about 10%.

Sunak is facing growing pressure due to labour unrest in the country, with nurses, train drivers and teachers having staged strikes for better pay rises as double-digit inflation squeezes household budgets.

An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centres, cancelling thousands of non-urgent operations, and tens of thousands of outpatient appointments in Britain's state-funded NHS.

The union says more than 2,000 drivers at bus operator Arriva will strike from Oct 4 in London, while 600 Kent-based staff employed by the same company will walk out on Sept 30.

The government has announced it will lift its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000 this financial year, up by 35,000, to help businesses with staff shortfalls and ease reliance on short-term workers.

Britain's labour market emerged from the coronavirus pandemic with unemployment at its lowest levels since 1974 due in large part to a shortage of domestic and foreign workers.

The soaring cost of living has pressured workers to push for higher pay, while the easing of Covid-19 restrictions has made it easier to organise labour actions, academics and activists say.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot managed to earn the equivalent of US$21.25 million or 50% more than his nearest challenger.