THE Trades Union Congress (TUC) is to urge shareholders of steel company Corus to oppose the company's report on executive pay.

The union organisation said it believed the steelmaker should take a more sensitive approach to executive pay at a "difficult time" for its workers.

Brendan Barber, general secretary elect of the TUC, said: "The Corus remuneration report will increase the total bonuses possible for executives while pay-outs will be based on unclear performance criteria."

Mr Barber said that against a background of job losses, a staff pay freeze and the continuing threat of redundancies, it was hard to see how Corus had adhered to an official code by changing its bonus plan.

"Indeed, if the background in Corus is not seen as exactly the kind of scenario that requires sensitivity over remuneration it is difficult see how this section of the code will ever be anything more than words on a page."

Corus is holding its annual meeting on Tuesday at the TUC's head office, in Lon- don.

The firm appointed former Pechiney executive Philippe Varin as its chief executive yesterday after previous boss Tony Pedder resigned last month, when Corus reported a loss of £458m for 2002.

Chairman Brian Moffat is due to be replaced by the deputy chairman, Jim Leng, next month.

The announcement was welcomed by Corus's unions, which have been campaigning for changes at the top.