A union boss has accused AstraZeneca’s chief executive David Brennan of ‘boardroom greed’ following revelations his pension pot has been topped up by £3.45million in the last year.

The figures have been revealed as staff at the firm are preparing to walk out again today on a second round of GMB strikes in the ongoing row over the freezing of the firm’s final salary plan.

Mr Brennan’s is now the third highest accrued pension for a UK company director behind Shell and the Carnival Group according to a new survey and will give Mr Brennan an entitlement of £915,000 a year.

Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary said: "It is particularly shocking that at the very time when this hugely profitable company is attacking GMB members’ pensions, its chief executive David Brennan has reached third in the UK league of the top bosses pension entitlements. When he retires based on today’s figures, Mr Brennan will enjoy a pension of more than £17,500 per week."

Video below of AstraZeneca workers on strike last week ...

Mr Kenny, who will attend today’s strikes at Hurdsfield and Alderley, added: "This is in sharp contrast with the decision to freeze pensionable pay for the UK Astra Zeneca workers.

"It is another case of boardroom greed and a culture which is summed up by ‘do as I say not as I do’.

"GMB urge the company to return to the negotiation table to resolve these issues."

The figures were revealed last week in the TUC’s eighth annual ‘Pensions Watch’ survey of retirement deals for heads of the UK’s biggest firms. It is also thought to have increased significantly in the past two years from about £610,000 a year.

The average annual pension now going to a top director is worth £220,000 a year it said. Reacting to the survey, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Greed is still good in the nation’s top boardrooms where directors continue to reward themselves with seven figure pension pots." AZ said the pension arrangements of Mr Brennan, who is based in London and has worked for the firm for 34 years, were not ‘directly comparable’ to Macclesfield workers because he joined in America and is part of the US defined benefit scheme, which contained different terms. More than 140 GMB union members joined last week’s two hour strike at the Hurdsfield site – the first industrial action in the company’s history.

Today’s four hour strike across both the Hurdsfield and Alderley Park sites is due to be followed by an all day walk out next Wednesday (September 22). One worker on last week’s first picket line told the Express: "AstraZeneca are sending a message that loyalty means nothing. We are devastated that they aren’t taking this seriously.

"I’ve worked for the company for 31 years and the values of my pension are frozen at 2010 levels."

An AstraZeneca spokesman said: "The size of a defined benefit pension is generally a product of salary and years of service.

"David Brennan’s accrued pension reflects that he has spent 34 years with the company, and during that time has held roles at the very highest levels of management. We remain committed to providing a very competitive level of pension benefit, and the changes made ensure all employees continue to have access to pension arrangements that compare favourably to other organisations in the UK."

GMB union members at Macclesfield’s two sites, which between them employ 6,500 people, had balloted in favour of industrial action last month.