The FNV trade union has raised questions about the €1m bonus paid to Eelco Blok, chief executive of telecoms group KPN over last year.

The bonus is double Blok’s 2014 extra pay-out and coincides with what the union says are persistent company cut-backs.

‘The gap between management and workers is widening ever further,’ union spokesman Joost van Herpen said. ‘There needs to be a fairer distribution of money towards the people who do the work.’

Some 7,000 people have lost their jobs at KPN over the past few years, the union states. According to the union’s calculations, Blok earns 75 times as much as the lowest paid worker at KPN.

A spokesman for KPN told news agency ANP the higher bonus was due to ‘good performance’.

‘KPN booked a very strong rise in customers in 2015 and customer satisfaction had never been so high,’ the spokesman said. ‘All KPN workers will benefit from this and  get a bonus because of their good work in 2015.’