In my working life I’ve had lots of encounters with these type of full time Trade Union officials - real working class heroes, one and all . One was at a very senior level in Unite ( formally T&G ) He took his final salary pension & voluntary enhanced redundancy ( massive lump sum ) at 57 . He lives in a big converted farm house and now has a sinecure doing a bit of consultancy to top up his pension & fund his luxurious lifestyle . Me and my ex boss used to joke “ if only the members knew “
He’s just one example , I’ve come across many more and all funded by their low paid members hard graft in the factories and other workplaces . They are no different than the fat cat bankers - but in addition just massive hypocrites .
Hypocrites one and all
Sounds a similar background to me!! I was a National Union Official but not in Unite thank goodness (many of our members earned far more than me: air traffic control, nuclear engineers etc) except I did not get a pay out and our pension was twice changed, by agreement, for the worse.
I did a bloody good job and had sheaves of thank you letters and emails. We were not affiliated to any party and I recognised it was important to be politically impartial although after years of exposure to Labour politicians and the looney left I was happy to be ‘Red Tory’ as opposed to ‘Blue Labour’. The left are the biggest hypocrites going.
I could never vote for Labour under Corbyn and his ilk. Many many years ago (I did 43 years employment) my first and best Shop Steward was a card carrying Tory Party member and represented us in the maintenance department at Farrington Foundry, a good mate of mine is also a true blue Tory and GMB steward in the chemical sector. What most union leaders forget is that union members do not want disputes and political warfare; they want to pay off their mortgage, clear bills, have nice holidays, and strive for a second home.......recognising this is probably why I stuck out like a sore thumb compared to colleagues, and it is probably why I was respected for doing my job.
Interestingly Unite carried out a major anonymous survey of members and how they intended to vote. Voting conservative came out on top at nearly 50%........the survey was never published and was buried.
I also have an employment consultancy and am proud to say a number of my best friends are, or were, HR directors.