Yes, this comes from the Torygraph ( always check what your oppostion are saying and look at other analysis too on indymedia to get a better overall view - then go out and do original research yourself...)

Militant ( ha ha ) union leaders are boosting their basic salaries with attractive perks and pension packages sometimes worth an extra 50 per cent.

An analysis of the pay of union bosses shows that some are earning more than £100,000 a year when all the elements are included. The average package for a general secretary of the bigger unions is around £75,000.

While they do not earn anything like the chief executives of big corporations, union leaders still do pretty well compared with the incomes of most of their members.

They are negotiating good pay deals even as union membership declines. Since 1991 there has been a fall of 15 per cent; but few, if any, union leaders have taken a pay cut.

In a small way, they are emulating the boardroom "fat cats" who are the target for much of their rhetoric: salaries are expanded by pension benefits; cars and home loans are available; generous pay-offs are made on retirement; and failure does not necessarily incur a financial penalty.

At the TUC conference this week Kevin Curran, the leader of the GMB, spearheaded the ritualistic assault on fat-cattery. He said "entrepreneurs who were only interested in the size of their own wallets" should leave the country.

His comments infuriated business chiefs. And Ruth Lea, the director of policy at the Institute of Directors, said the new militancy among union leaders was worrying. "People forget the negative image this country had abroad."

But how big is Mr Curran's wallet. What sort of salary and perks package can he command?

Unions are required to lodge their accounts with the Certification Office in London and to set out details of what their officers earn. Mr Curran has just taken over as general secretary of the GMB but his package will be similar to that of John Edmonds, his predecessor. He was paid £67,000 a year but benefits of £19,000 - mostly for pension contributions and car allowance - took the total to £86,000.

It was reported in the summer that the GMB was being forced to sell £1 million of shares to pay its wages bill after banks refused to extend its overdraft facilities.

Despite his comments, Mr Curran is considered a moderate among the new generation of union leaders.

By contrast, Billy Hayes, the general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, is very much a leading member of the so-called "awkward squad". His union is currently balloting postal workers about possible industrial action. The result will be announced next week.

Mr Hayes, 50, a former postman, is paid £72,000 a year. But his union makes a £43,000 annual contribution to his pension, taking the total salary to £115,000 - about eight times that of an ordinary postman.

The officials of some unions have the use of subsidised homes. Next month John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, is going to court to contest his eviction from an RMT union flat in Clapham, south London, which he has rented since his days with the National Union of Seamen. He pays a subsidised rent of just £220 a month against a market estimate of more than £1,500.

Derek Simpson, the new Left-wing joint general secretary of the giant Amicus union, has moved from Sheffield into a £600,000 house in Hertfordshire owned by the 1.2 million-strong union. Mr Simpson, 58, a former communist who also has a £79,000 salary plus pension benefits worth another £10,000, said the house came with the job.

One of the best benefits packages is that of Andy Gilchrist, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, which has recently emerged from a year-long dispute.

He has a basic salary of £52,000 but he also has pension contributions of £17,800. In addition, there are car, fuel and mortgage benefits totalling more than £11,000, making a total of nearly £82,000.

Other well-paid union leaders include Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, the public sector union, who has a salary of £80,000 boosted by £13,000 of pension contributions; and Tony Woodley, the new leader of the transport workers, who has a package estimated at £80,000-plus.

The best-paid union leader is Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, which has a membership of 3,606. Mr Taylor's salary is £495,000 and he also has pension contributions of £111,000 a year and benefits worth £30,000, including car, telephone and private medical insurance.

The total package is worth £637,271.