Skimming

Like a lot of people these days I have little or no time for the big public service unions such as Unite or the teaching unions, seeing them more as a barrier to change and reform rather than looking out for the interests of their members. That isn't to say I don't see the use or value of unions, just that they should occupy their correct niche in society and look after their members interests, rather than the interests of the union and its senior organisers and full time staff.

TPA. (Pdf)   

In other words our taxes both local and national are paying the union officials rather than the subs of their members. This is on top of the Labour Party scam of the Union Education Fund which took taxpayers money and more or less matched the contributions the unions made to the Labour Party funding.
More interesting is the fact that the unions themselves are heavily involved in lawmaking in the EU, something our own parliament can do little about as they don't have the ability to veto EU legislation, merely letting it through on the nod without scrutiny.
From my point of view, if the government wants to look to make savings, this is an area where they may find rich pickings, it would also have the bonus of hitting Labour in the pocket too by restricting union influence and money coming to them from the taxpayer rather than the union members themselves. It might also have the added benefit of putting the union leaders under scrutiny for their profligate lifestyles.

Metro.

Bob Crow, head of the transport union the RMT, takes home £105,679 a year.
The average Tube driver earns £40,000 a year and station staff £26,000 but Mr Crow wants his members to launch a ‘class war’ in the wake of a two-year public service pay freeze.
While the average civil servant earns £22,850 a year, Mark Serwotka, head of the PCS union which represents them, earns £111,112. The average teacher takes home £32,630 annually but NUT head NUT Christine Blower takes a salary of £124,483.
Derek Simpson of the Unite union lives in an £800,000 grace-and-favour house with his second wife while taking a salary of £120,328 from his members.

Nothing like seeing how the other half lives and how it's the supposed guardians of the working class who are robbing us blind.