Wealthy union Unite grabbed furlough cash

AS One of the wealthiest and most powerful trade unions in the land, Unite has been the Labour Party’s most generous benefactor.

the union under Len McCluskey donated millions to Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, who was a close ally of ‘Red Len’.

Unite has also lavished £98.6 million on a troubled hotel and conference project in Birmingham which is now the subject of a QCled inquiry. now it emerges that the union claimed an astonishing £660,000 in taxpayer-funded furlough cash for its hotel staff during the lockdown.

the union claimed £145,206 furlough for staff at the Birmingham hotel and a further £519,125 for workers at its hotel in eastbourne. the accounts said: ‘During the period, the Union’s hotels in Birmingham and eastbourne furloughed 94 staff on average for nine months under the Government’s Job Retention Scheme.’

During the same period McCluskey, who stood down as general secretary last year, was paid £101,568, including a ‘car benefit’ of £5,900 and £4,852 in pension contributions. the accounts also said: ‘Key management personnel compensation of £5.1 million was paid in the year comprising salary, benefits in kind, and employer pension contributions.’

Unite, whose income from members and investments was just under £172 million, spent just over £167 million, leaving a surplus of £4.6 million for 2020.

So why did they need the taxpayer to fund their hotel staff?